This piece of literary art, written by the acclaimed writer Julian Barnes, explores the notion of one’s memory in a most deep and philosophical way.  It can be perplexing until the proverbial penny drops, leaving the reader with possibilities of their own past, which she or he might never have imagined.

The novel commences with the narrator, Tony Webster, recounting his time in sixth form when he and his two best mates befriend a new boy, Adrian Finn, who continuously makes simple statements with profound meanings, leaving his friends and teachers simultaneously confused and impressed.  Adrian’s apparent search for the truth provokes us to question the memories we have from our own past.  He quotes Patrick Lagrange a couple times to demonstrate this: “History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.”  This quotation remains with us for the entirety of the novel.  It becomes even more relevant when time skips forward forty years and Tony looks back at the years he spent at university with his first love, Veronica Ford, who broke up with him and subsequently began a relationship with Adrian Finn…..before the unthinkable happened.

Just as the characters in this book seem to set out to purposefully mystify one another, so too does the author baffle his readers with esoteric musings, which can leave one unhinged.  However, by the last page of this short novel, Barnes does give us some sense of an ending, which will likely stay with you for an extended period.

emmasharptv@gmail.com