Nothing to Be Frightened Of (Vintage)
by Julian Barnes
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Book Summary Information
Author: Julian BarnesEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-10-06
ISBN: 0307389987
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Nothing to Be Frightened Of (Vintage)
Book Review: Not That Interesting
Summary: 3 Stars
Except for some short stories I was impressed with I haven't read much Barnes, but I plan to read some of his novels.
I gave this "memoir" three stars because Barnes wrote it, not because I liked it, neither did I find it much worth the trouble. He does say some startling things but the work itself is like diving for pearls in a murky sea.
If you knew anything about the writers Barnes refers to throughout that would be better. I don't know enough about them, haven't read them and wasn't generally interested in his expertise in shaping them to his theme, which he doesn't always do. So there's a lot of stuff in here that I could do without.
His wit often falls flat, more like cynicism, and I wish he had found some reason to love his parents more, even if he didn't like them. Another failing, maybe in the author, is that I don't feel any passion. Either for life or for death. I don't know if this is the bland, maybe bitter fruit of his education or just his personality. And like my review, there's a lot of discontinuity and jumping around in the book to make it more like a buffet with a good number of things to eat that you don't like than eating off the menu and having a satisfying full course dinner.
I thought about reading it again, surely its better than this, but I'm not so sure I will because he didn't hold enough cards the first time around to convince me that its worth another try.
Summary of Nothing to Be Frightened Of (Vintage)
NATIONAL BESTSELLERA NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A memoir on mortality as only Julian Barnes can write it, one that touches on faith and science and family as well as a rich array of exemplary figures who over the centuries have confronted the same questions he now poses about the most basic fact of life: its inevitable extinction. If the fear of death is ?the most rational thing in the world,? how does one contend with it? An atheist at twenty and an agnostic at sixty, Barnes looks into the various arguments for, against, and with God, and at his own bloodline, which has become, following his parents? death, another realm of mystery.
Deadly serious, masterfully playful, and surprisingly hilarious, Nothing to Be Frightened Of is a riveting display of how this supremely gifted writer goes about his business and a highly personal tour of the human condition and what might follow the final diagnosis.
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