The Metropolis

Huzzah to Julian Barnes

Kate Weston | Wednesday 19 October, 2011 09:59

The 2011 winner of the Booker Prize has just been announced and finally after three previous nominations, Julian Barnes is the winner with The Sense of an Ending.

When I finished reading this book I was sat on a tube train late at night, absolutely exhausted. When suddenly I sprung to life with shock and disbelief, forcing the people around me to stop in their tracks and wonder if I was entirely all there. A book that provokes this kind of uninhibited reaction in a crowded tube train definitely deserves its win.

Not only was the ending completely unpredictable, but the book itself forced reflection about parts of my own life I’d long forgotten. While Tony looks back on his life trying to make sense of a situation and uncovering new facts, you find yourself wondering how many of your own past experiences haven’t been as straightforward as they seemed.

A short but beautifully and thoughtfully written novel, this is truly worth the read and worthy of its award.

Although they didn’t win I would also thoroughly recommend reading AD Miller’s Snowdrops and Patrick deWitt’s Sisters Brothers. Snowdrops was so readable I almost missed my own birthday and Sisters Brothers took me somewhere further out of my comfort zone than I’d ever been before. Although they’re not winners they’re most definitely not to be over looked.

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