TONIGHT 9-10PM! Come and meet the marvellous JULIAN BARNES, multi-award winning author of our February Book of the Month, THE NOISE OF TIME.

[TillyMumsnetBookClub]

JULIAN BARNES is the author of twenty previous books, including The History of the World in 10 1/2 chapters, Flaubert’s Parrot, Metroland, England, England, Arthur and George and Levels of Life. The New York Times described him as ‘a literary decathlete’ – he is a master of a hybrid form of fact blended with fiction, equally happy writing novels or essays, endlessly inventive and consistently erudite and elegant. The Noise of Time, his first full-length work of fiction since the 2011 Booker Prize-winning The Sense of an Ending, is set in 1930s Russia. The composer Shostakovitch has begun sleeping outside his apartment door so that when Stalin's men arrive to take him to the Big House, they will not abduct his wife and daughter too. Pravda’s review has denounced his latest opera as ‘a muddle’; it only took a short while to graduate to ‘enemy of the people’. Power has begun to take an interest in him and Power will now hold the balance of his fate. As Shostakovitch reflects on his career, his family and his various mishaps and misdemeanours, the relationship between art and society is explored and uncovered. The Noise of Time is a brilliant reflection of one man’s consciousness, amid the fear and terror of authoritarian rule. Completely gripping and informative and entertaining, it is a classic Barnes concoction.

You can find an excellent, detailed profile on Barnes and all his books in The Observer

Random House have 50 copies of The Noise of Time to give to Mumsnetters: to claim your copy please fill in your details on the book of the month page. We’ll post on the thread when all the copies have gone. If you’re not lucky enough to bag one of those, you can always get a Kindle edition or hardback copy here

We are honoured and delighted that Julian Barnes will be joining us to answer your questions about The Noise of Time, his previous award-winning novels and his exceptional career on Tuesday 23rd February, 9-10pm. Please feel free to discuss the book here throughout the month and then come and meet Julian on the night, and ask him a question or simply tell him what you thought of the book. It’ll be a fascinating chat, very much hope you can make it…

Are you disciplined when you write - so set yourself word targets or similar to reach on a daily basis, or are you more free flowing?

I'm so glad Julian didn't say which bits of the book are 'true' and which are imagined. I don't want to be disillusioned.

In a way, it's all true. That's why it speaks to us as readers.

Hello Julian- when do you usually write? Morning or evening? I am about to start an introduction to scriptwriting course- any tips at all? Thank you.

@AnnaAsh

I loved the book, so a big thank you to Julian for talking to us tonight. I have two questions if that is ok. Firstly, could you say something about the title of the book The Noise of Time, and how you decided on that, as the phrase comes up on a few occasions and time seems to be a big theme in the book. Secondly, there are some really fascinating moments in the book, for example Dmitri's christening when the priest suggests his name, and the way he waits for the lift at his apartment. Were these in any way based on fact or did you create them?

I invented the title myself to describe the howl of politics and current events, which drives out the inner life and artistic creativity. Then I discovered that it was already the title of an autobiographical piece by Mandelstam. But it turns out that he might well have got it from Blok, who has a line about the sound of history's pages being turned. So most titles have an infinite regression to them.

The christening story is authentic. Waiting by the lift is problematic - he may or may not have actually done it. But that's the advantage of fiction to decide that certain things are true whether they are true in history or not.

@lazurda

Good evening Julian I'm about to start reading The Noise of Time having enjoyed many of your other works already. I love Talking it Over and Love Etc. My question's about something else - I gather you are a Leicester City fan - I presume you are enjoying your team's exploits this season - do you think they will win the title? Would be lovely if they did!

I was at the Emirates the other day and boy, we wuz robbed. In theory we've got the easiest run-in but we still have to play Chelsea and Manchester United, who both seem to be perking up. But after Gary Lineker's promise, I suppose I should offer to write a short story in my underpants if they win the title.

Hi Julian

I have only just seen that you are live on here tonight and so feel totally unprepared in thinking of a suitable question to ask. However, I would be a pretty rubbish fan if I didn't just say thank you. Thank you for A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, which I first read in my early 20s and which totally endeared me to your writing. Thank you for Letters from London, where I was delighted to discover that you too struggled with knowing when to use which and that. Thank you too for all your books before, in between and after. Mostly though, thank you for Levels of Life, a wonderful book, which I read after being widowed myself.

You are a truly gifted writer, and I have long admired your work. I very much look forward to reading The Noise of Time.

Chasing

@Pam100127

Thanks for the book. At times I was torn between the writing as a semi-fictional story and a semi-biography, and found myself in and out of what was fact and what was fiction. On the fictional side I would have enjoyed more dialogue...especially between Stalin and Shostakovich. Pages 79 thru 81 were very progressive and helped bring a reality and relevance to the undoubted tension Shostakovich was suffering. Also, the dialogue exchange between Shostakovich and Pospetov about the Chairmanship of the Russian Federation of Composers was excellent in raising the unspoken threat of not capitulating! On the biographical side I didn't find anything new apart from Shostakovich's apparent love of chandeliers! In the Author's Note I would be curious to know who the 'single source' about the happenings at The Big House referred to, was? As with all things connected with Shostakovich it was another perspective to his tortured life during that period and I welcomed the opportunity to read JB's take on it....thank you.

I don't know who the single source was. I just read that this was the case in one of the many Shostakovich books I consulted. When I asked Elizabeth Wilson about DDS waiting by the lift, she smiled enigmatically and answered, 'They said that about a lot of people...'

