The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Release Date: August 4th 2011
Pages: 160
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Canada
Source: Publisher
Buy It: Book Depository

Now Tony is middle aged. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.

The Sense of an Ending is a wisp of a book, it can barely be called a novel, but it is incredibly masterful. Barnes captures a moment, a feeling, a desire, in a way that is both poetic and engaging. As a reader, I floated through its pages. I was captivated, and entranced. There is something slightly mystical about the writing, surreal and yet genuine in its emotion.

I loved that the narrator was imperfect and unreliable, because in real life, who isn't? I loved the dimensions of all the characters, and the ending I did not expect, and the complexity of emotions. I didn't like Tony, but I didn't really like anyone in The Sense of an Ending. That did not prevent me from loving it.

I realize this is a short review. Well, it's a short book. But it leaves a message. And hopefully so does this review, and that message is: pick up this book. By the time you put it back down, you may have accidentally finished it, and you won't regret it.