The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

This book won the 2011 Man Booker Prize & deservedly too. At only 163 pages, it’s an elegantly composed understated tale of imperfect recollections clouded by the passage of time & selective memory. There are no sympathetic characters & all are humanly flawed. Whilst not action packed, it’s genuinely suspenseful & not till the final page do we find out the truth, or at least what we believe may possibly be the truth. However, the most probable truth is that no one knows the truth since clearly, memories are unreliable.

The question recurring throughout the book is whether history is the lies of the victors, the self-delusions of the defeated or simply, the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious nor defeated. Another nice quote is ‘History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.’

A truly compelling masterpiece, this book is full of symbolism. It merits & probably benefits from a 2nd reading. I'm still wondering whether there's some significance to the soundtrack that runs throughout the book - ‘Time Is On My Side’ by the Rolling Stones.

Unreservedly, 5 stars.