tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564254932068353354.post2945162613038397810..comments2024-03-26T21:39:07.661-07:00Comments on New books on my shelves: THE SENSE OF AN ENDING BY JULIAN BARNESLuciehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03702706708536682797noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564254932068353354.post-31428768064575046682013-04-22T11:15:55.155-07:002013-04-22T11:15:55.155-07:00We live life with the assumption that age and time...We live life with the assumption that age and time erode our memories of the past - that pain mitigates, and joy too looses it's ecstasy. If it sounds like a gross generalization, at least this is what I, as a 26 year old, had so long believed. In this poignant and tragic account of a 60 year old looking back at his life - indeed, all the way back to his school days - Julian Barnes (or rather Tony Webster) argues otherwise.<br /><br />Reconciled to a lonely life, Tony Webster is past the stage of responsibility; way past. As he waits for the inevitable end to his days - no, it's not an illness, but presumably a state of mind - a letter from a lawyer stirs memories of a long forgotten past; memories even he had thought his mind to be incapable of conjuring. As the events unfold, he is forced to reevaluate his old relationships, reconsider the consequences of his actions, and indeed, re-imagine his past.<br /><br />The title is apt to the point of being 'philosophically self-evident', for this is a book about a past that is never stagnant, a remorse that is incurable, and a grief that is inconsolable. Meerahttp://shayari.co.innoreply@blogger.com