Gero

History isn’t the lies of the victors (…) It’s more the memories of the surivors, most of whom are neither victorious nor defeated.

Anthony Webster, the main character and narrator, tells a story about memory and the complications of reconstructing our own personal and collective history through unreliable registers, testimonials, and scattered evidence. The first of two parts is about Anthony’s teenage years. He talks about his group of friends, his first sexual experiences-or lack of them-with his girlfriend Veronica. Most importantly, he tells us about his friend Adrian Finn coming into his life. His group of friends were raised in families that were well off, so they did not have to worry about financial struggles. The kids could then dedicate themselves to discovering the intellectual world. They discussed Russell, Camus, Dvorǎk, and Tchaikovsky.

Yes, of course we were pretentious-what else is youth for?

The first part concludes when his group disbands, for every member was attending a different university. By then, Veronica and Anthony had broken up, but she and Adrian had become a couple.

The second part takes place in retired Anthony Webster’s present, around 35 years after the first part. He is now divorced but on good terms with his ex-wife. In fact, she seems to be his only friend, though she is not thrilled about it. They have a daughter, to whom he barely talks. Unexpectedly, Veronica reappears in his life after he inherits some money from her mother, despite having met her only once. Veronica and Anthony agree to meet. She still holds a document that her mother left to Anthony. Their age and the apparent passage of time do not make their encounters any less awkward.

The right amount of wit and self-loathing make this novel funny at times. Barnes succeeds in recalling the character’s youth, perhaps his own, without being trapped by nostalgia. Moreover, it seems to me that the overall tone regarding memory and testimonials is one of caution against the lies spawned by nostalgia. For instance, although he is the smartest and most mature of them all, Adrian Finn first struck me as a plain character when we read about him through the words of an old man reminiscing about his time as an impressionable teenager. Later, however, we see how incomplete Anthony’s understanding of Finn was after the former reads an excerpt of the latter’s diary.

After reading The Sense of an Ending, I am looking forward to more of Barnes' work.

Title. The Sense of an Ending Author. Julian Barnes Year. 2011 Publisher. Vintage Books

This review was originally posted on my Goodreads account on May 12, 2025.