A review by whogivesabook
The Lemon Table, by Julian Barnes
4.0
Got told that I'd love Barnes and I wasn't disappointed.
This is a fantastic collection of short stories that revolve around the themes of old age and death. That's pretty standard for me. I'm bound to love a collection if it's about mortality.
The stories are smart, sharp and dry-humoured.
His writing is a little old-guard, so his characters are quite repugnant. Just watch out for that if you're not a fan of realism. Me... I like characters that feel real. Warts and all.
I think more collections like this should exist. Picking a theme and really digging into it is hugely rewarding for a reader. A novel tackles a theme from a few perspectives, maybe. But so many short stories mean that you're tackling it from so many different directions that you get this sense of pace and clarity.
And, of course, they bump into each other in your brain. It forms connections. Relationships.
Best stories:
✒️ A Short History Of Hairdressing
✒️ Hygiene
✒️ Knowing French
There's a lot of skill demonstrated here. Highly recommended.
This is a fantastic collection of short stories that revolve around the themes of old age and death. That's pretty standard for me. I'm bound to love a collection if it's about mortality.
The stories are smart, sharp and dry-humoured.
His writing is a little old-guard, so his characters are quite repugnant. Just watch out for that if you're not a fan of realism. Me... I like characters that feel real. Warts and all.
I think more collections like this should exist. Picking a theme and really digging into it is hugely rewarding for a reader. A novel tackles a theme from a few perspectives, maybe. But so many short stories mean that you're tackling it from so many different directions that you get this sense of pace and clarity.
And, of course, they bump into each other in your brain. It forms connections. Relationships.
Best stories:
✒️ A Short History Of Hairdressing
✒️ Hygiene
✒️ Knowing French
There's a lot of skill demonstrated here. Highly recommended.