the sense of an Ending

The novel is a good candidate for the prize in that it does not follow one genre, but instead “It subverts not only the conventions of the where-are-the-snows-of-yesteryear fiction, where schoolboy friends end up with fascinating lives and careers…but also the redeemed-lonely-old-man novel” (thisislondon.co.uk).

Tony remains a lonely old man at the end, divorced with a daughter who he doesn’t see very often. Rather than being redeemed he is left with an even worse sense of guilt and remorse at the end of the book due to the reminder provided by the reappearance of the letter he once wrote as a young man. The contents of this letter leaves Tony feeling guilty, as it seems to tally with the events that occurred then, which Tony only discovers later.

The reminder of Adrian also serves to encourage Tony to evaluate his own life and the decisions he has made, and perhaps to encourage the reader to do the same. This message may have been part of the reason the novel took the Mann Booker prize of 2011, as the Booker prize is considered to be one of the most academic of literary prizes, and so focuses on novels that could be seen as more scholarly.      

Barnes presentation of Tony’s regret could be to encourage his readers to evaluate their own lives and ambitions by showing the regret that Tony feels when he realises that he “gave up on life, gave up on examining it…had abandoned ambitions…and how pitiful that was” (p99-100). By describing Tony’s feelings about his “average” life, Barnes could be trying to encourage his readers to continue evaluating their lives, to avoid finding themselves in the same situation.

However “The Sense of an Ending” is a confusing book when you first read it. The events it describes are spread over a lifetime, interspersed with descriptions of philosophy that make it hard to get your head around it all in a single sitting.  It also presents us with a view of a world which, rather than being clear cut, is strange and confusing, forcing the reader’s mind to work harder to decipher what is going on.

The novel could also be seen as having a depressing tone, as none of the characters seem to have a particularly happy ending. However on the other hand the novel does raise some important points. It discusses the mutability and subjectivity of memory, showing how seeing the letter he sent again is a shock for Tony.

The book also considers other themes, such as parent’s belief in the perfectness of their children. Although they make their own decisions, their parents see them as “innocents suddenly exposed to noxious influence” (p10), blaming their children’s friends for any of their child’s behaviour they don’t like. The exception to this rule is Veronica’s mother, who warns Tony not to “let Veronica get away with too much” (p28.)  

The combination of these themes, together with the structure of the book combine together to make it a good candidate for the Mann Booker prize, and why the judges selected it as the winner in 2011.