Julian Barnes

Part history, part fiction, part memoir, Levels of Life is a powerfully personal and unforgettable book, and an immediate classic on the subject of grief. Levels of Life opens in the nineteenth century with balloonists, photographers, and Sarah Bernhardt, whose adventures lead seamlessly into an entirely personal account of the author's own great loss. "You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed..." Julian Barnes's new book is about ballooning, photography, love and grief; about putting two things, and two people, together, and about tearing them apart. One of the judges who awarded him the 2011 Man Booker Prize described Barnes as "an unparalleled magus of the heart." This book confirms that opinion.

Levels of Life

A follow-up to The Sense of an Ending traces the Man Booker Prize-winning writer's life from the 19th-century events that shaped his world to his transformative experiences with ballooning, photography, love and loss.

Kenna Marcelo

when a couple who had been jointly photographed returned to examine their proofs, the wife always looked first at the portrait of her husband - and so did the husband.

A short but sweet book. Picked this up after seeing Chloe Plumstead’s review of the book. There were some incredibly heartwarming parts to the book and it was very well written. I came away knowing more about hot air balloons than I ever anticipated. 

Robyn Claridge

Aamna

It is, how one review aptly describes, an examination of grief. I could sympathise but that's all I felt.

Andrew John Kinney

One thing that connected with me as soon as Barnes began describing his grief at his wife's death was his hate of the silly euphemisms people use in referring to death: "Your loss", "she lost her battle with cancer", and worst of all, "pass", not "died". After my father's death, I was helping my mother navigate the considerable post-mortem bureaucracy, and one of my assignments was to talk to the insurance company. The smarmy, southern-sounding man on the phone asked me when my father "passed", and I bristled inside, but said calmly, "He died on the 31st". Julian Barnes is nothing if not honest about his grief, and he prefers others to be also, which I get, entirely. 

Julian Barnes' wife Pat was, by all accounts, an extraordinary woman and a force in the literary community as an agent. One author, whose agent Pat was, said, "Pat was scary, but in a good way." 
Barnes never quite says it, but it's obvious that he felt like pinching himself to see if it was real; one senses he is constantly in wonder at his luck: how did he persuade such a woman to marry him? And yet, as he says, "Every love story is a grief story." She enhanced and filled out his life in so many ways, that her death was, to him, more than the loss of his partner; it was a loss of part of himself. "What is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there," he writes. "This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible."

The first part of the book is light-hearted, and perhaps a parable. He describes the experiences and the relationships of several 19th Century figures who were involved in ballooning, and Sarah Bernhardt is a central figure, as is Nadar, who pioneered the practice of aerial photography, and also photographed Bernhardt. The resemblance between Fred Burnaby and Barnes is clear, and perhaps there is some reflection of Pat Kavanaugh in Sarah Bernhardt. Only the author knows. As he says, "You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world changes." Certainly he believes, with ample reason, that this is true of him with Pat.

The third section of the book is the strongest. Barnes' unflinching gaze at death, and what it means to the living, makes it the best memoir of grief I have read. He says that the constant awareness of impending death gives, or should give life meaning, and we shouldn't gloss over it. Or, to paraphrase Trotsky, "You may not be interested in death, but death is interested in you." The ancients understood this better than we do, because death was an everyday presence. Barnes, despite having been previously bored by opera as an art form, finds himself unexpectedly drawn to certain operas after his wife's death because of the directness of the stories - the Greek myths did not waste time getting to the point, as in Orpheus and Eurydice. 

I could go on, but a better suggestion is to read the book. It is a slim volume full of understanding of the hard truths of life and death, and it is a beautiful story despite the sorrow.

Ioana Kardos

It goes to your heart, depicting the intricacies of the most important aspects of human life. Barnes definitely knows how to delve into it.

Jacob Mishook

One of the best meditations on grief I've read. Outstanding

You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changedâe¦ In Levels of Life Julian Barnes gives us Nadar, the pioneer balloonist and aerial photographer; he gives us Colonel Fred Burnaby, reluctant adorer of the extravagant Sarah Bernhardt; then, finally, he gives us the story of his own grief, unflinchingly observed. This is a book of intense honesty and insight; it is at once a celebration of love and a profound examination of sorrow.

Sabine Delorme

Vor einigen Jahren hatte ich mich an „Flauberts Parrot“ und „The story of the World in 10 ½ chapters“ versucht, aber es war wohl der falsche Zeitpunkt, ich wurde einfach nicht warm mit den Büchern und habe Mr Barnes daher eine ganze Weile lang eher links liegen lassen. Bis wir im Bookclub vor einer Weile „The Sense of an Ending“ lasen, für mich eines der besten Bücher 2011. „Levels of Life“ ist ein ähnlich schmaler Band und so dünn das Buch auch ist, so schwer habe ich mich doch mit der Rezension getan.

Den Rest der Rezension findet ihr hier: http://bingereader.org/2015/03/31/lev...

Amanda Wells

Good lord that was ... yes, heart breaking.

For context I picked this up based only on my knowledge of Julian Barnes as a reliably good writer. I wasn't sure what to read next, saw his name - done!

So for the first couple of sections I was pleased and interested to hear about interesting people doing interesting things. And then...

And then I discovered what this was all about, and my heart hurts. 
What a book. I cannot imagine writing these words with such seeming clear mindedness. 

If you are one to avoid things that might cause your heart to ache, especially if you've lost someone - don't read this when you're not prepared. Otherwise, I recommend it fully.

Danu Poyner

With the depth and richness of its interior world, the physicality of this thin little book quietly mocks the thinness of our imaginative and emotional lives today. Barnes wastes not a word in showing and insisting on the depth of all things in life, grief included. To read it is to hurt, but we relish the pain.

Gokhan Danabas

Amanda S

Laura Mauler

'You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed...' Julian Barnes's new book is about ballooning, photography, love and grief; about putting two things, and two people, together, and about tearing them apart. One of the judges who awarded him the 2011 Man Booker Prize described him as 'an unparalleled magus of the heart'. This book confirms that opinion.

Levels of Life

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