The Only Story is told by main character as an old man, looking back on a youthful affair that affected the course of his life. Tackling the mundanity of surbubia and the desire for something new, memory, adultery, addiction and domestic abuse, it’s somehow not as interesting as this makes it sound. I’ve enjoyed Julian Barnes books in the past, but this - and a sense of an ending, which this reminded me of in terms of memory and unreliable narration - have been technically sound but somehow unengaging..

Julian Barnes nivel is in three parts and openly challenges what is remembered and what is fictionalised in a relationship ultimately what we remember with any accuracy is how we felt in a situation. The narrator in The Only Story begins to keep a notebook of quotes and thoughts to try to capture the truth of love., he sadly realises, as he passes through life, this isn’t possible. The middle section of this novel in particular is devastatingly written. The life he has with the older woman, Susan, falls apart and he realises ‘...every love, happy or unhappy, is a real disaster once you give yourself over to it entirely’. Each section is told in from a different perspective from 1st, 2nd and in the final section, the third person, each giving a new reflection on the relationship. A short, powerful and heart-breaking read.

Thanks to Random House UK, Vintage publishing and Netgalley for. Review copy.

After reading the opening, you might be left with the impression that this is another rumination on the unreliable narrator from Julian Barnes, as his Booker Prize-winning The Sense of an Ending was. But although the protagonist 'Casey' Paul talks about the fallibility and partiality of his memory of the events he recounts here, this isn't that.

It does though, synthesise some elements we've seen before with Barnes: we have an "enigmatic narrator, whose life and secrets are slowly revealed" as in Flaubert's Parrot (arguably the book that put Barnes on the map), an "intimate account of love's vicissitudes" as in Talking It Over/Love, Etc., even hatred of a lover's ex-, as in Before She Met Me.

This familiarity doesn't breed contempt, though - nothing of the sort - rather it gives the reader a feeling of being in safe hands. If that seems like damning with faint praise, what I really mean is that you feel in the hands of a master, a writer in consummate control of their craft.

I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Random House/ Vintage via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

It's Julian Barnes. It's beautifully written, it's controlled, it plays with form much more than you realise at first, it's about ageing. It echoes his early novels and his most recent. It's at the same time much more English and much less English than it appears. The central figures and their quiet desperation have stayed with me much longer than I anticipated when reading it.

Paul,at the age of 19 falls in love with his tennis partner ,a woman of his mothers age .He describes their relationship over the years and the problems her advancing years brings. Very well written, it is a sad and poignant tale showing how the tolerance of love can be stretched to its limits.

This is beautifully written, as you would expect from Julian Barnes, but I found it a little hard going at times. The narrator, Paul, is looking back on his life and the relationship he embarked on aged 19 with the 49 year old Susan. His story is simultaneously detailed and vague - certain elements or moments are explored at length and repeated, others glossed over. For example, there’s little about the reaction of his parents, Susan’s husband or her daughters. They just sort of bumble along, and I found that I was waiting for something to happen. I found it more compelling towards the end, but ultimately I felt a bit disconnected. However, fans of his other work will still find much to enjoy and his use of language is beautiful.

England in the early 1960s. Paul Roberts is nineteen and home for the summer holidays after completing his first year at Sussex University. He lives with his parents in a conventional and respectable middle-class commuting suburb south of London. He is persuaded to join the local tennis club, where he is teamed up in a competition with Susan Mcleod – late 40s married mother of two, but whose marriage is in a sad state. Against all of society’s conventions, they start an adulterous affair. The affair forms into a longer-term relationship, which then creates difficulties, which Paul narrates with a wistful, painful honesty. This early love shapes the rest of Paul’s life, his emotions and his relationships, as it resonates throughout the years until he reaches old age himself.
As you expect from fiction from Julian Barnes, it is literate, intelligent and beautifully written and observed novel. The author’s gentle, nostalgic and honest account of his liaison with Susan as he looks back from the distance of fifty years, trying to make sense of their time together and all that happened subsequently. Julian Barnes demonstrates that you do not have to write challenging, experimental cutting-edge contemporary fiction in order to give the reader an insight into a life, to show how we can live today.

