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A review by gouricanread
The Only Story by Julian Barnes
3.0
The Only Story by Julian Barnes has been on my shelf for over a year and it's one of my very few hardcover books.
It tells the story of Paul Roberts, who at nineteen, falls in love with Susan Macleod, a married woman of forty-eight. He starts spending a lot of time at her house being hated and liked by her toxic husband and daughters until he and Susan move to London together, leaving their families behind to live the life of “his” dreams. The rest of the book shows how their relationship and their personalities change overtime. The narrator is Paul and he discusses the impact this relationship, his first love, has on his ideas and thoughts throughout his life.
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I liked the book because it is a different take on the trope. I have not read a lot of books which covers romantic relationships between people with a large age gaps and this was new for me. The narration changes from first person to second to third as the story goes on, showing his detachment from his lover and the memories. It was pretty brilliant in expressing how his emotions changed with age. My favourite was part three.
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I did not like it for a number of reasons. The narrator is not very captivating. I felt like Susan, even though she is a major character, was not given a voice and for this exact reason, I was not able to connect with her character. In my opinion, the author did not leave a lot for our interpretation and imagination. Towards the end he explained the narrator's thoughts and analyzed the dynamics between all the characters. I like it better when I am challenged to think and come to a conclusion when I read. This was different, but a little boring for me. I felt like I was being spoon-fed.
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Overall, it was not a bad read. From what I have heard about Sense of an Ending, this does not seem to be Barnes' best work.
It tells the story of Paul Roberts, who at nineteen, falls in love with Susan Macleod, a married woman of forty-eight. He starts spending a lot of time at her house being hated and liked by her toxic husband and daughters until he and Susan move to London together, leaving their families behind to live the life of “his” dreams. The rest of the book shows how their relationship and their personalities change overtime. The narrator is Paul and he discusses the impact this relationship, his first love, has on his ideas and thoughts throughout his life.
.
.
I liked the book because it is a different take on the trope. I have not read a lot of books which covers romantic relationships between people with a large age gaps and this was new for me. The narration changes from first person to second to third as the story goes on, showing his detachment from his lover and the memories. It was pretty brilliant in expressing how his emotions changed with age. My favourite was part three.
.
.
I did not like it for a number of reasons. The narrator is not very captivating. I felt like Susan, even though she is a major character, was not given a voice and for this exact reason, I was not able to connect with her character. In my opinion, the author did not leave a lot for our interpretation and imagination. Towards the end he explained the narrator's thoughts and analyzed the dynamics between all the characters. I like it better when I am challenged to think and come to a conclusion when I read. This was different, but a little boring for me. I felt like I was being spoon-fed.
.
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Overall, it was not a bad read. From what I have heard about Sense of an Ending, this does not seem to be Barnes' best work.