The End (Alexia Barrios)

The Sense of an Ending without a doubt was one of my favorite novels of the year. Unlike the others we have read thus far, the simplistic nature of the writing used by the author in combination with the thoughtful philosophical commentary by the pretentious teenagers turned adults make this book worthwhile. I also really enjoyed the plot, which did not fail to be surprise me at all. The ending took me by surprise. I never would have expected for Adrian to have an affair with Veronica’s mothers, and also that he would have committed suicide. I personally thought he was too logical, or too overly conscious to be able to go through with such acts, and though he left a somewhat logically sound explanation for his suicide, I am still left slightly confused with the affair.

Along with the twist and turns and overall writing style of Barnes, I enjoyed this novel because of the commentary that was made by the characters, and more specifically Tony. Throughout the novel we saw several reoccurring topics be mentioned throughout various occasions has Tony looked back at his life, many of the time it be the criticizing of history and memory. The concept that history is “that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation” sums up his overall perspective on the topic of history. It is inadequate in the sense that memories are never perfect as they vary by person due to the fact that they are malleable due to a person’s perception of the event. This also ties in which the documentation of it, which may vary for these same reasons. Also, as Tony looks back at his life in the second part of the novel, he discusses the value of living life to the fullest. He discusses the value of memories versus just adding more events to one’s life, and that collecting more good memories is more valuable than the latter.

In my opinion, I don't think Tony gave himself the credit that he deserved.  He, like all the other boys, compared themselves to Adrian in almost every aspect of their lives, but mainly on their intelligence. Yes Adrian was incredibly intelligent, but so was Tony, but I am unsure if he ever came to truly realize how smart and perceptive he really was by the end of the novel.