Talking It Over-Canadian (Hardcover)

Barnes made the simply written book be a real classic, just by having each character tell the story the way he sees it, each ones thoughts are put out so bluntly, and no mistakes in understanding are allowed.

How a small thing one day can change a life forever, how demanding and different people can be no matter how much they feel they know each other, and how essential consistent communication is no matter how much time passes by. Never take things for granted, keep the effort coming all the time...

A wonderful book to read, looking forward to reading more of Barnes works..

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The Author Julian Barnes places you in the midst of a triangle, albeit one with tangential appendages, and the story that transpires is only a bit less unusual than the form the book takes. The reader is expected to be the listener, provide a shoulder, and sometimes to refuse the proffered cigarette less neutrality is to be compromised. The menagerie Mr. Barnes provides as your newfound pals, range from the mundane, to the brilliantly eccentric, and when brought together form an eclectic group. The cameos played by the briefest of speakers often come under the heading "He/she lies like an eyewitness". All believe they speak the truth, but truth is relative, perspective is everything.

Mr. Barnes is egalitarian as you are chosen to lend your sympathetic ear to men, women, the young and the not so young. He also offers the occasional insight from a player whose appearance doesn't even rate that of a cameo, florists as psychologists.

He also takes the most familiar range of human emotion and demonstrates with an ease that is a bit disconcerting, how double edged and painful they can be, This is true whether he cuts a swath with a broadsword, or slips a stiletto from the hand of one friend to the vitals of another.

Triangles are used to describe the actions between 3 individuals. Mr. Barnes uses the same shape, but the complexity of his writing requires more than one. A pyramid might result, at once the most stable of shapes, and repeatedly pointed as well.

A wonderful commentator on the human condition.

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Barnes' book explores some very interesting styling touches through his use of three narrators. What is new about that, you ask? Well, in this case the three know that the reader has access to all of the stories so they attempt to "set the story straight" regarding what actually happened. Yes, as in 10 1/2 Chapters, Barnes seems to enjoy with playing with the idea of what is history and exactly how objective can it be; only the reader is juxtaposed into events much like in Calvino's work.

So who got the woman in the end? You'll have to read this one to find out. Who wrote the better book? I think Barnes' book is superior but you should read Amis' "The Information" to decide for yourself. And then you could look into Barnes' latest since he apparently continues the tale there.

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