Hello, hello! This is Debs- the sister- back with a Sunday feature called 'Sister Sundays' where I talk about some of the recent books that I enjoyed reading. :) Hope you enjoy and find a new book/author to read! :)
Book: The Sense of an Ending
Author: Julian Barnes
Pages: 150
How long it took me to read: 2-3 hours. Would have taken me even less time but this book makes you think and so, I set it down a few times to do just that.
Plot Summary: Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at high school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, the boys navigated the final year at high school together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Adrian Finn was a little too serious compared to the rest of them, but they were close friends nevertheless. At the end of high school, the boys decided to stay friends for life...
The book is set several years later, when Tony is almost retired, divorced and leads a relatively quiet and peaceful life. He is at peace with himself as he feels that he has led a calm life where is has not harmed anyone. But is memory really reliable? Is Tony's version of his do-no-harm belief really true? Did he cause someone lifelong, actual harm? A letter from a lawyer with a blast from the past proves just otherwise...
What I Liked: On the face of it, The Sense of an Ending is a very simple story. An old man receives a letter from a lawyer saying that someone he knew many years ago had left him some money in their will. The story then launches into Tony's past and his brief meeting with this woman who has left him a small amount of money and Tony trying to find out in what way he had impacted this woman's life... So, though, the story itself is seemingly simple, it is the bigger questions that this story brings up, which makes this such a genius of a book.
The first theme that I want to talk about is 'memory'. Is memory reliable? Is our own memory reliable? Do we remember things exactly as they happened or do we remember it in a way that whitewashes our own involvement in the events? This book brings up several questions about how reliable memory is and why we remember the way we remember things and how it can be different for someone else. For instance, Tony's memories of a break-up with a short-term girlfriend and the events that followed are very different from hers. It is not because Tony is devious or anything, but because he simply does not think of what was said and what was done as a 'big deal'.
The second theme that the book delves into and which I thoroughly enjoyed is this whole thing about personal histories. If each of us is a story-teller, then how do we tell our stories? Are we raw and honest or do we embellish the bits we are not proud of? This book addresses this issue beautifully.
Finally, The Sense of an Ending is about responsibility and about the power of words. Do we think before we speak and write? Do we wonder about the impact of our words? Who is responsible for someone's actions? If someone takes a drastic step because of our unintentional words, then are we truly responsible? Or is the onus of responsibility on the person who took that step?
In about 150 pages, Mr. Barnes makes you think about all these things in the guise of a simple story. This is a brilliant, brilliant book!
What I didn't like: Nothing.
Will You Like It: Yes! You will like it if you like books that make you think and re-evaluate your stand on certain things. This is a quick read but the themes this book touches upon will stay with you.
Rating: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment