Devastating Nature of Memory and Past in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of An Ending

Touching upon controversial issues such as

suicide, questioning of sanity, accumulation of memories and events in the

past, Julian Barnes’ Man Booker-winning novel The Sense of An Ending opens up for discussion the supposition that

past incidents are easier to follow

and understand from the historical perspective, that one can see an incident in

its entirety, more objectively, and from various angles with the passage of

time, which allows for a more accurate account of that incident. The recurring

theme of this novella is the accuracy, or inaccuracy, of memory, allied with

the effects of time. The major character is forever musing on memory, history

and truth. Revelations prompt further re-evaluation and interpretation about

the past and its wreckful and illusive structure. The Sense of An Ending is a book -more or less the story of an

average man who pulls apart and analyses his memory of school days, first love,

first sexual encounters, his marriage... everything about his life- that will

suit people who like to think about everything.