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Books
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The following represents a complete
listing of books written by Julian Barnes.
For books written by Dan Kavanagh, please visit www.dankavanagh.com.
All dust jackets are from the first UK edition.
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Metroland
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This was Julian Barnes's first novel.
It took between 7-8 years to write and draws heavily on his personal
experiences growing up in the suburbs of London. Written in three
parts, the first section focuses on the friendship of Christopher
and Toni and their childhood disgust for the bourgeoisie. The second
section finds Christopher in Paris during les événements
of 1968, where he misses out on the events because he is too busy
having sex. The last section outlines Christopher's life back in
the London suburbs, his marriage, his child, and his stable job.
When Toni returns to question Christopher's loss of their early
childhood philosophy, Christopher is faced with the dilemma of turning
his back on his wife and child or acknowledging that he has become
what he once despised. Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award for
a first novel. |
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Before She Met Me
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Barnes's second book
under his own name. Graham Hendrick divorces, remarries, and finds
himself consumed with jealousy as he investigates his new wife's
former love affairs. The novel is gritty, shocking, and quite moving
in its portrayal of the slow deterioration of its central character. |
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Flaubert's Parrot
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Barnes's
"breakthrough" novel about an English doctor's obsession with Gustave
Flaubert and his use of Flaubert's writings to make sense of his
own life. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize. |
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Staring at the Sun
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Barnes examines the ordinary
life of Jean Serjeant from her childhood in the 1920s through her
adulthood to the year 2021. Throughout her life, Jean learns to
question the world's idea of truth while she explores the beauty
and miracles of everyday life. |
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A History of the World in 10˝ Chapters
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Connecting themes of
voyage and discovery, History has become one of Barnes's
most studied and talked about novels. The mixture of fictional and
historical narratives provides Barnes the opportunity to question
our ideas of history, our interpretation of facts, and our search
for answers to explain our interaction and placement within the
grand scope of history. "Frequently brilliant, funny, thoughtful,
iconoclastic and a delight to read." -- Salman Rushdie, Observer
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Talking It Over
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The ostentatious Oliver
falls in love with quiet Gillian and wants to marry her. The problem?
Gillian has already married Oliver's best and oldest friend, the
somewhat stale but stable Stuart. Each character takes turns addressing
the reader in this bright and funny "he said/she said/he said" novel.
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The Porcupine
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With the collapse of
Communism in Eastern Europe, the deposed Party leader Stoyo Petkanov
is standing trial for crimes against his country. Unrepentant, Petkanov
faces his chief prosecutor, Peter Solinsky, questioning Solinsky's
(and the country's) ideas of history and nationalism. |
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Letters from London
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Barnes served as London
correspondent for the New Yorker between 1990-1995, writing
a series of essays under the collective title of "Letters from London".
Gathered here, along with a few essays published elsewhere, this
collection constitutes Barnes's first published book of non-fiction.
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Cross Channel
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A collection of short
stories that explore the connections, similarities, and differences
between England and France. |
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England, England
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Sir Jack Pitman creates
a theme park on the Isle of Wight that duplicates the tourist spots
of England. Within easy walking distance are replicas of Big Ben
(half size), Princess Di's grave, Harrods, Stonehenge, and the white
cliffs of Dover. Martha Cochrane is hired by Sir Jack as his official
cynic. The novel follows her development from childhood to retirement
as a nation struggles to retain its cultural identity. One of Barnes's
finest and funniest novels, England, England calls into
question the idea of replicas, truth vs. fiction, reality vs. art,
nationhood, myth-making, and self-exploration. |
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Love, etc
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In Talking It Over,
Stuart and Oliver fought for the love of Gillian. One of them won,
but what happened next? Love, etc catches up with this
trio after ten years only to find more chaos and confusion. Written
in the same style as the prequel, Barnes takes the form
a few steps further as the characters plead for the reader's attention.
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Something to Declare
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A collection of essays
on the subject of France and French culture written by Barnes over
the previous twenty years. Subjects include the Tour de France,
French food, and, of course, Gustave Flaubert. |
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In the Land of Pain
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A translation of Alphonse Daudet's notes written
during his suffering with syphilis.
Written by Alphonse Daudet; Edited & Translated
by Julian Barnes
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The Pedant in the Kitchen
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A collection of essays
on the preparation, consumption, and enjoyment of food |
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The Lemon Table
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A collection of short
stories on the nuances of life and its insurmountable end.
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Arthur & George
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A novel about low crime
and high spirituality; guilt and innocence; identity, nationality
and race; and thwarted passion. |
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Nothing to be Frightened of
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‘I don’t believe
in God, but I miss him.’ Julian Barnes’ new book is, among
many things, a family memoir, an exchange with his brother (a philosopher),
a meditation on mortality and the fear of death, a celebration of
art, an argument with and about God, and a homage to the French
writer Jules Renard. Though he warns us that ‘this is not my
autobiography’, the result is like a tour of the mind of one
of our most brilliant writers.
When Angela Carter reviewed Barnes’s first
novel, Metroland, she praised the mature way he wrote about
death. Now, nearly thirty years later, he returns to the subject
in a wise , funny and constantly surprising book, which defies
category and classification – except as Barnesian.
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