Paul, at the age of 19, falls in love with a married woman. By doing so he "braves" scandal and social convention. Initially this earns him some kudos amongst his University friends but there are longer term consequences.

As in Sense of an Ending the themes of love and memory are paramount. In terms of memory, is Paul a reliable narrator? Although he acknowledges that memory is fallible and quixotic what is "the truth" about his relationship with Susan? Different versions of it emerge later in the story e.g. the domestic abuse suffered by Susan.

This novel also examines the themes of fate /predestination against free will.

It's this ambiguity that attracts me to this book. It's like being in a hall of mirrors and trying to find which reflection is "real".

I would very happily reread this book and think it would make an excellent Book Group choice. It may be slight in "size" but like A Sense of the Ending it is multi layered.

I much preferred it to The Noise of Time, Barnes' last novel.. Barnes is a great stylist who writes such poised prose . Even his use of punctuation is skilful. With The Only Story we are in the hands of a great master.

***This review is SPOILER FREE***

I was kindly sent an eARC of this book but all opinions are my own.

Julian barnes is a very well thought of writer, and I have heard nothing but praise for some of his previous books, such as The Sense of an Ending, which was also made into a very well received film. I have been wanting to read something from him for a while now, so I was very excited to be reviewing his latest work.

The narrative follows Paul, an university student resigned to his sleepy surrey village during the summer holidays. During this time he joins the local tennis club, and meets Susan, a much older woman in an unhappy marriage, and they embark upon an affair. Barnes explores the question of love, and relationships, and how time effects both of these concepts, musings on which are interspered with the plot.

I was not the biggest fan of this book, and I hate having to admit that, but it's true. This, as I said, is my first experience of Barnes' writing, so I cannot say how it measures up to his previous works, but I really struggled to get through it.

Our protagonist, Paul, was extremely unlikable to me, which always makes it difficult when the book is so concise and character focused. Similarly Susan, also didn't appeal to me at at point, which, in a book that is so intensely focused on a relationship between theses two characters makes it really hard to be invested. It also meant that I could not find it in myself to feel invested in their relationship, which is the entire plot of the book.

Barnes also makes the decision to change the tense three times, if I remember correctly, throughout the book. These changes are meant to represent the changing experience of the relationship, for instance the beginning, arguably the point when you are most in love is told in the first person. I love this concept, and think that it's really clever and unique, although I did resent it being explained to be through Paul, and didn't think an explanation was needed.

My favourite parts of The Only Story were those which felt removed from the plot, wherein the book became much more of a philosophical musing on the concept of love. When reading these, of which there were plenty, I couldn't help but feel that they were so much stronger that the plot proper, and that the book may have been a lot stronger had it been an essay, or a collection of essays. Instead the plot seemed to draw your attention away from what Barnes was really trying to say.

 

Overall this book is lovely and perceptive in it's discussion of love, time, and relationships, and manages to say a lot despite being only a short book.

'The only story' of this book's title refers to the one story that is most worth telling in a person's life.
For Paul, it is a quiet tale of the relationship between him and Mrs Susan Macleod, which starts with a match at the local tennis club when he is 19 on holiday from university and she is 48. This meeting leads to an unorthodox coupling which shocks the members of this stockbroker-belt tennis club as well as Paul's traditional family.
The book spans several decades and charts the peaks and troughs of their story over the years. During it, Paul learns that love can have lifelong consequences which he could not have foreseen as a young carefree man.
I raced through the first third of the book, enjoying their first flush of love, but slowed down for the rest of the book, which is much more of a detailed study on love and the realities of life. At times I had to encourage myself to continue, as so much time is spent on reflection, but pressed on because Julian Barnes writes so beautifully.
II found it a gentle, moving and expertly crafted book which I would definitely recommend.
Many thanks to Jonathan Cape and Netgalley for an ARC of this fine novel.

