Master prose stylist Julian Barnes presents a collection of stories whose characters are growing old and facing the end of their lives -- some with...
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Mar 29, 2009
Terence
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I read and enjoyed Julian Barnes' nonfiction ruminations about death and how we face up to it in Nothing to Be Frightened Of so when I saw his fictional endeavor on the library shelf, I picked it up.
The stories here revolve around people approaching death and how they deal with wasted opportunities, their mortality, and dealing with their failing minds and bodies. It's a melancholy though not depressing book - Humans seem fated to meet their ends with disappointment and fear and ther More...
The stories here revolve around people approaching death and how they deal with wasted opportunities, their mortality, and dealing with their failing minds and bodies. It's a melancholy though not depressing book - Humans seem fated to meet their ends with disappointment and fear and ther More...
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Jun 29, 2008
Teresa
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These are a fantastic group of stories, each one centered in some way on the theme of aging and dying, though they are neither depressing nor sentimental.
Each story's characters are living, breathing people with his or her own voice -- and Barnes does achieve a unique voice for each story. (Two of the narrators in two of the stories were living, breathing people -- a famous 19th century Russian writer and a famous modern composer.)
The stories are not only extremely well More...
Each story's characters are living, breathing people with his or her own voice -- and Barnes does achieve a unique voice for each story. (Two of the narrators in two of the stories were living, breathing people -- a famous 19th century Russian writer and a famous modern composer.)
The stories are not only extremely well More...
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Jul 26, 2011
kellyn
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I am so sick of modern contemplative writing, winding and twisting in circles of pointless emotional exploration. I haven't always felt this way about this style of writing and I'm sure my feelings will change again. At this point in my life however, the goal-less internal exploration of characters and their contrived quirkiness is outright depressing and turns me off. Got through the book as far as the story of the Grindewalds(sp?), the Swedish couple, and just couldn't bear anymore of the char
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Dec 15, 2011
Noura
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"Cheer up! Death is round the corner."
I loved this book. All the stories are about characters approaching death, their desire to hang on to live, and their diffrent reactions towards it. All of these characters have lived, somehow, a horrible life which makes the book a little depressing, especialy since most of the things that happen to them are common in life.
If anyone is interested I'll lend you the book :)
DONT CONTINUE IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO READ THE BOOK(M More...
I loved this book. All the stories are about characters approaching death, their desire to hang on to live, and their diffrent reactions towards it. All of these characters have lived, somehow, a horrible life which makes the book a little depressing, especialy since most of the things that happen to them are common in life.
If anyone is interested I'll lend you the book :)
DONT CONTINUE IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO READ THE BOOK(M More...
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Oct 24, 2011
John
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My first Julian Barnes book and certainly not my last. Very funny, dark and clever. Eleven short stories, mostly focused on people near the end of their lives, which always makes for some heartbreak. Barnes, however, is anything but a sentimentalist. His characters are cruel, at times literally abusive--these are not sweet grandmothers and grandfathers, as most young people regard the elderly. Many scenes stick with me, including one in which a retired sergeant takes an annual trip to visit
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Nov 26, 2009
marvelously, smartly written. each story is witty, true, and in the moment. "Bark" and "Knowing French" are astounding.
and yet. if this is representative of the style and accepted peak of our contemporary short fiction, there is much lacking. it is all form with just enough content. it is _amusement_, moreover.
woe if our generation has so blurred the lines of poetry and prose that aesthetic poeticisms will excuse the absence of substance in prose writing. More...
and yet. if this is representative of the style and accepted peak of our contemporary short fiction, there is much lacking. it is all form with just enough content. it is _amusement_, moreover.
woe if our generation has so blurred the lines of poetry and prose that aesthetic poeticisms will excuse the absence of substance in prose writing. More...
