The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

There is something utterly depressing in British literature. From Dickens to Hardy or 1984 to Harry Potter, the constant drizzle and greasy fish has polluted their writers' optimism. Though the ingredients make for poignant fiction, the stream of cynicism and melancholy is an apparent motif. This is apparent in Julian Barnes’s 2011 Man Booker Prize winner The Sense of an Ending.

The ending better be good if that is your title; and it is one of the finer points of the first person narrative. It will sanction all the melodrama and whining of the main character, Tony Webster, who seems to suffer, more from malaise than any physical or psychological damage. Webster will frustrate you with inaction, anger you with indecision, and disturb you with his preoccupation of a relationship 40 years old. Yet along the way, there is something human and relatable about his self-torture that will linger for the reader.

If you have recently read “The Fall of the House of Usher”, you will see Barnes’ Tony Webster in Poe’s Roderick. This short story is an excellent companion piece as both make evident the themes of regret, betrayal, and the wishing of malice on one we most desire. The author’s deft command of sentence structure and advanced vocabulary will also remind you of Poe. Barnes is a master with words painting them with their nuances of meaning as he leads and controls the reader. Even without a discernible external conflict, setting or emotion worth telling, he lulls you into a world of fantasy. It is this command and style of writing that will have me reading A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters and Flaubert’s Parrot.

It is a memory book. Webster reveals things to himself in time as he seeks out why his life is far too secure and peaceful. He looks for anxiety when he is included in the will of an ex-girlfriend’s mother as he is bestowed with his friend’s diary: an admired and precocious friend who suddenly committed suicide. He tortures himself for his past behavior, as he feels responsible for the death because of a letter he sent in bitterness when his best friend and his ex-girlfriend started dating.  While he buried the past, he is unable to let it go and it has casted a shadow over every decision in life. He is haunted and haunted men are worth reading about.

This book will take you a few hours to read but a couple of weeks to get through. It is more about how it evokes the reader’s past relationships when we were young, frivolous and confident in righteousness. We are Tony Webster with our secrets and grudges as we will one day look back and see those first relationships as crossroads we could have or should not have taken. They will rise as mountains in our consciousness when the end is in sight and we will only wish we gained the closure Webster demands, deserve, or falls victim to. You will have to decide after you read his fate.

It is a depressing, British novella fully recommended for its themes, style and ending. But it will not lead you anywhere but the darkness of your own thoughts. A place I find myself whenever I close a book from that island nation in the North Atlantic.

Comments

[Nick Carraway]

I can't believe you are characterizing Brit Lit as so depressing here. This book sounds good, but it must have really got you down. I guess you have a point that melancholy is a common theme in many British novels, and it is rewarding to read that style when done well. Maybe this is a good read for me to get re-acquainted with the genre. When and where in England is the book set?

[James Dugan]

It mostly takes place in London during the present, but it does go back into the life of this sixty year man. I do recommend it. I would like to see what you think. People react to it differently.

[StevieJenks]

I actually finished this book up about a month ago. You pretty much hit the nail on the head. It took me awhile to read due to the lack of action from Tony. His character and his nuances were often painful and you wonder, "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET OVER IT?!?" But, I believe that is a true characteristic of the human nature. Our inability to let go is what holds us back and keeps us from seeing truth (much like Tony and the mysterious man that Veronica visits.

Very well-written story that I would recommend to anyone. There are some brilliant lines in this book that I must remember to go back and write down.

[Matthew (@thebibliofreak)]

I'd agree that The Sense of an Ending is filled with melancholy, and thus not an uplifting book. However, I think I'd disagreed that this is representative of a general theme to British fiction. Dickens is known to be a sucker for a happy ending, and Harry Potter, whilst leaving some of the main characters emotionally scarred, ultimately has good and positive messages. Can't argue with Hardy or Orwell, though. Still two of my favourites.

My review: <a href="http://www.bibliofreak.net/2012/05/review-sense-of-ending-by-julian-barnes.html">The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes</a>

[James Dugan]

Thanks for the comments. I can only picture London in the wonderful fog that covers it. I love its pretention and proclivity towards tragedy, but it is difficult to match my American optimism to its tone. Their tragedy is drawn out studies of struggle and redemption. Most American books, have the sudden burst of realism at the end that shakes us.