'The Only Story' is somewhat similar to the 'The Sense of An Ending', in that it has an older narrator reminiscing about a certain time in his life. In this case, Paul, is thinking back to when he was nineteen years old and fell in love with Susan, who was twenty-nine years his senior.

Unfortunately, I thought the story was drawn out and the passion was lacking. I never got truly engaged or care much about the characters.

I wasn't particularly impressed with the writing either, which is somewhat disconcerting to me as I'm a huge fan of Barnes' writing.

Nobody can produce masterpieces all the time. Or it could just be me.

A book of great insight, written with Julian Barnes' trademark sensitivity. A brilliant book to lose yourself in.

A exploration of first love as remembered many years later. No flash in the pan, as most first relationships are, this one spans many years. The characters and setting are disappointingly stereotypes of the Home Counties life in the 1960s.
As the story unfolds any sympathy felt for the characters gradually evaporated, until in the final third of the book it was difficult to bother to read.

This is certainly an unusual storyline but reflective and perceptive. The nineteen year old boy in love with a woman more than thirty years older than him becomes her carer and defender. The family relationships are well presented too. This is in some ways a sad book but in other ways, it ist He story of personal choice sustained to the end. It makes the reader think!

This is Julian Barnes's latest offering, an author I absolutely adore. It is a profound and moving love story, and the complexities, intense suffering and heartbreak that accompanies it. It has Paul looking back on his only story, the love of his life, and his shifting perspectives as time passes. Barnes can be relied on for his well crafted beautiful prose and imagery, underscored by a musicality that beguiles and delights. The novel is split into three parts, and relates the story of 19 year old Paul, a Sussex University student who in 1963 meets and falls in love with 48 year old married Susan, who has children older than him and carries heavy emotional baggage from her personal history. What follows in a detailed examination of the repercussions on the people in their lives of their love affair amidst the middle class suburban attitudes, social norms and expectations of the period that the lovers are subject to.

Barnes uses the classic device of moving from first person narrative, to the second person and finally the third person to highlight the increasing distance that Paul injects into his love story, moving from the intense passion at the beginning to a more dispassionate approach. He is aware that his memories are unreliable and his thinking tainted by self delusion. What Barnes gives is his insights into the human condition, a subtle reflection and observations on the nature of love and the trajectory it follows for Paul, infused with an air of melancholia set in a specific time and place. Whilst there are echoes of Barnes previous novels, I found this a brilliant and thought provoking read that I recommend highly. Many thanks to Random House Vintage for an ARC.

I found the first part of the book engaging but not so much the second and third parts. The changes from first to second to third POV were irritating to read even though I appreciate they were used to differentiate the different times. However halfway through the writing became too much of a stream of consciousness for my taste.

Nineteen year old Paul thinks that he and Susan's love for each other will last a lifetime. It does, but not as he imagines when they begin their affair. I agree that in many cases first love stays with you throughout your life and this particular first love is an unusual one in that a middle aged married woman is the first love of the much younger narrator. This makes for a great premise but it is no Mrs Robinson tale.

I preferred The Sense of an Ending to this rather rambling story but Julian Barnes' fans will no doubt love it. Many thanks to NetGalley and Jonathan Cape for the opportunity to read and review The Only Story.

Book critics have been busy comparing The Only Story, Julian Barnes‘ latest tale of suburban goings-on, with his 2011 Man Booker Prize-winning, The Sense of an Ending. While it’s true both novels are narrated by melancholic older men looking back on their lives, the protagonists recollect their pasts in different ways. The defining disparity between the two is that the author’s latest hero endeavours (successfully, in the main) to recover truth from his memories.

It is 1963. Nineteen-year-old Paul is on his summer break from university, feeling directionless and adrift. His parochial, somewhat stodgy parents think he should be out mingling with people of influence while considering his future. He therefore joins the local tennis club where he is asked to partner forty-something Susan Macleod in the mixed doubles. What his mother and father cannot foresee is that their boy will become emotionally entangled with this woman who lives only a short distance away with her husband and two daughters.

