The Sense of an Ending

Written by Julian Barnes

Narrated by Simon Vance

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate
the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more
serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.

Now Tony is retired. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt
anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980082873

Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes (Leicester, 1946) se educó en Londres y Oxford. Está considerado como una de las mayores revelaciones de la narrativa inglesa de las últimas décadas. Entre muchos otros galardones, ha recibio el premio E.M. Forster de la American Academy of Arts and Letters, el William Shakespeare de la Fundación FvS de Hamburgo y es Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Reviews for The Sense of an Ending

[judygibson-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Just because a book is short, don't assume it is slight. This was more impactful than I expected.

[kalliegrace · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure what to do with this one. It's been on my shelf for years, and having finally gotten round to it, I don't know what made me pick it up. The whole story hinges on one person withholding a piece of information from another for....what reason? I guess the theme of memories being fickle and only falling into place in retrospect with information from more parties was worth exploring. And the writing is fantastic. I think I just need fewer books of white men being clueless.

[evaberry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Highly astute observations of how memory works and how our attitudes towards life and other people can, in hindsight, hinge on small events.Somehow, I found the ending a slight let-down. Ultimately, Tony didn't have the responsibility for the events that the build-up had led us to believe.

[juva_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully written. Haunting. Sad. It is a story about the lies we tell to and about ourselves. It is a story about friendship and how little we end up knowing the people closest to us.

[Paul · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Nietzsche wrote, "Pride and memory waged a battle-- pride won." This succinctly states the thesis of this semi-philosophical novella with its unreliable narrator, Tony Webster at its core. Webster's self-remembered autobiography is disrupted by a document (a letter he penned long ago but conveniently "forgot") which is presented by the author as being incompatible with his view of himself as an unremarkable but basically kind gentleman with an ex-wife and daughter with whom he is on good terms. Though Tony somewhere pleads with regard to this letter, "it was only the expression of a moment in my life," he doesn't seem to believe that, and re-examines his entire life and character as something of a lived lie as a result. Introspection seems to come naturally to Tony, but he is alternately too quick to praise and condemn himself for his role in the lives of others.

Without giving anything away, his overwrought guilt about the fate of 2 other characters from much earlier in his life is predicated on an inflated sense of self-importance--again largely due to his discovery of his letter. However, it's not clear that Julian Barnes intended it to come off that way. The author seems to endorse the protagonist's somewhat morbid introspection as a means to explore the themes of unreliable memory and weighty self-deceptions to which we're all prone. Either way, the musings on the way we deceive ourselves by semi-consciously editing our memories to fit an acceptable self-image are neither new, nor are they given a new and prize-worthy treatment in this short novel.

Perhaps the problem is that Tony really is as ordinary and anodyne as he initially thinks. What makes him begin to think otherwise is the belief that a letter he wrote in haste, and the almost-adolescent jealousy and anger of a 20 year old, holds the key to a significant, if darker self lurking behind his life of quiet desperation. And the belief that it played a critical role in what he calls "the chain of responsibility" for the fate of others. Ultimately, it's the reader's call as to whether or not the protagonist's bouts of guilt, self-loathing, and the icy treatment he endures at the hands of the ex-girlfriend that gives him the letter in question, are justified by anything Tony actually did, or even wrote. I was not convinced that the tragic events for which he takes a good bit of responsibility really owe much to his agency.

Even putting that moral question of responsibility for the fate of others aside, this is not the most interesting exploration of the complex and elusive manner in which memories write and re-write themselves in ways that conceal as much as they reveal about the past, about the lives we have led. Like the character, the book itself strikes me as mediocre, despite some clever lines nested in its pages (or the sound-file for the audio version).

[aront-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Barnes is an amazing crafts person and the writing here is brilliant, the story exceedingly well crafted. Everything about the story is perfectly executed, including the “surprise” ending. However, the genre—the inner life of an ordinary modern person—is not my favorite (I read it as a friend recommendation). This book reinforces why: usually at the end, the character and you end up in the same place, with no useful insights to take away about that ordinary inner life. In a short story it can work great and have real emotional impact. As a novella or novel-meh.Bottom line: Only read it if you are already a fan of the genre.

