Available
from Vintage International beginning 29 May 2012!
The story of a man coming to terms with the mutable
past, Julian Barnes's new novel is laced with his trademark precision,
dexterity and insight. It is the work of one of the world's most
distinguished writers.
Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn
at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they navigated the girl drought
of gawky adolescence together, trading in affectations, in-jokes,
rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the
others, certainly more intelligent, but they swore to stay friends
forever. Until Adrian's life took a turn into tragedy, and all of
them, especially Tony, moved on and did their best to forget.
Now Tony is in middle age. He's had a career and
a marriage, a calm divorce. He gets along nicely, he thinks, with
his one child, a daughter, and even with his ex-wife. 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.
The unexpected bequest conveyed by that letter leads Tony on a dogged
search through a past suddenly turned murky. And how do you carry
on, contentedly, when events conspire to upset all your vaunted
truths?
Julian
Barnes has given very few interviews in which he discusses The
Sense of an Ending, but two of special note are available online
for a limited time.
Writers & Company with Eleanor Wachtel
An hour-long interview with Julian Barnes in
which the author discusses the novel, Nothing to Be Frightened
of, his family while growing up, and his thoughts on death
and the life lived. A wonderful and rich interview.
"I had learnt the ins and outs of not winning
the Booker...so it was nice to see the other side," Barnes
tells As It Happens host Carol Off during a recent interview.
"I don't start a book until I know that
I've got enough to finish it," he said. "Writing fiction
is absolutely a self-taught profession. You can go to creative
writing classes, but in my view, that helps you take short cuts.
But you can only essentially teach yourself, and so I learnt through
trial and error not to start a book until I was in a position
to see the end."
Designing the Cover Art for The Sense of an Ending
Suzanne Dean, Creative Director at Vintage Publishing,
discusses her process for designing the cover of Julian Barnes's
The Sense of an Ending.
The video shows numerous examples from her earliest
design thoughts through the final cover. Suzanne Dean also designed
the jacket for Julian Barnes's recent collection of short stories
Pulse.
Praise for The Sense of an Ending
"Its
effect is disturbing – all the more so for being written with
Barnes’s habitual lucidity. His reputation will surely be enhanced
by this book. Do not be misled by its brevity. Its mystery is as
deeply embedded as the most archaic of memories." -- Anita
Brookner
"a highly wrought meditation on ageing, memory
and regret" -- Justine Jordan,
The
Guardian
"it's a harsh tale rich in humane resonances"
-- Peter Kemp, The Sunday Times
"A slow burn, measured but suspenseful, this
compact novel makes every slyly crafted sentence count." --
Boyd Tonkin, The
Independent
"There is a fierce and unforgiving lucidity
about The Sense of an Ending, a mature reckoning with ageing that
makes its competitors seem petulant and shrill." -- Geordie
Williamson, The
Australian
"every word has its part to play" --
Michael Prodger, Financial
Times
Editions
London: Jonathan Cape, 2011.
London: LRB Bookshop, 2011 [Limited edition of 100
copies, 75 of which have been quarter-bound in Tusting Chestnut fine
grain leather with Rainforest cloth sides, numbered 1 to 75, and 25
copies fully bound in the same leather, numbered i to xxv].
Julian
Barnes has given very few interviews in which he discusses The
Sense of an Ending, but two of special note are available online
for a limited time.