The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

May 9^th was Brenda’s turn to host our meeting.  Brenda now lives outside of Houston, so she had to be creative in planning our get together.  She made arrangements for us to meet halfway in the quaint little town of Round Top.  Diana was kind enough to drive us girls to Royers Round Top Café.  Salads and pasta dishes were enjoyed before Brenda ordered a tray of decadent pies to be shared with everyone.  Then Brenda generously paid for all our meals – thank you, sweet friend!  We stopped on the café porch, decorated with flea market and antique finds, for a photo opportunity.

We then had the pleasure of walking over to the Round Top Library where we sat in the shade of their beautiful community garden to discuss our book.  Once our discussion was complete, we met the librarians at the Round Top Library and received a quick history of the converted Lutheran church building, shopped their book sale, and became card carrying members of their library :) If you have never visited their library, I highly recommend it. Round Top Family Library

Synopsis:

In The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes introduces the reader to the main character, Anthony (Tony).  In the beginning of the book, he is at prep school pompously debating philosophical questions and theories with his 3 best friends.  By the end of the book, Tony is retired and still trying to answer questions, the main one being why one of his best friends, Adrian, committed suicide while in college.  As he journeys towards that answer, more questions are created, and Tony finds himself more and more unsure about what is genuinely the truth in his memories of the past.

Comments:

Brenda came to our meeting prepared with a list of thought-provoking questions.  The first one she asked:  What does the title of this book mean?  We found various meanings depending on which way you understood the word ‘sense’ to mean in that title.  Was it ‘sense’ as in a feeling? Or was it ‘sense’ as in making sense?  We agreed that either way could be appropriately used and fit well with the story.

Another quandry: Tony’s ex-girlfriend, Veronica, repeatedly told him, “You just don’t get it.  You never did, and you never will.”  What exactly was it he was not getting?  The dysfunction in her family?  Or what motivated Veronica to behave the way she did?  And why did she expect him to be able to figure it out when five intelligent, cultured women sure couldn’t figure it out, either?!

Veronica’s mother, Sarah, bequeathed five hundred pounds to Tony in her will.  Tony had only met her once when he visited over a weekend during his college years and had no more contact with her in the years afterwards.  Therefore, Tony is baffled as to why she left him that sum of money upon her death.  When Veronica mentions it she calls it “blood money”.  Was Sarah feeling guilty for Adrian’s death or for misleading Tony or for how Veronica treated Tony when they dated?

If there was a timeline of events, it would show that Adrian was only three months into his relationship with Sarah when he committed suicide.  So did he know at that time that she was pregnant with his child?  We have to assume the answer to that question is ‘yes’, because in the small portion of his diary which Tony receives there is an equation which alludes to his knowledge of a baby on the way.  This is the one interesting facet which kept our attention the longest and made us feel like we at least comprehended one portion of this book!  One of the formulas a² + v + a¹ x s = b seems to be Adrian’s way of connecting the people who played a role in the creation of baby.  Anthony (a²) dated Veronica (v) and introduced Veronica (v) to Adrian (a¹) who then dated Adrian (a¹) and gave reason for introduction to her mother Sarah (s).  Up until Adrian (a¹) is connected to Sarah (s) the formula uses addition, but once Sarah (s) comes into the equation, he uses multiplication, an operation of higher magnitude than addition.  The result of this relational formula is b for Baby.  Did Adrian use multiplication in that portion because he truly felt that his relationship with Sarah was the strongest and most powerful or because its result was the most impactful in the form of a new life?

Other unsolved mysteries for us included the odd horizontal wave that Sarah gave Tony when he left from his visit to her home and the two references to “the mother” by Veronica’s brother, Jack, when speaking to his mum. 

We came away from this book and discussion with more questions than answers!  However, we did find a couple of important reminders about life and how we should approach it.  As Adrian’s relational formula showed, one event can change the course of many lives.  If Tony had not introduced Veronica to Adrian and then later challenged Adrian to visit with Veronica’s mom and written the hateful letter to them both, then perhaps Adrian would not have participated in the adulterous affair and ultimately committed suicide.  The other life lesson it seems Tony learned too late was not to settle for the realities of life and so become average in every way: “Average, that’s what I’d been, ever since I left school.  Average at university and work; average in friendship, loyalty, love; average, no doubt, at sex….Average at life; average at truth; morally average.”  (Chapter 2, p. 73)  Perhaps all that over-philosophizing Tony and his friends indulged in for years with the idea of being superior in thought and idea actually created a jaded view of life and left him with the inability to find joy and adventure around him.  He appears to have settled without much emotion for whatever life handed him, including his own divorce. 

Memorable Quote:

In keeping with the theme that life should be truly lived and not merely endured or philosophized about, Tony reflects, “Had my life increased, or merely added to itself? This was the question Adrian’s fragment set off in me. There had been addition – and subtraction – in my life, but how much multiplication? And this gave me a sense of unease, of unrest.” (Chapter 2, page 65).

FAB Rating:

**^1/2 (2-1/2 stars out of 5)

When a storyline leaves you with more questions than answers, then your book discussion is mainly composed of unanswered questions...lots of them! There was very little meat to chew on other than the dissecting of Adrian's formula. Ultimately, for the FAB ladies there really was no sense of an ending with this book!