Booker Prize Winner THE SENSE OF AN ENDING - have you read it?

[TillyBookClub]

I am a longtime Julian Barnes fan, but haven't yet read the newly annointed Booker-winning novel.

Worthy of the prize or not his best... Your thoughts, please?

I loved it, but as someone who has studied history at postgrad level and is already facinated by the idea of history and flawed memory I am aware that the book was quite 'me' so can't be totally objective about it!

Just finished it. I liked it - found it almost un-putdownable - but not entirely sure why... iykwim. Interested to know what others thought. (If fact, was going to start a thread on it myself!)

I really liked it. I read the full shortlist this year (long term ambition finally fulfilled) and while I liked a number of them, this was my favourite. Like celticlassie I found it compelling.

I was also just about to start a thread on this book. I'm on my second reading of it; I thought it was great but still have lots of questions. I realise I should be trying to relax into the idea of the fallibility of memory etc., and not focusing on plot details, but I can't help it! Am bugged by the lack of concrete answers.

Anyone else read it and want to discuss?

I've just finished it and very much enjoyed it but was left feeling frustrated for the same reasons Sunnily.

I really need to know:

1. Did Tony have an affair with Veronica's mum?

and

1. What is the sigificance of Adrian Junior calling Veronica "Mary"

and

1. Why is Adrian Jnr so scared of Tony when they have never met?

I feel as if I have missed someting crucial, but I know its not a thriller, so may be missing the point entirely.

I am just at the point of the letter that he sent after the nonchalant postacard. I have no idea why I love it so much. It is very short!

I am going to buy it tomorrow and hopefully read over weekend - will be back with my thoughts...

Oh, and I forgot the most crucial question - What does Veronica mean by "Blood money"?

The 'Mary' thing annoyed me. What was that about? Because it wasn't just him, the others knew her as that too.

The fear thing, I never got either, unless it was because of the way he approached him the first time?

Unavailable - I need those answers too!

• SPOILERS ALERT -

Also:

• What was the significance of Veronica's Mum wave when Tony left after the weekend?
• Why did she later leave him £500?
• Was Veronica (and her brother) really superior and condescending, or did Tony just have an inferiority complex? Was it mean of Veronica to say Tony should have a lie-in on that weekend, as Tony was sure it was?
• Is it possible that Tony could have slept with Veronica's mum and not remember it?
• What was going on in Veronica's family?

Just finished it. I think I,ve got it, but I need to reread itt (spoiler alert). So, adrian got sarah pregnant. Or did he? Because why have a1 and a2 in the baby equation if tony wasn't a possible father?
Then he killed himself, leaving his diary to the mother of his child. She then left the diary to tony plus 'blood money' usually paid by criminal to buy victim's silence. Veronica changed o her second name after her brother was born, to disassociate? What jack was about, no idea.

LOVED it. But wasn't quite sure about blood money either...

Read it yet Tilly? I've just finished reading it for the second time, interested in your thoughts.

Resurrecting this thread because I've just finished the book, and I have the same questions as SunnilyEnough and others. Anyone fancy discussing the relevance of the £500, and the name change with me?

Definitely the winner - I read all six Booker nominees (well, read five, found Pigeon English too grim and seriously depressing to finish reading) - and Julian Barnes' novel definitely leapt out as the one that would win, though I really liked Carol Birch's Jamrach's Menagerie too.

The significance of the £500? I discussed this with a bookclub friend - I thought it represented the war reparations by Germany which helped to bring about WWII, since the first part of the story set in the late sixties/early seventies represented WWI. My friend tough it was blood money.

Because why have a1 and a2 in the baby equation if tony wasn't a possible father?

It wasn't technically just a baby equation , it was an equation representing the whole damned mess - and what does Finn's way of representing it tell you about Mr Moral Sciences? I think that one of the meanings of the title, a less-obvious one, is The Sense of Finn (in both senses!). As I posted in another thread yesterday, Finn = fin = The End. Finn is the Alpha and Omega - he's certainly the Alpha Male at school.

