The Sense of an Ending

By: Julian Barnes

Narrated by: Richard Morant

Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Man Booker Prize, Fiction, 2011

The powerful, unsettling, and beautifully crafted new novel from one of England’s greatest contemporary writers.

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour, and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life. Now Tony is retired. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. 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 Sense of an Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with the mutable past. Laced with trademark precision, dexterity, and insight, it is the work of one of the world’s most distinguished writers.

A complete and unabridged reading by Richard Morant.

©2011 Julian Barnes (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Elegant, playful, and remarkable.” ( The New Yorker)

“A page turner, and when you finish you will return immediately to the beginning . . . Who are you? How can you be sure? What if you’re not who you think you are? What if you never were? . . . At 163 pages, The Sense of an Ending is the longest book I have ever read, so prepare yourself for rereading. You won’t regret it.” ( The San Francisco Chronicle)

“Dense with philosophical ideas . . . it manages to create genuine suspense as a sort of psychological detective story . . . Unpeeling the onion layers of the hero’s life while showing how [he] has sliced and diced his past in order to create a self he can live with. (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

“Barnes seems equipped to write with humour and elegance about anything he turns his attention to” ( Financial Times)

Really good book

Excellent narration too. I’m a bit unclear as to the ending but think I have it. I might listen again to be sure.
Very thought provoking story.

Selective Memories, Assumptions, and Regrets.

Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize for best fiction, The Sense of an Ending is a compact, deliberate, and extremely thoughtful story of the blind spots we all have when it comes to viewing our own actions, flaws...and perhaps even our own emotions.

We meet Tony at a point in his life when everything seems tidy and settled; his raised his daughter, retired from his work, and forged a friendly and supportive relationship with his ex-wife. He seems satisfied and proud that his life is well sorted, and that there are no loose ends or unfinished business he'd be leaving behind if the end was to come. He prizes and relies on this orderly world he believes he has created.

When a delivery from a lawyer arrives, with a message from a very unexpected source, he's forced to question the reality of his "tidy world". We watch his emotions grow from surprise, to curiosity, to (perhaps) obsession. We watch Tony learn that perceptions and memory can be misleading; and through this, we receive the lesson ourselves.

This book isn't for people that like their endings tied with a bow. Readers are given all the information needed to piece together what actually transpired all those years ago; but just like our main character, it's your job to finish putting the puzzle together.

The story does deal with adult content; you won't want to listen to this one in the car with your kids around. That said, it's a striking work with phenomenal narration, and I'm still thinking about it days after I finished.

Nostalgia with a sting in the tail

The middle-aged narrator is living in fairly comfortable retirement, divorced from his wife, and filling his time with virtuous but hardly strenuous pursuits when he receives an unexpected solicitor's letter informing him of a delayed bequest from the long-dead mother of a college friend. Difficulties ensue, and this brings him back in contact with an old girlfriend from the 1960s. The story unravels slowly with some fine and rather wicked social observations, leading to a surprise ending which I must confess I found initially rather difficult to understand. The narration is excellent and the writing is finely-honed and dryly intelligent as one has come to expect from Julian Barnes. He does this sort of thing less brashly than Martin Amis and slightly better than Ian McEwan.

Tour de Force?

Can a 4 and a half hour book ever be referred to as a "tour de force" -oxymoron isn't it? Well this one can as far as I'm concerned. The writing is crisp and clever and the story intriguing. Filling in the details is left to the mind of the creative listener. This creativity is an aspect I enjoyed for a change having listened recently to wonderful epics by Martin, Follet, Courtney and Gabaldon where filling in the blanks is seldom required. I highly recommend this book and encourage listeners, especially those who might be put off by its brevity, to give it a try.

Excellent Read

This book deserved the Booker Man Award it received. Very thought provoking with an interesting twist at the end.

Not deserving of the Booker Prize

I found the book dissapointing, having expected more of the Booker Prize selection. It is a failed attempt, uneven in its literary and narrative quality. The plot is very improbable, umrealistic and unbelievable. Compared to the many other Booker Prize winning novel of the past, I found it inferior.

My Own Sense Of An Ending

At 65, I find myself engaged in thinking about events in my life that took place when I was a younger man. Julian Barnes asks us if the events the way we remember them were the way they actually took place. I have posed this question to myself at times but I was astounded to see it as part of this book. This is a book that gets you thinking and wallops you over the head with an amazing ending. Although this is a short novel you will find yourself replaying many of the brilliant passages and constantly thinking about what you've taken in.

A Wonderful Book!

Would you listen to The Sense of an Ending again? Why?

Yes. It was a captivating story, beautifully written and spoken. Intelligent, emotional and filled with surprises. When the book was over, I said,

What other book might you compare The Sense of an Ending to and why?

I might compare it to Anna Quindlen's Every Last One or The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in the way it reaches core thoughts and emotions the reader has experienced.

Have you listened to any of Richard Morant’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not sure because I don't usually pay attention to the names of the readers, but he was absolutely perfect for this book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

For those of us who are about the same age as the narrator, Tony's continuing self-assessment, first as a reflection of who he thought Adrian was, and then after he realized the truth, was particularly moving.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially readers who are of an age when review and reflection on one's life history is more common.

Re-examined endings--penetrating insights of youth

What made the experience of listening to The Sense of an Ending the most enjoyable?

Compelling narrative that includes growing self awareness of the narrator as he dives deeper into remembering and re-examining critical relationships of his youth.

Don't bug me

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

'll write reviews when I feel like it. Please don't send me e-mails trying to guilt-trip me into doing work I don't necessarily want to do. I owe my opinion to no one, unless it's the author of the book I'm reading.