Paul mischievously refers to his fellow tennis club members as “Hugos” and “Carolines”. They are terribly middle-class, smugly conceited individuals, who adhere to strict social codes. Susan, on the other hand, seems different. She is funny, knowing and attractive. She also happens to be in a bad marriage. He falls in love with her. She falls in love with him. From his perspective no problem is insurmountable: life is simple and rather wonderful.

But of course, nothing is ever so straightforward. Paul is proud of his relationship with Susan, but she has stoically endured many years of unhappiness, and it has taken a toll. She describes herself as part of a “played-out generation.” Over the following decade he will, like his parents, become familiar with duty, secrecy and shame.

Barnes deftly shows how unspoken feelings can cause a gradual erosion of intimacy and respect, leaving guilt and emptiness in place of adoration.

This beautifully constructed novel is an exploration of finding love and discovering how a love affair implodes on a young man's mind. I t has a melancholic intimate tone, a fine line in rhythmic; elegant, understated prose, and a lot about love in all its many forms, to finally reveal how a life spent adoring one woman so voraciously will lead to an ending.of magnanimous discovery. I reread this book twice---so captivated by its dreamy way of showing how we can discover too, how to avoid tragedy.
And smitten by an older woman, Paul is about to discover the many exiting layers of deep intimacy that astounds him so deeply..
The story unfolds quickly from a vantage point with captivating results.There are several layers of this story line..The first part is Paul's hesitant emerging from an inexperienced 19 year-old---where he is still wet behind his ears. Paul manages to engage the reader as he segues beautifully from first person to second;being more accusatory. Be deeply moved by the language he uses to describe his climb to heights of bliss that few ever achieve.It's breathtaking in the use of seemingly austere sentences.And the other end of life--there's only the dull, intransitive rage of a terminally disappointed man.We learn so much about narcissistic control.As such, he is anxiously alert, not only to the problems of self egoism, but its opposite: there is the danger of becoming retrospectively anti-heroic:making yourself out to have behaved worse than you actually did can be a form of self-praise.This really was astounding, in every sense.
Julian Barnes writes extraordinary and beautifully. prose. He has exemplary technique, deep humanity, salty humor and painful, painstaking excavation of the human heart. It is a masterpiece.
There are lovely romantic images---"Love feels like the vast and sudden easing of a life-long frown.........as if the lungs of my soul have been inflated with pure oxygen ".This is tucked into sides, carefully distant from any actual encounter, and are deprecated almost at once: "I only thought like this when alone, of course."
Barnes' greatest achievement is to make this story feel profound, palpable and credible. Although he places it in the distant past, the novel feels decidedly relevant; sex and love between the old and the young remain as much a taboo subject as they were fifty years ago. And while it is Paul who ultimately forsakes Susan, it is she who teaches him that every one has one love that defines them, and that its the only story worth telling.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Anything would have been a return to form for me in the light of the interest-free zone of Barnes' previous novel, but I still did have to wonder if I'd get the delights of the first part here again from this author. He uses a brilliant manner – all of lucid and classy and chatty – to convey the narrative of a young student, pushed by his mother to find friends at the Village tennis club, and instead finding a romance with a much older and married woman. I loved this – for all the meandering into the voice of an older person, talking about how he was telling his tale, it had a freshness and clarity that belied Barnes' current age. However, the book isn't about this story (or this side to the only story, at least) – and it was when the real subject got to reveal itself that I found myself less enamoured. Try as he might, even when he switches to second-person narrative, I had little sympathy for Paul's lot, and however often he evoked the ''you'' style I never had the necessary agreement that he was doing the right thing. That said, it's a compelling narrative, and in providing a strong scenario, not belabouring the period setting, and leaving age as a topic out of things, you might find as I did writing as fine as any Barnes has given us since his imperious ''Staring at the Sun''.