Impressive, Julian Barnes! This novel takes an unconventional and daring approach, steering clear of crowd-pleasing tactics, a choice that I admire. Narrated retrospectively by Neil, the story unfolds when, in his mid-thirties, he attends a "Culture and Civilization" class for adults, led by the enigmatic Elizabeth Finch. Their unique friendship evolves after her passing when Neil inherits her notes and embarks on a journey to write... her biography? His autobiography? Or perhaps, the biography of Julian the Apostate?

Barnes crafts a narrative that is far from conventional storytelling, employing a semi-structured approach with an admitted unreliable narrator. Elizabeth's extensive notes intersect with Neil's reflections, and the middle section transforms into Neil's paper on Julian the Apostate, a task he failed to complete in Finch's class. Unlike Barnes' previous work, "The Man in the Red Coat," which delved into historical exchanges, "Elizabeth Finch" contemplates the connection between ancient history and ordinary lives. Barnes challenges readers with philosophy, history, and unconventional structural choices, eschewing an easygoing narrative.

Neil's reflections on his career, divorces, and children run parallel to his contemplation of Elizabeth and Julian, creating a complex web of interconnected lives. Julian the Apostate becomes a symbolic foil, and Barnes skillfully leaves the judgment of whether their lives went awry to the reader. Neil, however, complicates any straightforward conclusions, asserting that life doesn't conform to a narrative as we understand it. The book mirrors this sentiment with its unconventional structure and unresolved connections.

Amidst the complexity, there's a discernible and relatable theme of love. Neil's multi-faceted love for Elizabeth, explored against the backdrop of Barnes' investigation into various forms of love, adds an accessible layer to the intricate narrative. "Elizabeth Finch" challenges readers to discuss, re-read, and dissect its ambitious and thought-provoking content. While some sections may pose a challenge, Barnes, at 75, continues to defy expectations and remains a literary force devoid of complacency. I'm intrigued to see what he conjures up next.

I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

Another fabulously crafted book. If you’ve never read anything by this writer, who is surely seen as a master of his craft and a modern day literary classic, then you are lucky as you’ve a lot of other excellent books to read now to.

Sorry for my super late review. thanks for letting me read this book. New Author to me. Interesting, but didn't fully captivate me.

Elizabeth Finch

Julian Barnes


Quiet, intellectual, academic and educational, Elizabeth Finch often felt more like a character study than a novel.
I enjoyed the first and third parts of the book but struggled a little with the middle, which was presented in the form of an essay about Roman Emperor, Julian The Apostate.
Lovely writing as always by Julian Barnes.

There is no hiding it, Julian Barnes is a remarkable writer; his obvious intellect and consummate skill produces work that is highly cerebral, while at the same time delicately sensitive.

This is ostensibly a love letter to Elizabeth Finch (EF), a Culture & Civilisation lecturer, from her then 30 year old student, Neil.

Carefully split into three parts; past tense finds Neil in her class and these pages reveal his admiration for her; a teacher who encouraged free thinking, an individual without self pity, a stoic, a woman who did not offer apology for her existence, ever; an unequivocal portrayal of an almost God-like individual.

I use this description deliberately, because part 2 takes us to what is for all intents & purposes an academic text on Julian the Apostate (the last Pagan Roman Emperor) the beginnings of Christianity and the repercussions of those events that, arguably we are very much experiencing today. (Yes, this part is dry and I struggled with it at times, but by the end it made sense, & in writing this review, I can see why it is here).

The final part brings us a more broad view of the human that is Miss Finch. Still told by Neil, his obvious worship of her remains in tact, but we witness her relationships with others, she is given context and dimension.

This would make a great buddy read, it plays with multiple ideas and it would have been wonderful to chat.

I haven't managed that though, so you will have to settle with my half explored idea of what JB was doing here; without doubt it is a book about our reading of history; both world history and personal history. The juxtaposition of Elizabeth and Julian provide the perfect contrasts and comparisons.

The concept that history is not the presentation of facts, there are no certainties here, what we are dealing with are recollections, opinions and thoughts of individuals, and most often the thoughts of the winners - where it could be argued, that we could learn far more from the defeated.

A book about love and friendship, but most of all, a book about truth (with or without artifice 😉).

Recommended

This is another gem from Julian Barnes. Yet another highly intellectual yet entertaining novel that tackles difficult concept and is an in-depth rumination on life and relationships.

Neil who is divorced and taking an evening class taught by Elizabeth Finch. Now she is dead and he is writing about her. We also learn much about Julian the Apostate, the last pagan Roman Emperor. Would the world be a better place if Julian’s campaign to vanquish Christianity had worked? Cue lots of big thoughts and the melancholy of missed opportunity.

THis is very much my opinion but I didn't like this book nearly as much as Julian Barnes' others. It was more like an elegy to philosophy, in fact I spent much of the time feeling like I was reading a philosophy essay rather than a fiction book.

2022 is the year where I am perpetually disappointed in authors I normally adore. I don’t know what this book was supposed to be. The first bit was vaguely interesting, but the second part… not for me.

Julian Barnes is a master of the philosophical and the unassuming, or perhaps I should say the philosophical in the unassuming. There is an almost cinematic quality to this book, although there isn't much of a plot to speak of, but perhaps it is the nature of Elizabeth Finch seen through the eyes of Barnes, or rather his narrator. A character study at its finest, and a bit like "A Sense of an Ending," what you are left with is these beautiful impressions of those little details and a general pensive and melancholic mood. This book reminded me of a beautiful mixture of Anita Booker's "A Start in Life" and Rachel Cusk's "Outline". Perhaps a bit lonely, but even more exquisite because of it.

