rik_jansen 's review for:

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

3.5

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I am not sure how to feel about this. I enjoyed reading the book. The characters are interesting, it is well-written and satisfying to read, and I enjoyed the themes. But in the end, it felt me feeling a bit empty and disappointed.

The themes about memory, history and the passage of time are really interesting and really resonate with me. The book is quite philosophical, which I can imagine could feel forced for some people but it did not for me. Then, about the plot:

I think the first half of the book is stronger than the second half.

The way Tony and Veronica interact in the second half is definitely intriguing, but it also feels a bit weird and unrealistic, like they are not real people interacting. But people can be weird sometimes.

I expected some big twist at the end to do with Tony having a wrong memory of something and that didn't really seem to happen. There was a twist, but I didn't really care that much about Adrian having an affair with Sarah, since none of it involves Tony. It also doesn't explain Veronica's behavior. Now, I did read a theory that Tony actually had an affair with Sarah and has repressed these memories. I think this actually makes complete sense. It is consistent with the themes of unreliable memory, it explain Veronica's behavior, and it explains some of Tony's memories resurfacing. It seems a bit much to me though that someone would completely repress this memory, but I guess it happens?

Anyway, if I figured this out myself maybe I would have felt more satisfied at the end, but as it is I did not.

This feels like a book that could have been a masterpiece and is still really good, but leaves a bit to be desired right at the finish line.