Entertainment For Lively Minds
Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending
Posted by Red Umpire on 13 January 2012 - 12:21pm.
I finished Mr Barnes' Man Booker Prize winning novella last night and have a couple of questions that I thought I might get answered sensibly here.
I'll stick them in the first post so that there are no spoilers on the main blog page. Please avoid the thread if you don't want to know any more about the book.
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My questions
1. Why does Veronica call herself Mary in her dealings with the younger Adrian? Is it just a straight-forward distancing device? That's the only explanation I could come up with. Any other thoughts?
2. Why does Sarah leave £500 to Tony? I understand why she left him the diary, but why the £500? Veronica calls it "blood money": is it actually "hush money"?
I'd love to hear what others have to say, as I'm still puzzling over these things and can't yet discuss it with Mrs U as she's not read the book. Thanks.
Answers...
(all in my opinion, not verified or anything):
1) I think it is a distancing thing.
2) I think it's 'guilt money' to be honest.
Great book, I gave it 4/5 on my list of books - weren't many 4s on the list last year (mainly 3s and 2s). Or was it a 5, I'll have to check.
Answers
1. Because Mary makes her sound more Catholic and she rightly assumes that the younger Adrian has a thing for Catholics ever since seeing The Magdalene Sisters get their kit off in the fillum?
2. She owes it to him cos of a bet they had that a goat won't swallow lego?
I've never actually heard of the book, so I'm just guessing really. I hope I've been of some help nontheless.
Well...
...with regard to your first point, it might be argued that by adopting the name Mary, with its overt religious connections, Veronica is trying to purify herself in order to escape from the sordid events that polluted her earlier life. That's certainly an interesting possibility.
I can't work a goat/lego theme into any legitimate interpretation of the book, though.
Just finished this...
Totally enjoyed it but is the ending what I think it is?
That Adrian got Veronica's mother pregnant and that is why he killed himself?