Tried so hard to like this novel by one of my favourite authors but I found it exceedingly heavy-going and dull and eventually abandoned it

A novel that I found very difficult to read. The actual writing was very good but the narrative did not transport me and I was left feeling disappointed.

Julian Barnes is one of my favourite authors, and I put this novel up with the best of them. On the face of it, the tale of the eponymous heroine is written by one of her former Adult Education pupils, but the reader also has his story - and reliability as narrator - to consider. The enigmatic spinster was fascinated by the Roman emperor Julian ("The Apostate"), which enables Barnes to consider profound philosophical and religious matters throughout, but especially in the middle section.

I shall definitely reread this book, preferably with my book group where it will raise many interesting points for discussion.

This is the first book I have read by Julian Barnes. I found I had to concentrate quite hard when reading it as there was so much philosophy within it so I did take a break in the middle of reading it. I did find myself caught up in the story in the end so I was glad I finished it. I'd recommend it but it's definitely not an easy read.

There's a reason why Barnes is one of our best writers. This novel has all of his trademark insight, gentle comedy and profound warmth. I loved it.

Julian Barnes is a master craftsman who produces finely wrought tales. He has the best use of punctuation in my opinion.

However I felt like he was covering "old ground" in terms of the "truth" or otherwise of memory, the flawed narrator from The Only Story and Sense of an Ending.. Then there is the relationship between the man and woman as in those two novels.

When Neil starts researching Elizabeth's papers after her death and wants to bring her learning and knowledge to the world it all began to fell claustrophobic. I became increasingly uninterested in her ideas (maybe because philosophy doesn't interest me ) and bored.

I am sorry i didn't finish it . I felt like I was being force fed intellectual texts, although I am sure it is a fine book.

This book grabbed me straight away and is full of beautiful writing, wonderful imagery, and some interesting ideas. For the full review please go to https://joebloggshere.tumblr.com/post/685696025937281024/elizabeth-finch-by-julian-barnes-this-novel-took

'The task of the present is to correct our understanding of the past. And that task becomes the more urgent when the past cannot be corrected.'

This is a curious book, part novel and part biography/philosophical discourse.

The eponymous Elizabeth Finch is a lecturer whose thoughts and beliefs are laid before us by one of her former students, Neil, who appears obsessed with her.

After Elizabeth's death, Neil is left her diaries and papers and decides Elizabeth would like him to complete a book she had started on Julian the Apostate. This section constitutes the middle part of the novel.

It is a slightly dry piece, waxing on about monotheism and animal sacrifice among other things. Julian isn't someone I found myself warming to and perhaps this is deliberate on the author's part.

I was more interested in Elizabeth, who eschewed personal contact and never kept correspondence, yet left a clear impression on Neil and his fellow students.

Neil has a tendency to allow his feelings to interfere with his judgement and remains in Elizabeth's thrall throughout.

It felt to me as though Julian Barnes wanted to say something about how memory of a person changes over time and whether this memory is always truthful.

It is up to us to decide how we want to view Elizabeth Finch. She is complex and yet straightforward, a woman with clarity of thought who places each word with the precision of a surgeon's knife. For those who admire her, it is easy to place her on a pedestal. For those who don't, she may appear pretentious and self-absorbed.

This in itself begs the question of how we allow a person's influence on us to change over the years and whether learning new truths alters our perspective or simply reinforces our initial perceptions.

Whilst difficult to get into at first, the novel is ultimately rewarding. The middle section will probably cause the most issues, but I found this to be the key to understanding the narrative as a whole and in particular how Neil relates to Elizabeth.

I received an ARC of this book from Random House UK, Vintage, in return for an honest appraisal.

Elizabeth Finch is a teacher of an adult education course in culture and civilisation. Her curriculum is designed to guide her students into developing critical thinking and individual ideas. The story is told by Neil, a former student, who was starstruck by her passion and presence. The novel has a tripartite structure. The first part is an intro to Elizabeth Finch and the third supposedly an apogee to her original character and the lack of conclusion (of her character, of history, of life) is a way of concluding the novel. The middle section tells the story of Julian the Apostate, the last pagan Roman emperor before Christianity took full hold over the world. The connection to the main narrative is that Elizabeth Finch had a soft spot for this historical figure, believing that his death marked the time when history went wrong. ⁠
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Elizabeth Finch is supposed to be this special, one-of-a-kind, inspirational female persona, but all I could see was a barely sketched character. I understand what Barnes was going for: imbued with intellectualism and keeping her inner life a mystery, Elizabeth Finch should convey an aura of mysticism, of surrealist existence, the good outsider. However, the descriptions of Finch only paint a picture of a stiff woman with no charm. She's not unlikable, that's not where the problem lies; in fact, the opposite is true as Neil's obsession with her indicates. And it's also not that the female character, our major protagonist, is portrayed via a singularly male gaze, which nevertheless does exhibit some problematic points. No, it's simply that the ideation of the character does not translate well into the actual writing. One reviewer on the gram said the book is a great example of a case study of a character; well, for me it's the contrary. ⁠
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What I enjoyed was the second part of the book, which tells the story of Julian the Apostate. Barnes is known for his crafty historical investigations and insertions into the literary domain. So yes, this is what I liked. Ironically, I think for some (many?) this part may read as a prolonged and boring essay. ⁠
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Most of Barnes' recurring themes are to be found: high-brow education, history, middle-crisis in men, female-male relationships etc. Barnes has always been an important writer to me and I've been reading his books by default, but sadly I seem to have outgrown him in the last few years. His last couple of books didn't quite work the magic, and Elizabeth Finch seems to only highlight this for me.

Having said that, if you're new to Barnes, I highly recommend Flaubert's Parrot and A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, my favourite novels of his, as well as his memoir Nothing to be Frightened of.

Thanks to @vintagebooks and @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.