The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 3 April 2013
by Julian Barnes
Memory is deeply unreliable, and we tend to unconsciously modify and edit our memories in ways that ease our minds, alleviate our guilt, or even to glorify our memories of ourselves. And since the memories are our own, we tend to credit their accuracy. This intense multilayered novel tends to question that assumption. Tony is a man in his sixties. He is comfortable, solitary, and secure that he has had a quiet and relatively happy life. In the opening pages of the book, we experience his reflection on his youth, his friends in school and his first girlfriend, the enigmatic Veronica. It all seems a pretty basic, if well-told, story of relationships and the exuberance of youth. But a strange tragedy strikes, punctuating the end of that period in all of their lives. Today, Tony is reminded of those days when he receives a bequest in a will. He finds himself in an encounter with Veronica that shifts his perception of his memories, the events of that time, and his part in it all. Or lack thereof. Throughout, there is a character who keeps telling Tony that he just doesn't get it, and never will. As we sympathize with Tony's narration, this is as frustrating to the reader as it is to him. We want to know what it is that he doesn't get. And we perceive that one reason he doesn't get it is his self-involved quality. He is concerned with not rocking the boat, making waves. He wants no drama. Tony realizes the compromises he has made to keep his quiet life. He senses his lack of adventure. And he sees that some of his friends had a braver, more honest, view of the existential questions that life poses. And yet, he doesn't seem to regret his safe choices. Eventually, we will get what it is he isn't getting. It is hard to tell if he should really have known it all along as Veronica seems to think. In the end Barnes's book is deceptively simple in structure. But it has these layers of understanding and of character. It is brilliantly crafted and hauntingly familiar.
(For this book, Barnes was awarded the 2011 Man Booker Prize.)
Also by Barnes: [Nothing to be Frightened Of]