The last two books I read felt similar and yet very different, so I decided to give them one post.
Since Julian Barnes' book The Sense of an Ending won the Man Booker prize in 2011, it has been on my to read list and I got a chance to read it over Christmas break. Barnes is a master storyteller, carrying us through the years to bring understanding and meaning to the death of a friend. Tony Webster is a man in his 60s who has lived a full life since boarding school including a career, family, divorce. Now retirement, Tony receives a small gift that makes him revisit those years during and after boarding school and the loss of a friend.
While you read looking for an answer, it is the relationships between the characters and the desire to have life make sense that is the real gift of this small novel. By the end of the story, you don't really get the ending tied up in a nice bow, but you do get a sense of an ending.
The second book is The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah which is also a small yet jam packed novel. Set on Mauritius in 1944 it is the story of love and loss. Nine year old Raj tells of life on this island, isolated from the reality of WWII but full of its own troubles. After losing his two brothers, Raj, his mother and his abusive father relocate to another part of the island and it is there that Raj meets a blond haired boy, David. David is a Jewish refugee being held in the prison where Raj's father works.
Language and culture are transcended as Raj and David bond and become brothers. A beautifully told story that will stay with you long after you put it down. I highly recommend this book.
