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Nothing to be Frightened of

Nothing to be Frightened of

by JulianBarnes (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2008

    $4.18

  • Used

    Paperback 2009

    $6.49

  • Used

    Hardcover 2008

    $9.30

  • New

    Paperback 2009

    $12.20
Synopsis

'I don't believe in God, but I miss Him.' Julian Barnes' new book is, among many things, a family memoir, an exchange with his brother (a philosopher), a meditation on mortality and the fear of death, a celebration of art, an argument with and about God, and a homage to the French writer Jules Renard. Though he warns us that 'this is not my autobiography', the result is a tour of the mind of one of our most brilliant writers. When Angela Carter reviewed Barnes' first novel, "Metroland", she praised the mature way he wrote about death. Now, nearly thirty years later, he returns to the subject in a wise , funny and constantly surprising book, which defies category and classification - except as Barnesian.

$4.18

Save:$17.05 (80%)

Quantity

3 in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 256
 Edition: First Edition
 Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
Published: 06 Mar 2008
ISBN 10: 0224085239
ISBN 13: 9780224085236
Book Overview: A brilliant, discursive, very funny book about death and the fear of death, god, nature, nurture and the author's childhood. The closest thing to a memoir Barnes will ever write.

Media Reviews
Death has a habit of bringing the best out in writers...Given its subject matter the whole book has an unexpectedly jaunty air. On virtually every page there is a good joke, even when - or perhaps especially when - Barnes is writing about the grimmest events. Julian Barnes is wonderful at keeping awe and flippancy in perfect balance...One of the joys of this book is that it contains so many playful asides, so many exhilaration diversions from its gloomy central theme.
--Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday
It is not, Barnes tells us, an autobiography. It is rather an essay in the best sense: speculative and precise, intimate and metaphysical, capacious and democratic in the variety of voices, alive and dead, that are invited to counsel the author as he edges his way towards the void
--Brian Dillon, Times Literary Supplement
Julian Barnes is a delightful companion and much of the book (its informal tone included) is like an extended and very interesting conversation.
--Cressida Connolly, Literary Review
Compelling...witty and erudite...consistently interesting and entertaining.
--Val Hennessy, Daily Mail
This book is both fun and funny. It is sharp, too, in the sense of painful as well as witty...You are in the presence of a nimble mind in complete mastery of, and engagement with, his chosen subject.
--Lucy Beresford, New Statesman
Intensely fascinating.
--Jane Shilling, The Times
Entertaining, intriguing, absorbing and so expansive that I was startled, on finishing, to note its brevity...Irresistible reading.
--Penelope Lively, Financial Times
Superb...[Barnes's] funniest and frankest work yet.
--KateSummerscale, Daily Telegraph

From the Hardcover edition.

Author Bio
Julian Barnes is the author of nine novels, including Metroland, Flaubert's Parrot, A History of the World in 10 Chapters, England, England and Arthur and George, and two collections of short stories, Cross Channel and The Lemon Table.