Love, Etc. - Hardcover

Barnes, Julian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375411615 ISBN 13: 9780375411618

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2001

Synopsis

The characters of Talking It Over--Stuart, his wife Gillian, and his former best friend and his wife's lover, Oliver--return as they continue to discuss the mysteries of human relationships, emotion, and love, in a novel in which the diverse characters speak directly to the reader. 40,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Oliver, Stuart and Gillian have been friends and lovers. It's ten years since they last met, and a lot has changed. For a start, Oliver has married Gillian, and Stuart, his erstwhile best friend, hates him for it. Not just because Stuart was once married to Gillian but because he still loves her. His last memory of Gillian was of seeing her, covered in blood, after a vicious row with Oliver, and he has never relinquished his vow to rescue her. Under the guise of repairing old friendships--"all blood under the bridge"--mild-mannered Stuart insinuates himself into their life, offering advice, support, even giving Oliver a job. As Oliver is manoeuvred into a crippling depression, Stuart unveils his deadly masterplan.

In Love, etc., the sequel to Talking It Over, Barnes adopts the same technique he used previously, allowing his characters to speak their innermost thoughts and secrets directly to the reader. The result is a bewitchingly intimate excursion into a taut triangle of betrayal and jealousy. With painstaking detail, he creates a vibrant portrait of modern love--as funny as it is cruel, as absurd as it is deep. Few contemporary writers can portray Middle England, with all its temptations, so darkly.-- Matthew Baylis

Review:

An alarmingly perfect novel . . .. Barnes s verbal mimicry is inventive, accomplished, revelatory, and also fun. The New York Review of Books
Lively, lucid, ricocheting with wryly observed commentary on the human condition. Philadelphia Inquirer
Painfully astute . . .. Barnes sharpens his insights with his penetrating wit and verbal virtuosity. The Washington Post
Julian Barnes...[is an] ironist, artificer, psychologically flirtatious pool shark, a maestro who runs the table with his Rashomon variations. The New York Times Book Review
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"An alarmingly perfect novel . . .. Barnes's verbal mimicry is inventive, accomplished, revelatory, and also fun." -The New York Review of Books

"Lively, lucid, ricocheting with wryly observed commentary on the human condition."-Philadelphia Inquirer

"Painfully astute . . .. Barnes sharpens his insights with his penetrating wit and verbal virtuosity."-The Washington Post

"Julian Barnes...[is an] ironist, artificer, psychologically flirtatious pool shark, a maestro who runs the table with his Rashomon variations."-The New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0375411615
• ISBN 13: 9780375411618
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 227