final post

                This book for the most part was enjoyable.  The character’s life story that although wasn’t extraordinary, I felt intrigued to learn more about his story the further I read into the book.   The ending was definitely my least favorite part.  The title sums it up very well; the author leaves you during one of the most exciting parts of the story with absolutely no sense of a good ending.  While I don’t need a perfect happy ending to the novels I read, I hate abrupt endings.  They make me feel as if the author just stopped caring about his work, and finished early and then gets praise for writing a creative ending.  It isn’t fun to read an entire story about a character, and then come to the conclusion that a letter he wrote when he was 20 ended up causing his best friends suicide, and it took the main character 40+ years to figure it out.  It really upset me that I wasted a lot of time reading about a sad old dude who ends up sadder than when he started.  I had really been rooting for the main character to come up big in the second half of the main story, but he fell amazingly short.  Anthony’s life seemed so polarized that I feel he maybe was bi-polar.  He kept telling himself that he was just an average dude, and he convinced himself that he was a bad guy who had failed at a lot of things in his life.  If you live life constantly comparing yourself to others, you will be miserable.  I felt that he needed to go to church and learn something positive for a few days.  If you don’t believe in yourself, or love yourself, you can’t believe and love others as well.  He hyper focused on his wrongdoings, and I felt that this made the story all the worse.  I felt he was just going on and on about his past, with very little regard for a positive future.  Maybe the British are into books about sad, lonely, old dudes, but not me.  Hopefully this guy gets a grip and stops judging himself. 

The Sense of an Ending Final Post

            Although it was mentioned that the Sense of an Ending was an easy read, I did not expect the meaning of the book to be so philosophical. What I got from the book is that its meaning mostly concerns time and our perception of it. The stages of our lives also plays a big role in the book as the narrator often differentiates his overall attitude in youth , with life and all its possibilities ahead of him , and the cold, submissive attitude of adulthood. Some of the ideas the Barnes mentions actually unsettled me such as when he describes the way he lives his life as an adult. He mentions that you can lie to yourself and say that you are making mature decisions yet you are probably only making those choices because you’re a coward afraid of the consequences. Even this way of life is not without its pain as Tony ends up bitterly recalling a plethora of “what-ifs” from his youth and young manhood.

            The book also prompted me to think about things I never would have thought of such as the history of my own life. Right now I am young yet the more the years accumulate the more unclear my own past will be. I may perceive my own life in a way that completely ignores what actually happened. I may essentially lie to myself all the way to the grave and then what does it even matter? I fear that Tony Webster was right and life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The worst part of it all is that I could relate so clearly to Webster’s feelings of youth, as if life was certainly about to happen and I’ll go on to live fuller lives then my parents yet it is clear that Webster felt this way and in adulthood was left with Remorse and the bitterness of settling for what won’t hurt you. So in the end this book deals with our “own personal, largely undocumented” piece of history and how we alter and perceive it. I liked the way the author went about discussing this interesting topic and I found the overall plot of the book entertaining.

Kaylee Final Post

            Now since I have finished reading The Sense of an Ending, I have so say I’m pretty indifferent to my feelings about the book. I’m not in love with the book, but I don’t dislike it. I think that the story as a whole had a consistent flow of ideas on how life plays out and how we change as individuals as it progresses. Part One served as a good background to the story and was possibly my more favored part of the novel. (This may just be because I wasn’t as rushed reading it)

            I thought Tony Webster was an interesting protagonist and narrator. I liked how he was straightforward about his opinions and desires. I enjoyed getting into his thoughts and the arguments he held within. I believe that everyone can relate to Tony in the sense that he lives a seemingly average life, floating along society. He is constantly comparing himself to others, esp. Adrian, which we find ourselves doing everyday. He also struggles with the memories of his past and continuously asking himself, “what if?”. The concept of memory is touched upon numerous times in the novel. Or rather time as a whole. “Time tells all” he repeats in the story. I find this statement going both directions, in regards to times ability to wear a person down or times ability to feed the individual more knowledge and experience. Throughout the novel Tony is trying to uncover some of his fondest memories from his past, at some times he is successful and others he is not. Barnes also discusses how memories are connected with history. He criticizes history in regards to its reliability and origins.