@CheeseEMouse

Are you disciplined when you write - so set yourself word targets or similar to reach on a daily basis, or are you more free flowing?

I'm disciplined over the long run. That's to say, I usually know when I start a book if it will take one year, two years or longer. I don't set myself a word target but more a target of some small advancement per day. And if I'm away from the book for more than a few days, I tend to get grumpy and bad to be around.

@flipflop77

Hello Julian- when do you usually write? Morning or evening? I am about to start an introduction to scriptwriting course- any tips at all? Thank you.

I think you just slowly learn what time of day your brain functions best and your body is least sluggish. For me, 10am till 1pm and then perhaps 5 till 7 in the evening. But it varies from book to book. For instance, I found with Arthur & George, which turned out to be my longest book, I blasted away all day, not even stopping in the early afternoon, which is usually down time for me.

Your book inspired me to read Testimony, the Shostakovitch memoirs. I remember at the beginning the editor/writer says he had to ditch the tape recorder because Shotakovtich would freeze at the sight of it, after all his official radio speeches. Do you think his music would have been markedly different had he been living in a different political environment?

@ChasingPavements

Hi Julian

I have only just seen that you are live on here tonight and so feel totally unprepared in thinking of a suitable question to ask. However, I would be a pretty rubbish fan if I didn't just say thank you. Thank you for A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, which I first read in my early 20s and which totally endeared me to your writing. Thank you for Letters from London, where I was delighted to discover that you too struggled with knowing when to use which and that. Thank you too for all your books before, in between and after. Mostly though, thank you for Levels of Life, a wonderful book, which I read after being widowed myself.

You are a truly gifted writer, and I have long admired your work. I very much look forward to reading The Noise of Time.

Chasing

Thank you very much. I hope you enjoy it.

@TillyMumsnetBookClub

Your book inspired me to read Testimony, the Shostakovitch memoirs. I remember at the beginning the editor/writer says he had to ditch the tape recorder because Shotakovtich would freeze at the sight of it, after all his official radio speeches. Do you think his music would have been markedly different had he been living in a different political environment?

Your friend is a genial liar. I have always said think, never ever thing.

Hi Julian, I have yet to read The Noise of Time though I have enjoyed so many of your other novels. I have just finished reading Helen Garner's This House of Grief which I found to be such a fascinating read - and I noticed that there was a quote from you on the back cover. Do you read much non-fiction? If so can you share with us some of your recommendations?

Hi Julian thanks for answering my question about research. Can I ask you another one. What are you working on next, are we allowed to know

@TillyMumsnetBookClub

Your book inspired me to read Testimony, the Shostakovitch memoirs. I remember at the beginning the editor/writer says he had to ditch the tape recorder because Shotakovtich would freeze at the sight of it, after all his official radio speeches. Do you think his music would have been markedly different had he been living in a different political environment?

That's a complicated question, but what we can clearly say is that Soviet officialdom killed his career as a composer of opera. After Lady Macbeth was suppressed, he never completed another opera, and many thought that this was the genre in which he would do his finest work.

I find the process of writing fascinating, as I don't think I would have the tenacity to do it (let alone the creativity)...

The Noise of Time was the first book I have properly read since having my baby, and so it's been a great introduction back into the joy of reading. Thank you.

Hi Julian
Can I ask if you manage to find much time to read for pleasure and how you decide which books go on your "to be read" pile? Thank you.

@Countrygirl70

Hi Julian, I have yet to read The Noise of Time though I have enjoyed so many of your other novels. I have just finished reading Helen Garner's This House of Grief which I found to be such a fascinating read - and I noticed that there was a quote from you on the back cover. Do you read much non-fiction? If so can you share with us some of your recommendations?

Yes, I read a fair amount of non-fiction - literary biography, some history. I've recently read the two books by the Nobel Prize-winning Svetlana Alexievich which have so far been translated into English. Zinky Boys is about the Soviet troops in Afghanistan and Chernobyl Voices, an oral history of the disaster, is truthful and terrifying. I also, somewhat to my surprise, much admired Andrew Roberts's biography of Napoleon.

@minsmum

Hi Julian thanks for answering my question about research. Can I ask you another one. What are you working on next, are we allowed to know

I realise I've published six books in the last six years, and I've just turned 70, so I'm taking a rest.

I didn't realize you look much younger in the picture on the dust jacket

@gailforce1

Hi Julian Can I ask if you manage to find much time to read for pleasure and how you decide which books go on your "to be read" pile? Thank you.

I don't think any of us has enough time to read all the books we want to. I'm not systematic. I tend to circle around a pile of unread books and let the mood guide me. At the moment I'm reading Laura Cumming's wonderful book about Velasquez and also dipping into Sean French's delightful 1999 anthology of writers on other writers. It should be reprinted.

I'm going to lower the tone. Whilst I really admire and love your main body of literature, I have a secret liking for the Duffy books. They, along with other British crime writers in the 80s sparked a decades long love affair with the genre, particularly the hard-boiled type. I know our copies are in the depth of the attic, but I couldn't resist buying the reissues, which stood the test of time.
Can't wait to read your latest "proper" book, but just to say thanks for Duffy, Dan.

I didn't get a MN copy but am looking forward to reading this eventually.

I have a complete set of Shostakovich symphonies on CD which I bought, bizarrely, for a tenner in Superdrug (yes, Superdrug, this is not an autocorrect) many years ago - I listened to them while going through a Shostakovich phase, but not for ages. Would you recommend listening to them on headphones while reading the book, or not?