[romonko · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book won the Man Booker Prize of 2011. It won for a very good reason. The book is a small masterpiece. In so few words Julian Barnes tells us about what it means to live a life. Tony Webster is the narrator of this book, and also the narrator of his life story. I'll say up front that he is an unreliable narrator, and this book was written long before this type of story telling became so common. This is the way a master handles this form of storytelling. The story is told in two time frames. The first is in the 1960's when Tony was growing up, going to school through to university. The second is 40 years later when he is in his sixties. As Tony looks back on his life he remembers only the things that he has trained his brain to remember until something happens that forces him to pry open some buried memories that change the way he sees himself. He realizes as he looks back that though he can't change his history, he can come to terms with it while examining it from his 60 plus years. So much is touched on in this book. Friendship, family, love, relationships, marriage, children and death all are a part of this book--so much is said and in so few, well-crafted words. The ending is one that will surprise you and when you close the book you will realize what Tony has been trying to say throughout. I notice that many reviewers do not care for the ending and I understand why. It's visceral and real and made me examine my own thoughts about life and decisions that I've made. But, even so, from my perspective I don't think the ending could have been more perfect. The ending answered all Tony's questions about his life, and it answered mine as to what Julian Barnes was trying to say in this little masterpiece. This is a book to read and read again. Highly recommend.

[charon07 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much though I dislike fiction with ambiguous, unresolved endings, in this case the open-endedness serves a purpose, which is to illustrate the book's principal theme about the unreliability of memory and the uncertainty of history. I do like fiction that forces you to reexamine what's gone before, and this novel has that in spades. Maybe it's my age, however, but I thought the narrator's self-examination throughout the book, up until the ending, was far more satisfying than the ending. I suspect, however, that like Tony I still "just don't get it."

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

adult fiction; human drama/family secrets. Short and intriguing enough to easily read in a few sittings.

[suesbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book seemed familiar, and I appreciated it much more the second time I read it. The author talks so much about how our memories are so important in fashioning our lives, and how we are so certain of our memories even many years after they've passed. The characters were very interesting and so many symbolized different philosophies. This time I was very surprised by the complicated ending.

[kittycunningh-815148 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found the ending a little garbled and there were still some unanswered questions, but I enjoyed the story and the telling of it nonetheless.

This is NOT a happy book. (I don't require happy endings.)

[paulmorriss · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure this deserves to be a classic, but very evocative, especially if you watch Downton Abbey.

[teresa1966-460496 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was enjoying it until that ending.

[stephkaye-923485 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Part of my problem with Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending was the hype. EVERONE was talking about this book, so I read it with an attitude of "Well, what's everyone so crazy about? This better be good." And it was good, but not that good.

The other problem I had with this book is that it's a mystery, and I hate mysteries. Either I figure it out quickly, so I feel cheated, or I don't feel I could have figured it out even if I tried...so I feel cheated. The latter is the case here, and I think I like that even worse. There is NO WAY we could have figured out what happened, and if you did, it was just a lucky guess.

So, it's an interesting, quick read, but frustrating in the end.

[carriewuj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This reminded me a bit of A Separate Peace by John Knowles. It is the same situation of a youthful action motivated by insecurity and jealousy that has far-reaching implications for all involved. Tony Webster had a group of 3 mates in prep school: Alex, Colin and newcomer Adrian Finn. He becomes the one they all want to please and impress. The entire group fancies themselves intellectuals and scholars, but Finn is the real deal and goes on to study philosophy at Cambridge. The group drifts a bit at different schools and locations, but keep in touch via letters (it was the 60s). Tony dates Veronica Ford his first real romance. She is a smart girl, who is just a step above his social class and he can't commit due to his own issues of inferiority. When she begins to date Adrian, he fires off a mean missive to the two of them and cuts off all contact. Tony is actually remembering and reflecting on all this from middle age when he gets an unexpected inheritance, gets back in touch with Veronica and learns the real story of what happened to Adrian after they lost touch. "If nostalgia means the powerful recollection of strong emotions -- and a regret that such feelings are not longer present in our lives -- then I plead guilty." "It strikes me that this may be one of the differences between youth and age: when we are young, we invent different futures for ourselves; when we are old, we invest different pasts for others." 88-89 Coming to terms with the past and his role in it becomes a hard reckoning for Tony, but knowledge and understanding also give him freedom and peace. Excellently crafted from beginning to end and back to the beginning again.

