By Megan Thomas
I have so many books I haven’t told you about yet, but I guess it’s the preferable way around to be behind on reviews rather than on reading. But if I can find time to read I can find time to shout about the books, so consider this a formal apology and a vow that this account is very much alive and kicking.
This Booker Prize winning novel is profound in the best way: through life’s sheer ordinariness, the seesaw between fulfilment and disappointment, which ultimately makes up the depth of the human experience. And for the reminder that everyone is living their own, uniquely expansive life, which can so easily be impacted by how you’re living yours.
Julian Barnes shows his thoughtful craftsmanship through the narration of his protagonist, Tony Webster, a retired old man living on his own. By and large, Tony’s life seems a happy one, rich in elite education, love and family. But the somewhat mysterious unearthing of diary pages of an ex-friend, Adrian, unleashes years of grudges, shame, humiliation and obsession over experiences long-forgotten by most.
Despite the 40 years that have passed since Adrian’s suicide, the new pages send Tony into a spiral of self-indulgent reflection and recollection, and the question of how he fit into his friend’s decision to end his life. It is an almost laughable reminder (if it weren’t so tragic) that memories are what we decide to remember.
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