A grief observed?

I always enjoy Julian Barnes. A complicated soul. Interestingly the more complicated ppl become the further they move from the simplicity of faith & spend so much time in search of something to believe in.

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Facing Death with Prose

Beautiful prose read beautifully by the author himself. The pace and tone holds your focus whilst weaving you through a journey within Barnes' mind; his thoughts on family, death, memory, the grave, and the fear of dying. His personal experiences and thoughts mingle with the thoughts and experiences of others, creating a well rounded discussion on this fact that we are all going to die. Despite the perhaps morbid content he still manages to make you laugh with his dry humour and wit. It had me thinking throughout, recalling memories of my own and shaping my own ideas and thoughts around death. I would recommend this book to all mortals facing their mortality.

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2 people found this helpful

Not to be avoided

A heavily laden listen-almost always consisting of fine ingredients for a banquet. There is no time throughout this listen that the close reader does not feel compelled to reply, to react, to smile or to laugh. Most times, quite uninvited, my mind would respond with a memory, a thought, a difference of opinion.
How consistently a fine writer can stimulate a reader to reflect on such deeply held views...marvelous.
Most insensitively, I kept wondering how this gentleman might have reconsidered this memoir? this fiction? in the light of the sad death of a much loved partner.
Guess I will have to re-listen to "Levels of Life," and be moved again ( as I remember so doing) by the fierce compassion and truth this author evokes from himself-and us.

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4 people found this helpful

10 hours about DEATH!

The content is in discord with the title. When audible said "before you go" at the end seeking my a rating I thought, for a moment that they were talking about death. It was a bit rambling but made me think.

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1 person found this helpful

Frustrating but worth persevering with.

Julian Barnes fails to define what the nature of this book is and therein lies it's strength - as well as the sheer frustration I felt when I finished it. It is neither an autobiography nor a novel but more like the reminiscences of an old friend (and as a reader of all of his books thus far, he feels very much like an old friend) over the course of a good meal and bottle of wine.

Early on I was rather irritated by the way in which he fails to define the terms on which he is writing. Why his atheism/agnosticism? Why not "stand up and be counted" and give rational scientific reasons for his stance? Does he even know why he has the attitudes he has?

I gradually realised that many of our conversations have a logic of their own and listening to Julian Barnes reading his own work had a rationale that goes beyond face value. Yes, he fails to give a reason for why he thinks as he does; often I want to shout "justify that" or "explain yourself". But that's not what it's about nor came to realise is what satisfies. As Patrick Kavanagh says in his poem Advent, "Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder". The book isn't meant to give all the answer - what it did for me is make me ask myself the same question and try to answer it for myself.

No, I don't agree with everything he said (or indeed most of it). But I like the way he says it and that's the attraction of the book.

Get it, listen to it and engage with him. Whether or not you agree with it isn't the point. It's not the best introduction (by a long shot) to the work of Julian Barnes but it is a great insight to all that he has written thus far.

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21 people found this helpful

Fabulous

I haven’t read any Julian Barnes for over twenty years. I don’t know why. My mum died recently so I turned to this book. I love the way JB thinks here. Very therapeutic. Thought provoking and made my laugh out loud! Not an easy feat with this topic!

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Moving, interesting, thought provoking.

I found this book very interesting and beautifully written and read. Surprisingly uplifting and thought provoking.

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1 person found this helpful

Interesting

Interesting ramble through the vagaries of memory, and the thoughts assorted writers have had about death, along with the author's experience of his own family. An unusual, chatty, book to play as background to mundane tasks.

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