            Overall I think this book has depth and significance within the topics of human life that are presented by Barnes. I have so say the ending wasn’t what I expected. It took me a second to really sink in the information and I think it is an interesting conclusion, however kind of random. Part two was directed completely at what Adrian had left behind and such, however I was left feeling unfulfilled. I am curious and happy to be discussing this book (if we are) in class so we can focus in on the details of the novel. 

Ciara's Final Reaction

The book started out discussing the idea of memories and time and history, and it ended that way as well. 

Throughout the novel, Tony finds himself remembering people based on outdated relationships he had with them long ago.  Tony is not one to delve; he does what he was supposed to: nothing more, nothing less.  His relationships with people are very much on the surface, and it does not help that he is quiet coy and reserved as well.  Tony forms these ideas of people based on the limited interactions he had with them, and these ideas develop into memories.  What we have as memories eventually becomes history, not only to ourselves, but to the people we share them with as well.  Tony was so sure about his memories and never questioned their validity, but as he got older he became more skeptical about their soundness. 

Tony says at one point: “How often do we tell our own life story? How often do we adjust, embellish, make sly cuts? And the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to challenge our account, to remind us that our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our life. Told to others, but—mainly—to ourselves”.  In my opinion, this quote exemplifies the message of the book.  We often alter our life experiences as we go along, most times subconsciously.  We pick and choose, switch around, cut and paste the details of our lives with no one to challenge these changes because they are so and intricate and inconspicuous.  After a while, these embellishments become our memories, and soon after, they become history.  All the stories Tony tells Margaret about Adrian, Veronica, and her family are solely provided by Tony; Adrian and Sarah are dead, and Veronica will barely speak with him.

There was a question of legitimacy in the book, similarly to NFTU.  As Tony finds out more about Adrian, Veronica, and her family, he begins to question the memories he had of them.  For example, though he had convinced himself that Veronica was a witch of a woman that he would never want to be in contact with again, he began falling for her at the end of the novel.  As the reader, I was never sure whether or not to believe Tony’s description of a person or his relationship with them, because Tony was not sure whether his memory was objective or distorted either.

Tony’s journey in this book is as follows: he realizes that his memories may not accurately represent the past, and he must try to make amends for his decisions based on these false memories before he dies and they become an inexpungible part of history: a history he created.

Natalie's Final Post

I really enjoyed reading this book, and although it was an easy read I thought that it had a lot of meaning and presented many interesting comments. The concept of memory and how how we remember it was especially interesting. I think what the book was saying was that our memories are many times fabricated by our minds. Although they may be based on real events they are affected by many different factors. What we remember is rarely what happens. One thing that affected Tony's memory was his mood. When he went to visit Veronicas family he thought that they were all being mean to him and poking fun at him, most of this stems from his own insecurities. Later on in his life he remembers this event vividly and remembers it slightly different. This different perspective completely changes his thoughts about that night and what occurred. Similarly, many times our memories are modified by ourselves and tend to be a edited version we tell other, and consequently ourselves. I have to admit that this is something I have done myself, and I think that people do this because they regret what happened and it's easier to remember something else. Another interesting concept was the idea that life happens to us, instead of us making life happens which to an extent I agree with. I also thought Tonys constant struggle about making his life reflect literature vs. choosing the safest option is something many people can relate too. I guess that now, at this age, I would want my life to reflect literature and is something I have thought about before. But I guess as you get older it get's easier to pick the "safe" option, which is sort of depressing.

Alex's Final Post

     The Sense of an Ending was entertaining, however, it did not make a huge impression on me. I found the majority of the novel to be recounts of the same events, same people and it was told through a nostalgic, pessimistic perspective that did not make aging seem like something pleasant. Mr. Shapiro will probably argue with this and say that this is the reality of our situation; we will eventually age and life will reach it’s end and some of us chose to reject it. There seems to be a lot of back and forth on the concept of general history and personal memory, where memories obtained by someone throughout life are perceived as unreliable. Tony is constantly fighting his memory and fleeing from it. Something about his past made it more enjoyable than his present. Could it be that he was in love? Tony was unable to move beyond his adolescence, his time with Adrian and Veronica. They seemed to have made an impression on him, one that followed him for the rest of his life to the point where he could not attempt making new memories, or was unsatisfied with the way he led the second part of his life because he chose to settle with the “cookie-cutter”, simpler lifestyle. As readers we do not like to see our protagonist fall into this limbo of regret and remorse for decisions made in the past, this has most likely effected my opinion on the novel itself. 