May 04, 2010
Friederike
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In this collection of short stories, age, aging and departing are considered from different angles, centred on individuals of a certain, mature, age, healthy or coping with physical or mental illness, and set against a wide range of geographical and cultural backgrounds. Creating expressive mini-portraits of his characters and their "dearest and nearest", Julian Barnes explores the deep and sometimes conflicting emotions of regret and defiance, love and nostalgia, past and present happ
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Jan 17, 2012
Siskoid
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I was hungry for some quality short stories, and I hadn't read a Julian Barnes book in a while (used to be my favorite contemporary writer) and so I picked up The Lemon Table, a collection of 11 stories about the bitterness of growing old. I wasn't disappointed. What struck me is how good Barnes is at crafting different "voices", and he never pulls the same stylistic trick twice. If I had to name a favorite, I guess it would be Hygiene, in which a regular visit to the out-of-town hooke
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Nov 30, 2011
Maurice
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De to noveller jeg kom igennem var ikke dårlige dårlige. Men de var heller ikke gode nok til, jeg havde lyst til at læse videre.
Der var små skumsprøjt af godt sprog, men mestendels havblik af ligegyldighed, hvor det aldrig blev særligt vedkommende endsige interessant. Jeg manglede identifikation, nærvær og relevans.
En af historierne var tre forskellige punktnedslag hos en mand, der gik til frisør - i tre forskellige stadier af hans liv - ung, 30 og gammel. Som ung blev alt More...
Der var små skumsprøjt af godt sprog, men mestendels havblik af ligegyldighed, hvor det aldrig blev særligt vedkommende endsige interessant. Jeg manglede identifikation, nærvær og relevans.
En af historierne var tre forskellige punktnedslag hos en mand, der gik til frisør - i tre forskellige stadier af hans liv - ung, 30 og gammel. Som ung blev alt More...
Dec 20, 2011
Ken
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Julian Barnes seems to be the Updike on the other side of the Atlantic. Infidelity is the solution to every marriage woe. Here are some stories that left an impression on me.
Story of Mats Israelson (5/5) - poignant story on unrequited love
Vigilance (3/5) - the main character is a man or woman?
The things you know (3/5) - British people/writers, pls stop comparing with the Americans....Tiresome.
Fruit Cage (5/5)- very sad story about old age a More...
Story of Mats Israelson (5/5) - poignant story on unrequited love
Vigilance (3/5) - the main character is a man or woman?
The things you know (3/5) - British people/writers, pls stop comparing with the Americans....Tiresome.
Fruit Cage (5/5)- very sad story about old age a More...
Jul 23, 2011
Maud
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This was my first time reading anything by Julian Barnes and I'll definitely dig deeper into his oeuvre. What impressed me most about this book is that all stories, though all very different in style (tone, word use), were of a certain literary quality that I enjoyed. They were well-written, psychologically on point, philosophical, funny in almost a sad way... most had a (mostly bitter) bittersweet edge to them. I think the reason for that is that the central, uniting theme of the stories was de
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Apr 14, 2009
Jason
rated it:
If Umberto Eco is correct that ‘great fiction teaches us how to die,’ then this collection of playfully dire stories might be the handbook that Eco had in mind. I especially loved “Appetite,” wherein a woman comforts her delirious, foulmouthed and (undeserving?) lover by reading from the Joy of Cooking. Also, “The Revival” takes us over familiar Barnes territory – by blending history, criticism, and witticism – this time pulling back the curtain on the Russian writer Turgenev, as he ruminates o
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May 28, 2007
Caroline
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Books of short stories are dangerous and, for the most part, to be avoided because they are so often hot and cold. While one has to drag oneself through some of the stories, others are so good, one wonders why the author didn't just turn those into full-length novels and dump the rest.
This collection by Julian Barnes is no less spotty than most. The good news is that the stories I hated somehow made the ones I enjoyed all the better by comparison. And, to make matters better, the goo More...
This collection by Julian Barnes is no less spotty than most. The good news is that the stories I hated somehow made the ones I enjoyed all the better by comparison. And, to make matters better, the goo More...
Jul 27, 2011
lana
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The earlier short stories are very good- moving and interesting, effective windows on aging and relationships. rather melancholy, but well done. The later stories just get strange- I thought the last one couldn't be over soon enough, and I probably would have liked the book more if it hadn't ended with that particular tale.
Dec 27, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed these stories - they are all about older people, and mostly about aging. As you would imagine some of the stories left me feeling sad, but I wasn't quite sure what to feel about others, they just weren't that clear cut.
I am not going to part with the book just yet, I think these stories need reading at least twice.
