Final Post

I really enjoyed this book and, in all honesty, I am surprised. I do not typically enjoy school books, but I actually liked this one. I thought the book would be relatable from the beginning, since they started off with ending high school, but I did not expect Tony to progress through so much of his life in such a short span. I think the biggest part of the novel that caught me off guard was the fact that Tony and Veronica had been watching Adrian’s son. I had absolutely no expectation of any mention of his child. One thing that I found interesting was the contrast between Margaret and Veronica. Tony briefly speaks on the topic of being attracted to someone who is either mysterious or upfront, yet he has relationships with both types of individuals. Margaret is much more straightforward, while Veronica is more mysterious. “Margaret would never give you a mysterious rendezvous up a distant Underground line. Rather, she would meet you beneath the station clock at Paddington for a specific purpose” (132). I think one of the main topics the narrator, Julian Barnes, focuses on is the idea of aging and making life worthwhile. He speaks several times about the idea of “increasing” as opposed to “adding” to life. There is a difference between simply adding more events into one’s life and making memories that matter. This idea also fits into the battle between quantity versus quality. I also found it interesting that Tony has such a low perception of his own self-worth. He constantly belittles himself, especially in comparison to Adrian, yet the end of the book completely transforms his opinion of Adrian. Adrian, while still intelligent, was more of a coward than Tony had understood. It seems that Tony was just as perceptive of what was going on around him, particularly towards the end of the novel. He is able to understand Adrian’s true character, and he always acknowledges the mistakes that he makes. I think that Adrian is more intelligent and self-aware than he gives himself credit for.