I've been a fan of Julian Barnes' writing since I read his book "Flaubert's Parrot" - or was it "The Sense of an Ending"? - and have followed him through "A History of the World in 10½ Chapters" and "England, England" and "The Only Story", and several others.
He's just turned eighty two days ago, and "Departure(s)" is supposed to be his last book. It's all about looking back, facing the future, and coming to the end of life, written in Julian Barnes' inimitable style (no, not 'inimicable', Des, which means something totally different!)
My greatest pleasure when reading his books is simply being with Julian Barnes as he thinks on the page: wry, elegant, pragmatic and self-aware. He is a warm and generous writer, and he makes me feel as though I were in the room with him, pondering life’s big questions.
This book has only just been released and won't show up in my op-shop for years to come, if ever - after all, this is Batemans Bay, and who reads Julian Barnes in Batemans Bay? Indeed, who reads at all, which may explain why there are no more bookshops in the Bay. BOOKTOPIA sell it on ebay for $34.98 - that's less than the price of one share in BHP which is just recovering from yesterday's $1-drop - so I clicked here.