     This idea of time and a lack there of, hence the title of the book, is constantly referred to by our narrator who seems to be approaching death. Time almost acts like a barrier for Tony. As he ages, his ability to make memories fades. 

     There is an obvious connection between Adrian and the Underground Man from NTFU. This idea of being “too conscious”, knowing too much or being too aware of the world that surround them is what causes them to retreat from society, and in Adrian’s case, causes him to commit suicide. Life somehow “accumulates” for these characters and becomes predictable and boring. I enjoyed The Sense of an Ending more than NTFU. I feel that it was easier to follow and I was more attracted to the overall format of the novel; characters/traditional plot line. 

Alex's Friday Post

     Part 2 is told by Tony in a present-day perspective where he continues to show signs of nostalgia towards his past; his past mainly with Adrian and Veronica. The other two friends- Alex and Collin, are rarely mentioned throughout this part of the novel. We learn that Tony married and had a child, Susie. He mentions Susie very briefly, almost as if he needs to constantly reassure himself about his relationship with his daughter, which is almost non existent. He is satisfied with having had a relationship with Margret, however, he does not seem to express much interest, or love for that matter, in her. Even though Tony has not admitted it to us directly, his love lies in Veronica after all these years. Mrs. Ford, Veronica’s mother, included Tony in her will, which I find to be very strange. The diary left for him in the will belonging to Adrian seems to be of great interest to Tony. I wonder whether it is the diary he is interested in or the fact that Veronica is the one guarding it and he wants to use it as an excuse to reconnect with her. 

     After his meeting with Veronica, we find that she burned the diary because she thought it wrong for them to read through it (something Margret mentioned earlier). She had to read through it in order to give Tony the photocopies so why did she believe she should and not Tony- is she trying to hide something from him? 

     Tony fails to mention to us that he sent a nasty letter in the past addressing Adrian and Veronica’s relationship. Using sarcasm and blunt offensive remarks about Veronica, he basically told the two that karma would get back at them with time. He seems to be embarrassed about having sent the letter and dissociates himself with that part of his past (he didn’t even tell Margret about Veronica until years later!). I find that Tony is constantly re-evaluating himself and decisions made in the past. His mind is never at ease when it comes to Adrian and Veronica. He states that he feels remorse- remorse for what? Having sent that letter? 

Ryan Cordero Final Post

After finishing Sense of an Ending I think the novel and Tony Webster’s actions embody Dostoyevsky’s ideas. The novel as a whole is an accurate observation of the human condition. Barnes focuses on the concepts of memories and how perception changes over time. Also, Barnes discusses the influence of time, both objective and subjective, on the mind. I think the overall message of the novel is how perceptions of past events change over time. Whenever, Tony meets a person from his childhood he always discusses a lasting impression, but after conversing he realizes his previous attitudes towards the person were unjust as the person is not like he remembered. Barnes made an interesting point about time; he stated that subjective time is measured in relationship to memory. I have made this point previously, but again depending on how you view a past event you can decided whether it felt like a long time ago or relatively soon. The best example is thinking back on a school year, the time feels both short and lengthy, but the person decides how they want to view the time. I liked Barnes’ ideas on history and what it actually means. To most people, history is just events that happened in the past, but to Barnes history is what is produced when inadequate memory meets lack of documentation. I think this is an astute observation because there are distinction between memory and history. Another one of my favorite points Barnes makes is that life is more than just addition and subtraction. Reinforcing that life is more than just simple mathematics like Dostoyevsky describes. Throughout the novel, Tony conscious makes illogical decisions proving his humanity. All in all, I enjoyed the novel and it served as a nice continuation of Dostoyevksy.

Maya's Final Post 3/3/2014

        I enjoyed The Sense of an Ending overall. I think would be a good book for people to read if they are searching for something with meaning that is not incredibly dense. I think it was a good read, though less eventful than the other books we have read in class. I think it was good to read it at this time because you could apply some, not all, of the philosophies presented while reading Notes From the Underground.

