Nothing to Be Frightened Of
by Julian Barnes
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.99 You Save: $18.96 (76%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.48 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Nothing to Be Frightened Of
Book Review: Still Frightened
Summary: 1 Stars
Although there were interesting issues discussed about death and dying, Barnes also included a great deal of space to his childhood and memories about his parents with no particular relevance to what I thought was his central theme: reflections on death. The book lacked focus and an overall sense of direction. Barnes relied heavily on his own experience with the death of his parents and a number of French writers of the 18th and 19th century who wrote about this subject. In between writing about death and dying, he would bring up an incident from his youth (for example) when he was pushed by his brother on tricycle into a wall and how different people had different memories of what actually happened. This occurred a number of times and always left me puzzled as to why it was included in the book. Did he not have an editor to keep him on task? I can't really recommend this book and in the end it left me still frightened.Book Review: Always interesting but did not quite fit together....
Summary: 4 Stars
Barnes is bright, entertaining, reflective, and knowledgable and all those positives come together in this discursive treatise on death and many other not totally aligned subjects. I enjoyed my time with him but I kept expecting just a little bit more insight into the main subject: death or rather the fear of death and dying. And yet...I did feel a bit better after finishing the book. Less alone? More aware of the fact that many other people share the same fear? And that many other people have difficult and strained family relationships and awkward memories of things left unsaid and unresolved? I think so. Somehow we do feel that it is all going to come together by the end, even though we must know that it is unlikely to do so. The book brought that vain yet obviously fairly common hope to our attention and dashed it in a pretty gentle manner. For that I am grateful.Book Review: Thought provoking look at what death really entails
Summary: 4 Stars
Given that I regularly ponder death myself, I picked up this book. It's both insightful and humorous at times. I will admit I had some difficulty getting through, however. Most points of reference were to historical European figures, something I'm just not knowledgeable enough about. The language was also difficult to sift through at times, as the British vernacular differs quite significantly in some areas from standard American stuff that I'm used to. This is no knock on the author, I'm just not schooled enough in European matters to grab everything I should have from this book. All in all, however, I truly enjoyed the read. I would recommend it to anyone else who, at least sometimes, ponders their own death and what that really entails. Do not fret, you are not the first or last person to be puzzled/confused/happy/sad about it.Book Review: Hello Mr. Death, how are you?
Summary: 4 Stars
More and more we're getting books about aging and death as writers age and deal finally with "the one story that will prove worth your telling" (Conrad Aiken). Julian Barnes checks in with a beautifully written book that intereweaves his personal experiences with the deaths of those close to him with literary reminiscences about death and dying, and his thoughts about his own impending death. I say "impending" not because Barnes is terminally ill, but because all our our deaths are "impending" in one way or another. As Barnes insists, it's just a matter of time. This is a highly realistic account of what it feels like to come to terms with the most difficult subject, our own non-existence.Book Review: Masterful
Summary: 5 Stars
Nothing to Be Frightened Of
This is a masterful set of reflections on death and dying, simultaneously funny and serious, fresh and wise. Barnes compiles relevant and artfully integrated personal ruminations and anecdotes involving his parents, his brother, the French writer Jules Renard, and many other cultural figures. The title comes from Renard, who suggested that when one says of death that "there is nothing to be frightened of," the emphasis belongs on the NOTHING.