I am not going to part with the book just yet, I think these stories need reading at least twice.
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Jul 08, 2008
Abby
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I have yet to read a Julian Barnes book that I haven't liked. This one is a collection of short stories whose central theme revolves around growing old. It's not a particularly relevant subject to me, which meant I felt less emotionally invested in a lot of the stories, but despite that, he managed to write several very compelling stories for people who aren't even close to growing old. Some of my favorites include "The Story of Mats Israelson" about two people in 19th century Germa
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Sep 15, 2011
Alan
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Captures the bitter sweet realities of age, unrequited love, disillusionment and the inevitability of mortality. Should have hated it for all those reasons, but Barnes' ability to capture the truths of "human bondage" with such simplicity left me somehow feeling more able to face those demons.
Mar 17, 2011
John
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Quite well-written stories of aging and mortality. I didn't care for the historical fiction entries, but that's a personal preference. Timothy West (most of the stories have male protagonists) and Prunella Scales (for the three featuring female characters) do outstanding jobs with the narration!
Nov 11, 2011
Karen
rated it:
Amazing! Beautiful!
The book group is reading something by Barnes in 2012 and I wanted to read something he'd written before then. Short stories of characters aging, facing the end of their lives.
I'm going to have to read more of him--can't believe I'd never heard of him until now.
The book group is reading something by Barnes in 2012 and I wanted to read something he'd written before then. Short stories of characters aging, facing the end of their lives.
I'm going to have to read more of him--can't believe I'd never heard of him until now.
Oct 05, 2009
Beth
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This book of short stories definitely had some 4 star stories. The theme is aging and relationships--don't read if infidelity scares you. And I was impressed by the author's ability to create so many different and unique voices.
Jan 21, 2008
Magdalena
rated it:
Recibí una invitación para una charla que dará Julian Barnes -británico, escritor, francófilo- en la UC. Y ¿cómo ir sin saber nada del autor? Pasé por la librería más cercana y compré lo que más me tincó.
Tengo que decir que el primer cuento -"Breve historia de la peluquería"- no me sedujo demasiado.Influyó la traducción española, que traspone el lenguaje oral, vulgar; a los equivalentes españoles. La cosa queda con demasiado olor a chorizo y se traspasa al sabor inglés.
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Tengo que decir que el primer cuento -"Breve historia de la peluquería"- no me sedujo demasiado.Influyó la traducción española, que traspone el lenguaje oral, vulgar; a los equivalentes españoles. La cosa queda con demasiado olor a chorizo y se traspasa al sabor inglés.
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Feb 09, 2011
Marcelo
rated it:
Not the best from Barnes - some stories are very well handled, some are really not all that great. I like either A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters, Talking it over or Flaubert's Parrot much better than this book
Oct 01, 2011
Anne
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I love Julian Barnes's slightly acerbic wit and penetrating insight into character. These short stories do not disappoint - this time about growing old. They do not always make comfortable reading!
Apr 03, 2011
David
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Barnes is a master of the short story and this collection about people getting old is a gem. Each story has his wit, his elegant language and great tales make each one a treat and put together, a great read.
Aug 15, 2011
Yalan
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A collection of short stories about aging, dying, and how age is a state of mind. The last story in particular is amazingly well-written. He tells great truths about humanity that I find greatly inspiring and meaningful.
Feb 24, 2011
RUSA
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This was one of the 2005 RUSA Notable Books winners. For the complete list, go to http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/a...
Jan 01, 2011
Aniela
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The title translated into my language is "Sadness of the taste of lemons" which perfectly captures the atmosphere of these short stories. I have always loved Barnes' mild irony and his understanding of delicate misfits of this world.
Apr 06, 2009
Josephine
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A collection of short memoirs that people tell looking back on their lives from their deathbeds. I liked it, but I'm unclear as to whether or not it was about anything.
Jan 30, 2012
Natasha
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I loved Barnes' The Sense of An Ending but was disappointed with this one. Much of it I read while half-watching soccer games...maybe that was the problem...
Mar 24, 2009
Patricia
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practically perfect in every way. a must if you want to understand and appreciate life at every age. i wish i had read it at an earlier age.
