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The Only Story

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The Only Story

By: Julian Barnes
Narrated by: Guy Mott
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Summary

'Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question.'

First love has lifelong consequences, but Paul doesn't know anything about that at 19. At 19, he's proud of the fact his relationship flies in the face of social convention. As he grows older, the demands placed on Paul by love become far greater than he could possibly have foreseen.

©2018 Julian Barnes (P)2018 W.F. Howes Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Tear-jerking Inspiring
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19 year-old university student Paul fell in love with 48 year-old Susan at his home-village tennis club. Married to a bitter, onion-munching and progressively violent man, Susan seizes the chance of happiness with Paul. They ‘run away together’ as the expression then was and predictably it all in ends in tears. Their love-making becomes the ‘saddest sex of all’, Susan, isolated, become a hopeless alcoholic and Paul’s love turns to impotent pity and anger. He never marries.

So far so apparently dreary, but not when written by Julian Barnes. It’s the shifting of Paul’s narrative from first, second, and third person, and old man Paul reflecting on his young self’s experience of the ‘story’, subtly exploring the progressive damage wrought by their affair which makes this deceptively ordinary everyday story so disturbing, forcing listeners into analysing their own experiences of love and loss.

The effect of Susan’s disintegration on Paul is minutely observed, and the character of Susan’s elderly friend Joan, living alone with her dogs having got her life sadly wrong, are haunting. The narration is excellent, capturing a range of narrative voices young and old, male and female convincingly and sympathetically – a real achievement.

Love's Labour Lost?

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The evolution of a love story from innocence to decay...all the things I wanted to think but couldn't are said for me here.

Perfection

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Very well narrated and written. A simple yet engrossing story. Throughly enjoyed this very good book

Very enjoyable

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Don't read if you need cheering up. I like French films in which not much happens but in which people are carefully examined and a sense of place and time is created. This story is a bit like that so I liked it. But I was a bit frustrated by the end because there's not much explanation for why one of the 2 main characters disintergrates as rapidly as they do.

Not a comedy

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Excellent narration. Barnes is a master of observation . The command of language and things not said but understood is beautiful.

Brilliant

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