Posted by Steven on 16/2/2012, 9:32:46, in reply to "Re: Sense of and Ending - Julian Barnes"
76.186.47.15
I'm sorry as well that he didn't care for it, since it was on my recommendation that he read it. He probably is over 60, since he a retired Londoner living in the south of France. Of course, what's conservative in his world would be liberal in ours.
Actually, looking back on the list of Booker winners, very few have had the attributes he seems to expect. Certainly The White Tiger was even lighter reading than The Sense of an Ending, if a bit longer. The Life of Pi can be read by a 12-year-old, and Vernon God Little was just silly.
Actually none of the major literary awards consistently recognizes challenging and cutting edge literary works.
--Previous Message--
: I'm sorry that your friend from the other group didn't
: care for The Sense of an Ending . I suppose the
: numbered objections are intended to be amusing. I
: wasn't amused. If he didn't like it, he didn't like
: it. But I don't think he's very close to the mark.
:
: For example:
:
: "Street cred" from Donovan's A gift from a
: flower to a garden ? Obviously, he must be a kid. If
: you're old enough to understand the reference, you're
: old enough to remember that that particular box set
: was a joke at the time. The ultimate in hippy-dippy
: drivel. The detail is inserted to indicate un
: coolness and bourgeois taste.
:
: If he's ever talked to an over-60 reading group, he
: would know how conservative they tend to be. The
: ladies I see who are in senior circle book clubs like
: Water for Elephants or The Help . They would hate
: The Sense of an Ending.
:
: And, news flash, as an over-60 myself, I can tell you
: that I most certainly did not identify with anyone
: in the book. Guillermo is correct in his assessment
: of how unlikeable characters tend to be in the modern
: literary novel.
:
: Jokes? Did you read any jokes? What jokes? I don't
: think I even smiled while reading this.
:
: "A satisfactory tying up of loose ends?" I
: think we're pretty bright over here at ReadLit, and
: we're all still trying to figure out what the heck
: happened in this novel, what with the hidden plot and
: unreliable narrator. I think there are frayed ends
: everywhere in this book. Indeed, the unreliability of
: memory is the theme of this novel!
:
: Odd that he finds no "literary cleverness"
: here. Barnes is a recognized master of the non-linear
: novel. His literary sleight of hand is visible
: everywhere in The Sense of an Ending.
:
: Does it deserve the Booker prize? I certainly don't
: know. I think it was better than The Inheritance of
: Loss , though, a Booker prize winner by a
: thirty-something woman of color!
