![](https://play-lh.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocIF3150luIgoStoMxfsMbuqzuc_GJ_lrdppRybsSpuFRKFTcuY=s32-mo)
Queueue
I feel like I am not the target audience of this novel. I related very strongly to the "youthful" period versions of the characters, and I am still a relatively young person. While the story was interesting and superb and the ending both surprising and complete, the book, in retrospect, felt cheap. Perhaps the intent was a postmodern critique of meaningful characters like Adrian, but that case wasn't made forceful or relevant by the story. The quality of the writing alone is worth five stars.
![](https://play-lh.googleusercontent.com/EGemoI2NTXmTsBVtJqk8jxF9rh8ApRWfsIMQSt2uE4OcpQqbFu7f7NbTK05lx80nuSijCz7sc3a277R67g=s32)
A Google user
This is a book for those who like to ponder and toss about philosophical concepts on the meaning of life, love and death. The story is small in scope, only 167 pages, but packs a lot of punch. I personally think it reads like the memoir of someone reflecting back on his or her life and memories. The story unfolds slowly and is intentionally ambiguous at times as Barnes explores choices we make, different levels of responsibility and the effects of time on one’s memory. He also leaves some questions unanswered - not necessarily a book for everyone, but rather for those who like to reminisce about the past and explore the deeper meaning of things. Recommend for those who enjoy a more literary read. Winner of the Man Booker prize.
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A Google user
Occasionally strained, contrived, and far-fetched, but overall the evocation of the oversensitivity cum insensitivity of youth rings true even if the recovered-memory syndrome of an elderhood Julian Barnes has not quite succeeded in channeling (an ending not yet quite sensed?) does not.
Egocentricity never quite shaken, all efforts notwithstanding.