        I think this book carries this overall meaning that nothing ever exists as it does the first time it happened. This idea is first brought up on page forty five. While Tony is recalling the letter Adrian wrote to him about he and Veronica’s relationship, he says, “Again, I must stress that this is my reading now of what happened then. Or rather, my memory now of my reading then of what was happening at that time”. It’s a very strange thing to think about; the fact that things only truly exist how they are just once. You can say that you remember it perfectly, but every time you tell the story or recall it another time, it changes slightly every time. Even Tony and his friends talk about this idea. When they all talk about their philosophies concerning history, they present it as if it were a subjective matter. It’s either the lies of the victors, the delusions of the defeated, and or the memories of the survivors. All these different perspectives kind of makes it impossible for whatever “history” to be retold verbatim to what happened. 

         This subjectivity factor that they introduce with respects to history also brings up something interesting; that people often invest great amounts of time trying to relive things as they once were; like when people reminisce on “the golden days” or they say “those were good times”. You can tell Tony kind of went through this when his friends all met again in college. He was dancing around what he actually wanted to say in order to avoid jeopardizing their time together. He then realizes that maybe it wasn’t the night itself that was deteriorating, but his relationships with all his school friends. He realizes that things are no longer the way that they were. 

Isa's Final Post

       Sense of an Ending seems like a paradox. It's simplistic narration hid intricate themes. The ordinary, perfectly adequate Tony was unknowingly wrapped in a darker chain of events. On the whole, I enjoyed Sense of an Ending. The brisk tone actually drew me in because I felt that the brevity of events was only leading to a spectacular climax. I was half right... the novel did have that obligatory plot twist, but the resolution felt lackluster, as that detached tone immediately returned.
        It's hard to say whether or not Tony was a "likable" or sympathetic character. He seems to know the right choice, and he knows exactly what he is expected to say. Yet his delivery and his overall manner is sort of disappointing. For me, he was just an average character; almost like another faceless witness to an event in history. Maybe that was Julian Barnes' intention. He portrays reality so realistically, in particular the reality that most people are on a trajectory that is often hard to escape.
        I was surprised by the Notes from the Underground connections that I encountered. Before the true nature of Adrian's suicide is revealed to Tony and the reader, Tony's mother remarks that maybe his cleverness was too much for this world. I immediately thought of the underground man. He too was so conscious, so evolved, that he was unable to ever make any lasting bond or affection towards anyone or anything. Essentially he was a stranger on the edge, forced to look upon a race that he knew too well. Though Adrian's true reason for his death was just as passionate as Robson's, I did entertain the idea that maybe Adrian felt unknowable due to his intellect.
       To conclude, I liked Sense of Ending, but I wasn't blown away by it. I found it a simultaneously simple and complicated novel that was compelling in certain parts. I think the main reason I wasn't more deeply affected was due to the fact it tackled subjects that I was unable to relate to. The insecurity, awkwardness and boredom of Tony's youth was very relatable. But I found the second half to be semi- outrageous and I felt somewhat detached from the events.

Ryan Pearson's Final Post

Overall, I have very mixed feelings regarding The Sense of an Ending. Throughout the narrative, Tony Webster was nothing but straightforward. He said what was on his mind and the material was always presented clearly. This was enormously appreciated after a challenging read such as Notes from the Underground. While I liked how easy to read it was, I also found myself disappointed that nothing in the plot appeared too complex or mysterious. To that end, I found that nearly all of the information that was subject of discussion in Julian Barnes’ books had already been spoken about in our prior talks. I hate to word it like this, but I found the read to be relatively pointless. It was essentially a real world application of the concepts analyzed in class with NFTU. I haven’t really had an opportunity to address my thoughts on the actual plot of the rest of the book.

I went from absolutely hating Veronica (seriously, what a bitch), to feeling sorry for her all in about 10 pages. It sounds like she had a really rough go of it. I couldn’t imagine losing my wife around childbirth and being confused about her intentions. I was furious when I learned Veronica had burned Adrian’s diary, however. I think Tony was too complacent, although there wasn’t very much he could do. I think Tony was an interesting protagonist. I can’t say that he intrigued me; he was a straightforward and negative narrator.

 All in all, I found The Sense of an Ending to be average. It provides solid emotion and a solid plot. I am sure that I have missed something that we will cover in class. As of now, it seems that the author, Julian Barnes, is simply addressing how common, boring and sad life truly is. Honestly, I am not sad to see this book end and I am not sure what all of these book reviewers found so clever.  

