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If you get the possible reason(s) for the £500 legacy left to Tony Webster, one of the great unreliable narrators I've run across in literature, then the story is devastating. (And the meaning for the money is something that is inferred, so it's not a spoiler. Read carefully, because Barnes is very clever with his clues.) On the surface, the story is about an aging man looking back over the years, struggling a bit with memories, and the iffy day by day process of the selection and ordering of th
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Ooh, this book tried to be oh-so-clever! Do High School boys really go around quoting physics and philosophy to each other? What I see are high schoolers with their noses in their iPhones. Anyway, I read reviews here, and many readers didn't care for Tony. I didn't care for Veronica. It was as if Tony skinned her cat in front of her and later forgot about it. I read the ending... what was Tony's crime again? I forget. I really do. Oh yeah, now I remember. (I can't say here... spoiler). When I fi
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Sep 14, 2012
Nanosynergy
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
fiction-2000-2019,
2013read,
british,
postmodern-lit,
fiction,
reviewed,
booker-prize,
aging
Good, but depressing. Well written look at a group of vacuous, largely self-centered individuals who exacerbate interpersonal issues with poor to non-existent efforts to communicate openly with one another. An interesting look at how, as we age, we each remember the events (history) of our lives--what we choose to forget, how we edit/revise what we remember, triggers that cause us to remember those forgotten memories, and how the perspectives of others alter how we view our personal histories an
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This book was frustrating and good all at the same time. I guess that is a testament to how well Julian Barnes wrote Anthony as a character. The second half of the book was impossible to put down. I was curious as to what direction it was going and what would happen. Wow, what a path that this story followed. I really enjoy and appreciate books that make me think long after I am finished and this one filled the bill.
A stunningly crafted novel by Julian Barnes. Probably best book I've read this year. Only 176 pages and can be read in one sitting, but it will stay with me for a long time. ...more
Jul 05, 2012
Carla
marked it as to-read
