Synopsis
Tony Webster believes he had a pretty average adolescence - intimidated by the idea of girls, slightly in awe of his highly intelligent friend Adrian - but as he looks back in his retirement, past his marriage, divorce, and career - a letter from a lawyer helps push him to discover that so much more was going on during his college years that he ever would have suspected.Reason for Reading
It's on this year's Man Booker Prize shortlist; I liked one of his other shortlisted novels, Arthur & George.Why you should read this book
Barnes has sprinkled gems of truth or just sheer beauty throughout his well-written story, leaving his readers with much to ponder despite the low page-count. Tony's adolescence and later years both sing with truth - one more impulsive and impetuous, the other more thoughtful, even when understanding is slow to come. The characters are interesting if ordinary, making the plot twists stand out and seem plausible in a 'life's like that' sort of way. Frustration and longing hold the book together as a whole, though the forms they take shifts as Tony ages. I appreciate Barnes' novella as a Booker Prize contender, even if it's not pushed quite far enough into uniqueness to make me cheer for it to win.Why you should avoid this book
There's a bit of a mystery and a few plot twists, but make no mistake that this is a character-driven novel. I'm not going to go so far as to call the book pretentious, but it definitely has a feeling of that posh, old-school boys' club of literature. It's exactly what you'd expect when you think of British, award-nominated books. Not knocking great writing, but it's just not new feeling.Opening Paragraph
I remember, in no particular order:-- a shiny inner wrist;
--steam rising from a wet sink as a hot frying pan is laughingly tossed into it;
--gouts of sperm circling a plughole, before being sluiced down the full length of a tall house;
-- a river rushing nonsensically upstream, its wave and wash lit by half a dozen chasing torchbeams;
-- another river, broad and grey, the direction of its flow disguised by a stiff wind exciting the surface;
--bathwater long gone cold behind a locked door.
This last isn't something I actually saw, but what you end up remembering isn't always the same as what you have witnessed.
Fabulous quotes
'It doesn't feel right.'
This was an exchange heard in front of many a breathy gas fire, counterpointed by many a whistling kettle. And there was no arguing against 'feelings', because women were experts in them, men coarse beginners. So 'It doesn't feel right' had far more persuasive force and irrefutability than any appeal to church doctrine or a mother's advice. You must say, But wasn't this the Sixties? Yes but only for some people, only in certain parts of the country.
It strikes me that this may be one of the differences between youth and age: when we are young, we invent different futures for ourselves; when we are old, we invent different pasts for others.
You did it!! Now I have twice as many reasons to pick it up.
And by ‘you did it’ I thought you posted this today. I have sleepy eyes, did not see the date stamp.