            Ryan Pearson

Juan Pino Final Post

After concluding this book, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the things I most liked about the book was whenever Tony or Adrian would delve into any philosophical idea. I found that their insight was very, well, insightful (for lack of a better word). I found what they were saying made sense for the most part and I agreed with it. Furthermore, I noticed that one of the main recurring themes in the novel was the uncertainty of history. I particularly thought that the quote Barnes came up with was genius. “History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.” That one sentence alone encapsulates the definition of history all too well. In addition, history really is pervaded by unreliability. The whole story revolves around this one point. Tony Webster continuously and incessantly reminds us of this. Throughout the novel he will mention how he is uncertain of how something actually occurred. How he burnt letters and so he doesn’t know what truly happened. Moreover, in the end he realizes that his life had not gone down at all the way that he recalled it. This reminds me a little bit of Dostoyevsky in the sense that one cannot trust the narrator in either book as well as the fact that in the end it was all just one big lie.

Subsequently, I must comment on the fact that I believe that despite the fact that Barnes claims this story is not about him, a large percentage of it is definitely true, or based off of real life. When I wrote my story in class it flowed easily, was easy to write, and captured my audience’s attention because it in fact had a degree of truthfulness to it. As I was reading Sense of and Ending I felt a similarity between my first three installments and the story I was reading. Perhaps Barnes was simply an incredibly creative individual who also happened to be outstanding when it came to philosophy. In my opinion, Barnes is a man who lived his life, an “average life”, and had a moment of clarity followed by him writing this story in order to describe how he came about his moment of clarity.

Speaking of clarity, I saw numerous correlations between the novels we have previously read in this class and this one. Many of the same ideas and principles were present, from Kafka to The Stranger to Calvino to Dostoyevsky. In conclusion, I really like that this book had a little bit of everything we’ve done so far this year.

Keri Final Post

"The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes was my favorite book that we have read thus far in this class. I enjoyed it because, like Mr. Shapiro said, the way the author narrates the story is much more accessible to teenagers and ultimately, much more interesting. In my opinion, the novel explored a very controversial but exciting topic. This topic being the concept of time. The idea was appealing to me because I have always secretly wondered about time myself. I have always pondered in my head whether time is real or if it is a construct humans have developed over time to make things more efficient. Barnes directly addressed this possibility which thrilled me since I had previously thought that I was the only one to think about this. It was great to read a voice to my thoughts if you will. 
One other aspect of the book that I enjoyed was that it captured the true struggles of relationships and high school. I feel as though television shows, movies, and most books show relationships as these easy, utopian, picturesque occurrences but I oftentimes do not see how this fits reality. I liked how the first girlfriend Tony had was not normal so he had to deal with what happened when things did not go as planned. This makes it much more real. Too many times have I seen these unrealistic relationships and I have cringed. There needs to be a balance. Although, Veronica is crazy and strange. She says all of these enigmatic phrases. I guess that is why she is the enigmatic woman instead of the straight forward one. There is enigmatic in an interesting way but she is just strange and annoying. I was so happy when she did not have a part in the book. 
Finally, I think that the quote "Time is of the essence" embodies the main idea of this novel. I believe that Barnes' main point is that we should not feel like we are in a rush to accomplish all of our goals right away. Instead, we should take a moment to enjoy the journey. This exact idea is also displayed in "Notes from the Underground." If we attempt to,in effect, speed up our lives, we will reach a point where we look back and almost regret wasting all of that time. You can almost forget where you stopped enjoying this journey. 

Alexa Ferrer Final Post

            I feel bad for Tony at the end of the book. I also have a terrible fear of getting old now. The book is clearly split into two parts. The first part is where he is young and in constantly waiting for his life to begin. The second part is when instead of looking forward to what’s next; he realizes all that’s left to do is look back. I’m not too scared about looking back because I hope I live a life that is exciting to look back it, but it is the other details he described about getting old that scare me. Apart from the physical changes (which I’m not looking forward to, it’s the loss of certain feelings that gets me anxious. He mentions the loss of desire and desirability. I think that is the worst to lose, because for most of us that is what brings the most excitement and feeling to our lives.

