Ten stories with global impact, from the woodworm's verion of Noah's tale to a view of what heaven would be like, with an interlude for an essay on the nature of love. I enjoyed it, certainly.

RELEASE NOTES:

To be left in the OBCZ area.

I picked this up at the BC meetup last night. I had a very interesting discussion with cosmogenist about this book and now I can't wait to read it!

I spent a lot longer reading this book than I do with most novels. I wanted to be careful, making sure I wasn't going to miss a point; re-reading paragraphs to ensure I had caught their meaning.

I did falter about half-way through, when I became suspicious - thinking that maybe I was taking too much care, maybe the chapters are just random and there was no need to follow it so closely.

I am glad to report that I was not let down by the ending. This is a very clever book with a lot a messages about human nature, most especially love. It has a lot to say about justice too.

Overall - I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I am glad I took the time to read it carefully - otherwise I may have just ended up feeling very confused afterwards!

Am looking for another BXer from the Oxford meet-up last month to pass this too. (Cosmosgenist - if you are reading this and can help please PM me? Thanks)

This is going in the post to kangaroo today, I hope you enjoy it! :)

Ooh! Thank you! I had completely forgotten about this :)
Lovely to have one of those drab January days brightened a little bit!

I liked all the little links and reflections between chapters (the woodworm for example) - this changed the book from being a collection of short stories to a more interconnected book, if not a full story in itself.
Going to MrMustard in exchange for Waiting for Godot!

Arrived in the post yesterday. Thanks very much kangaroo. Looking forward to reading it.

This was excellent. Really good. My only minor gripe would be that the final chapter isn't quite as engaging as the other 9.5.

It's a series of completely different stories and essays which are vaguely interlinked. Although each chapter is a complete tale in itself, much of the pleasure is derived in spotting the recurring themes and links between each section. Barnes is an excellent writer, and here he gets to employ a variety of styles and tell a variety of stories. Highly recommended.

MrMustard highly recommended this book, so I thought I'd give it a try.

It's an excellent novel, threading together ten and a half stories in a far more successful way than David Mitchell's more clumsy attempt in "Cloud Atlas" (which I also enjoyed, I hasten to add). I enjoyed some stories/chapters more than others, but revelled in the varied style throughout. I'm very surprised to say that I think my personal favourite was Chapter 5, "Shipwreck", which is an art history analysis!

I would highly recommend this book, if you fancy something entertaining and thought-provoking.

Stolen back from MrsMustard's shelf to be traded!

On its merry way to LittleMoo in return for Robert Rankin's 'Sex, Drugs and Sausage Rolls'. Thanks for the trade!

Received as part of a trade - many thanks :D