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Ovo opisivanje celog sveta kroz neke najjednostavnije najobičnije priče mi je jedan od omiljenih podžanrova.. Jedan brodolom, niz pisama, suđenje.. Svako od poglavlja ima drukčiji stil pisanja, pa me je to malo omelo, ali bar 5 su bila jako dobra, i Barns ima baš zanimljive ideje i lepo ih predstavi, dotakne se celog čovečanstva bez da to bude pretenciozno ili propovedački.. sviđa mi se čitaću još
dark funny informative slow-paced

a few gems and a few duds. Overall enjoyable.

I struggle with short-story collections at the best of times. Quite often they appear to be just bits of story ideas that don't start well, and don't really have an ending. But Barnes avoids that problem, by the tried and tested method of trying to cross-reference various components of the stories throughout, making a necklace out of a few misshapen lumps of plastic.

The main problem with these stories, is that they fall into three camps, trying to be informative, trying to be funny, or trying to show some essential irony. But Barnes' prose is as dry as sandpaper, and his wit completely lacking. The 'twist' from the opening Noah's ark piece is blindingly obvious from the start, and that's the most innovative, freewheeling flight of fancy here. Yet he keeps resurrecting the corpse of that gag throughout the work, as if it's the funniest thing he's ever heard.

It's a bone-dry, uninteresting, irritating collection of half-thought out ideas and forced, clumsy attempts at humour. I'm assured he's a better novelist than he's shown here. He has to be.

Moments of brilliance, but again I find myself much more of a fan of Barnes' more recent books

I didn't mean to read this book, it just happened, i forgot my book at home and this was sitting in my van and suddenly 24 hours later this book was done-which means that this is a very readable book, a grouping of short stories with a fixation on the biblical story of Noah's ark-i liked most of it, thought that maybe two of the stories were not needed

and am still a bit confused as to whether my very christian family would love or hate this book, it was a book on a biblical theme that seemed neither christian or anti-christian which i found admirable

Forever grateful, this is the book that brought me to historical fiction.

When I read the first two chapters of this book I was blown away. The first is absolutely hysterical, and the second begins that way, but leaves you staring at the book in disbelief, unsure what to make of what just happened. I couldn't wait to read the rest, but I have to say that I was a little disappointed.
While each story is very clever, and the connections that run through the book are fun to find, I found myself getting a little bored. The chapter titled "The Mountain" seemed to go on for much too long, and wasn't as witty as the others.
Nonetheless, I think this one is definitely worth reading. Even if it does become a bit slow in places, I can't argue with the mastery of Barnes in connecting all of these seemingly unconnected chapters, and in his ability to really make you think about the world around you.

This book almost wound up on the Did-Not-Finish shelf. I was disappointed because I absolutely loved Barnes' Arthur and George. Unfortunately, A History just didn't do it for me. There were chapters that were great and I just couldn't stop reading - and then the next chapter would be dry and boring and torturous.

An interesting collection of short tales set throughout the ages, linked by a theme of Noah's Ark and our relationship with faith, fiction, life and death. While I find the individual stories are a little hit or miss, this is an impressively intelligent, humourous and insightful collection of secular fables that isn't afraid to subvert orthodox fantasies about life, the universe and everything.