Friday, February 3, 2012

The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending received the 2011 Man Booker Prize.  I know that I am never a fan of the winners of this particular award, but still I keep going back.  Plus, Julian Barnes's novels are short, so there's not much to lose - particularly since I will concede that these winners do tend to be well writter.  The Sense of an Ending is Tony's story about his now dead friend Adrian and his former girlfriend Victoria.  As Tony reaches middle-age and finds his life somewhat unfulfilled, he remembers back to his earlier relationships, reliving moments and questioning motives.  The book is Tony's search for answers, but unsurprisingly, while the end of the book brings a big revelation, it leaves the reader with more questions than ever.  In such a short novel, there are certain to be loose ends left untied, but this one left me completely unsatisfied.  Characters are angry with each other for no particular reason - or there are reasons that don't seem complete.  There are secrets being kept, also for no particular reason.  In the end, I was just annoyed. 

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