Seriouslytwisted, I have the other five shortlisted books in my reading pile. Good to know you enjoyed most of the others too. I like your conclusions. We're discussing the book at our Feb book group - I may quote your posts to see what the others think. Thanks for your input.

AgentProvocateur - thank you!
I just found this book absolutely breathtaking, in a kick in the solar plexus kind of way. And as my friend said, what makes it even more amazing is that none of the three main protagonists are remotely likeable, yet still you want to find out what happened.

What is the sigificance of Adrian Junior calling Veronica "Mary"
Unavailable - it seems to me that there might be a simpler explanation for this one. 'Veronica' is one hell of a name for a young child to pronounce, especially one who is brain damaged, it has four syllables and it doesn't easily shorten. 'Mary ' is very much easier - after all, one of the first utterances of our little darlings all those years ago was 'mumumumum', wasn't it?

But I no longer have a copy of the book so can't re-read it and check exactly what was written.

Not that I mean to imply he's young now, clearly he isn't, but that's the name he'd have known her by from the beginning - and it also implies she was more of a mother-figure to him than a sister, however reluctant she was to play that role (Doesn't the whole situation make your blood run cold - your boyfriend prefers your MOTHER, and then you're left to pick up the pieces when the bastard terminally opts out of all responsibility!)

Hello, I've just finished reading this too - thought it was very good.

My view on the £500 is that it was almost a thank you from Sarah as a recognition that Tony had (inadvertently) been responsible for introducing Adrian to Sarah - first by introducing Adrian to Veronica, and then in his letter by instructing Adrian to speak to Sarah to hear her warnings about her daughter - and maybe that's what he did and the rest followed. Sarah's letter says she thought Adrian was happy in the last few months (although given his suicide he can't have been that happy).

I can't tie this to the blood money quote - maybe that's how Veronica saw it, but it can't mean to literally buy Tony's silence when he doesn't 'get it'.

What do you think?

Not sure. I wonder if Tony slept with Sarah, too but is choosing to erase that from his history, and it was as a thank-you for that.

I think the £500 was a stroke of genius by Julian Barnes - most of the other loose ends are tied up, and the money really leaves the reader wondering. I usually forget books as soon as I've finished them, but I'm still thinking about this one.

I agree - there's so many different ways of looking at it that it does keep you thinking about it long after you've finished.

I wondered too about Tony having slept with Sarah - but re-reading the Section on that weekend, I'm not sure. There's a couple of odd bits where Sarah smiles at him 'like they shared a secret' and her wave goodbye when he leaves seems at least like she didn't want others to see. But still - I can't quite get to the point where Tony has completely blanked any memory of sleeping with her. I wonder if Sarah is frankly a flirt and ws trying it on with Tony, but Tony just not getting it as usual (and hardly being in touch with his emotions) he just doesn't notice. Adrian however does, but can't face the consequences of his actions (possibly linked to his own mother leaving him? He was 'damaged' too.)

Perhaps the £500 is more of an apology from Sarah for her role in the chain of events leading to Tony's friend's suicide. Sarah seemed to think Adrian and Tony were closer than they were.

One idea I read somewhere else that I quite like is that one of the reasons Veronica is so wary of sleeping with Tony is she's afraid of her mother's example and the impact on her family (her father seems to be a heavy drinker even when Tony meets him and he dies from alcolhism only a few years after Adrian). Although I think she also senses Tony's emotional distance and eventually gives up on him.

Oh well - I suppose the point is it is unknowable and different versions and readings are possible even from the limited view of Tony that we've been given. Thanks for chatting.

I thought that Veronica's son was going to be Tony's child only he didn't realise. Think that would have been good actually. As it is I couldn't get worked up about it all - I find Barnes v hit and miss for me. Love some, not so fussed about others.

cookiemonster1980 - a bookclub friend also said she thought it was a thank you, it's definitely an interesting thought. Blood money is paid to the victim, and Anthony Webster is not a victim of this by any stretch of the imagination - he's the one least affected of the main protagonists. The £500 works as an analogy with war reparations but I just can't see it on a real life level.

I really don't think that the son was Tony's child. Surely if he'd have slept with the mother, it would have been mentioned somewhere in the narrative?