This goes right to the top of my favorites list. 150 pages of pure genius. This is the 2nd Booker award winner I've attempted to read, the1st being The White Tiger which I put down after a 100 pages, this one was a total contrast, unputdownable !!
Having been in the habit of reading mostly American Literature, contemporary British literature came as a welcome change. With no offence to the Americans, there is a beauty in the British writing that can only be felt, can't really be explained. The slightly long and convoluted sentence formation, the use of certain words which you rarely find in books by the Americans, and a cheeky humor of the kind of the famous BBC TV series Yes Prime Minister. I just enjoyed this book thoroughly.
Coming to the subject of the book, largely it dwelt upon the volatile and mutable nature of memory, and what effect it has on our lives. A man in his sixties, married and divorced, a proud father and a grandfather, recounts his past, his friends in school - 1 friend in particular whom he liked most, his 1st love and breakup; when something happens which forces him to question his memories from the past, and recount everything again in order to know the truth.
Julian Barnes has shown how a simple and largely uneventful storyline can be woven into a gripping tale. The book is full of philosophical deliberations which I enjoyed rereading and thinking myself, the author carries all this hand in hand with a steadily progressing story with consummate ease. Actually the book would have been nothing without the questions that the author manages to raise with his interpretations of simple facts and happenings.
A must read.
No wonder, this is a wonderful book. I loved the concept flowing around a single quote, "History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation". The book has many brilliant concepts. One of my favorites is "The question of subjective vs objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of historian in order to understand the version that is being put in front of us'
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!
Thanks for mentioning this. I missed this in the review. "History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation". That sums up the theme of the book.
ReplyDelete