[ken5me5old5mate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes Pretty much someone re-visiting their past which they believed to be like that, only to discover that it is like this. Painful at times and frustrating at others. A story for everyone that dares to go back.

I found it hard to put this down once I started it. It is so well written it makes you want to cry from sheer pleasure. A story of realisation, loss and self delusion, it's humanity will make you still.

Quietly Brilliant

[shannonrose4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book. Amazing. A book you will want to re-read as soon as you finish it. The twist is unexpected, and makes you wonder about your own memories. This is a book where what really happened and what is remembered to have taken place collide.

[flydodofly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The main character looks back at the time of youth, when the world seemed to be full of possibilities. Over the course of years he chose not to seize the excitement, and opted, or settled, for whatever life brought along, which was nothing remarkable. In his 60s now, he is confronted with information that makes him question his younger self, and the way he looks at his life and his personality in general. Julian Barnes puts us side to side with the „hero“ of the novel, and let‘s watch as he slowly becomes uncertain of himself, and of the relationships to people he thought he used to know. During this process of deconstruction, more and more of his loneliness is revealed, and it stands for each and every one of us. There is so much to find in the novel, so many interesting views and ideas and although very still and simple, it is about things as large and important as they come: matters of life and death, literally.Quotes:P.x „...mental states can be inferred from actions. That‘s in history. [ ]whereas in private life, I think the converse is true: that you can infer past actions from current mental state.P.x: ...how we react to damage: Some admit the damage, and try to mitigate it, some spend their lives trying to help others who were damaged; and then there are those whose main concern is to avoid further damage to themselves, at whatever cost. And those are the ones who are ruthless, and the ones to be careful of.P.x: the more you learn, the less you fearP. 93: We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe. We imagined we were being reponsible but were only being cowardly. What we called realism turned out to be a way of avoiding things rather than facing them.P. 99: In my terms, I settled for the realities of life, and submitted to its necessities: if this, than that, and so the years passed. In Adrian‘s terms, I gave up on life, gave up on examining it, took it as it came.P. 103: So my emotions as they actually are don‘t concern her. She prefers to assume that I have certain feelings and operate according to that assumption.P. 105: Sometimes I think the purpose of life is to reconcile us to its eventual loss by wearing us down, by proving, however long ittakes, that life isn‘t all it‘s cracked up to be.

[mercef_9 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

As annoying as I hope this review will be.

[pdcread · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Tony first meets Adrian at school, and he joins their little clique, where they form a friendship that they pledge will last for the rest of their lives. After school, they start to form relationships, and find work and meet occasionally. Tony meets Veronica, and introduces her to his friends in London one day. He has a odd relationship with her, and a one night stand after they had split, and she ends up with Adrian. He sends them an angry letter, warning Adrian of something that her mother had said to him. At some point after, Adrian tragically commits suicide.

Fast forward to his twilight years; Tony has been married, had a daughter, and is now divorced, by on good terms with his ex. He receives a small sum of money and two documents from Veronica's mother in her will. He contacts her as she has one of the documents. And so begins a trawl through his past, attempts at reconciliation, and a desire to understand what happened and how Veronica's life turned out.

It is a short book, only 150 pages or so. The writing is tight, controlled and precise, and had a delightful brevity and intensity. However, I felt that the plot was not particularly strong. It has a mystery in the book, but is mainly about the perils of revisiting old flames when the parting was not on good terms. It is a shame because I was hoping for better things from this.

[jphamilton-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The bookstores that my late wife and I owned and operated for 22 years had three different names: Mansion Book Merchants, The Next Chapter, and Raven’s Tale. Each time we needed a name, Vicky and I would bat around her old favorite—Old Friends. It never stuck, because it always seemed better suited for used books. However, today I sat down and reread Julian Barnes fine book, The Sense of an Ending, because it has definitely become over the years one of my old friends. Julian Barnes is such a literary treasure, and this book has been always been such a pleasure to read. In these times of sheltering at home, this was a guaranteed virus-free old friend—one that I could hold, touch, and even fondle for over an hour of reading. Come on, admit it, between the tactile thrill of the paper and the binding, the smell of it all, the look and the sound of flipping those pages, and the ecstasy of great writing, many of us love to fondle our books. My copy is a British edition and the endpapers and the page edges are all black. Combining that look with the great cover makes it a beautiful example of a physical book. The book follows a young man named Tony through his horny, book-obsessed school years, early friends and loves, marriage and divorce. His most distinctive school friend was Adrian, who later took his own life. Adrian’s diary becomes central to Tony’s life through a series of events, and the story line displays Barnes writing to the fullest. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read this short novel since its publication in 2011, but every time I’m thankful that Vicky’s enthusiasm for Barnes rubbed off on me. Right now, another artist that she introduced me to, the musician/songwriter John Prine, is struggling for his life in a hospital with Covid-19. [I’ve written myself into an emotional corner that I can’t get out of, but I’ll just say that I’m sure to reread this book again someday.]

[piemouth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was glad I read this all at once, on a plane. I was pleased with myself for figuring out the mystery at its heart - at least some of it - because usually I have trouble when things aren't spelled out. I found it really moving, the ideas about memory and selective memories and how things can look after time goes by. A lot of the Goodreads reviewers utterly detested the narrator. I thought he was a certain kind of rigid person we've all known, but found him fallible like most of us, not detestable. I actually was far more annoyed at the woman in the story even though I realize that puts me into the detestable category for some readers. She was so frustrating!However, in retrospect, some things that the narrator reveals made me question his truthfulness about the rest of his story, so I may re-read it soon. I also have trouble realizing a narrator is unreliable and probably have with this book.

[belgrade18 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent writing, but it's more like a short story than a novel. Some great turns of events, especially in the last thirty pages, however it's not very complex (despite some great thoughts by the protagonist). Highly recommended if you want a quick read of a Man Booker Award winner, but it won't change your life.

[gittel_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not sure if I would have recognized this as a great book, if I hadn't been told that it was. But for a story that breaks all the rules of story telling, this brief novel truly took my breath away. I found myself contemplating its ending for hours after I'd finished it. The author plays an interesting game of hide and seek, placing clues and symbols tucked away throughout the book, daring the reader to find them all.

[alphawoman_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Young adult suicide! I reveled in this type of book as a youth (teenager) and the moment (page 51) suicide was introduced something long ago and far away fired up.I liked this quite a bit. My own youth and youthful follies were called in for a through roughing up. Maybe because I am also in my 60's I grasp everything he is saying. Rewriting your story, your history so its more acceptable. But history is written only by those who remember. The ending, though I suspected something connected to the will and diary had to do with an illicit relationship. Tony saw the possibilities of a unique creature hidden behind a spatula and a frying pan.The ending was very sad and revealing of the relationship between mother and daughter. This book, consequently, could only he written by a man. Relationship between mother and daughter much deeper than a weekend encounter.Damn, this book really causes one to think. Perhaps the mother did not like her family at all.

[jonimfisher · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I don't get it. Not my kind of story at all. While I enjoyed the way the author described the musings of Tony, I came away from the story sad that I had lost those hours of my life reading about his.

[rosareads · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found the denouement capturing, however, not the pages I read coming up to it. I like this author, but this book was disappointing.

[eoin-311239 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Subtle and exceptionally well made, file under "jewel". The machinery of this book is so smooth as to be invisible, edgeless. The only technical complaint can be "too clever". Read at once (both immediately and in one sitting).

[carmenere_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book, has a similar feel to A Separate Peace, reminding readers that careless thoughts, words and deeds related to a friend can have dire circumstances long into the future. As in A Separate Peace, the reader feels some sort of dread. In this case, the main character, Tony Webster recants his life when a certain event triggers memories long repressed.Wonderful writing. The characters and settings are well drawn and life like. The dialog, thought provoking. Surely, this is part of the reason why this novel was the 2011 winner of the Man Booker prize. It certainly is capable of having the reader reflect on his/her own life. What might we have said flippantly that had some lasting affect on a friends life but were not aware of till decades later? I highly recommend this novel.

[jonfaith · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My wife I dove into books and then swapped such after we finished. This was successful in removing some of the pus and sting from a Manchester Derby humilation on the Lord's day. I said nothing in vain and pledged a tribute, time was steeped in contemplation and I thought about Mr. Barnes. I had checked this out from the library two days before it won the Booker; he has been a friend for years. All of that appears so much gloss, so removed from the quiddity. The kernal of being is absent, memory is a stream from which nothing is extracted intact.