            I find his relationships with Margaret and Veronica interesting, yet for some reason they make me very uncomfortable. I find it strange that as he tells us his life story his wife is a tiny factor in it. It makes me uncomfortable when they are having lunch and she starts leading him on and they make plans they both know will never happen. I hated that part, I didn’t think it was nice I thought it was awful. I also don’t find Veronica mysterious in an appealing way. I never liked her, primarily because he didn’t speak to fondly of her throughout the book, but I know now she is the love of his life. I really hated how she acted in their last encounters. I guess with age you assume people become more mature, but I think she is as immature as ever. I understand she may have a lot of resentment for what Tony wrote in the letter but what happened in her life is not his fault and she was really immature with him.

            Finally, I think the last but most important thing to talk about is memory. Because of the damage inflicted on Tony by Veronica, he coped by repressing many things. His memory was very affected by this because even though Veronica was the love of his life I didn’t realize that until later because all he would do is say negative things about her. He had managed to repress anything that did not satisfy him and his pride and I think memory is a tricky thing now. 

Raoul's Monday Post

Today I completed the Sense of an Ending. I found the story to be an interesting read. But, I did not find the book to be a happy book at all, in fact it is one of the saddest books I have read (the saddest is kite runner). The truth is that I did not find the Sense of an Ending  to be an important read. I think all the ideas that were brought up, in many ways were already expressed in our previous reads. In comparison to all the other books we have read, I find it to be insignificant in value. However, I am sure your are going to give us a lecture about it that is going to explain it in some new light, which may or may not change my view on the novel.

I think that the end of the novel was powerful. I felt so bad for Veronica, a few minutes after deeply hating her. I also feel bad for Anthony, he wrote that letter in anger. How could he have known what it was going to do. Any way I thought the novel was a good novel and would probably recommend it to someone who is looking for a short and quick novel.

Sharon's Friday Post

           After reaching Part 2, I can safely say that this book is shaping up to be one of my favorite we’ve read so far. It is probably because of the honest, straightforward way Tony narrates the story; at first, I disliked his insecure and fickle behavior of idolizing Adrian and trying to appear smart, yet it seems that with Part 2 comes a more mature, intelligent Tony who is at peace with himself. Though I was surprised, to say the least, that 40 years of his life were glossed over in one page, I like the sudden contrast in age; it makes it that much more noticeable of how his perceptions about himself and the world have changed. I found his introspective musings about aging to be quite interesting, particularly the idea that he spent his whole young adult time waiting for adult life to start and yet upon reflection now, it seems that life has just breezed by in a second. Like he said, it is all about creating a future for yourself until at some point, you realize that instead of forward, you start looking back to remember the past. 

           However, the sudden introduction of Adrian’s diary brings a jolting stop to Tony’s quiet, peaceful life. I think it is something that he needs at the moment, particularly because it seems as if he is just waiting for death at this point –the diary is what causes all the memories to start flooding back. I like Tony’s solid relationship with Margaret, and while I am glad he does not ever reminisce about Victoria, it is interesting to me that he just blocked off all that occurred during that time; it’s as if he stored it away forever. I’m interested in seeing what effect the reintroduction of all the characters from his past will

Ryan Cordero Friday Post

Barnes opens Part Two rather pessimistically, or realistically depending on how you look at it, explaining that hard work is not rewarded with rest, specifically, “…the reward of merit is not life’s business”. I first read this as a pessimistic tone, but I think in the context of the novel so far, Barnes states this from the viewpoint of a realist. Mostly because what he is saying true, people like to think that everything they do as a reward and people who work hard and accomplish a lot believe that reward is earned not given. However, in the grand scheme of things, metaphorically, after you become successful no one is going to knock on your door and give you a pat on the back and say nice job. The only reward you are given is the one you give yourself, depending on what it is you value. I think Barnes is trying to empower people with this statement. Barnes makes a point that I do not think is accurate, while discussing people looking forward he says, “What you fail to do is look ahead, and then imagine yourself looking back from that future point”. I disagree with this statement, I believe that most, if not all, people reflect on their actions and know that they will end up regretting their actions later in life. Everyone advocates to live without regrets, but I believe this to be an impossibility, because it implies embodying perfection, which is impossible, because perfection is a subjective concept by nature. I think a better statement would be that people do look ahead and imagine looking back from that point, but fail to change their actions based on how they feel they are living.

Isa's Thursday Post

Adrian's suicide was pretty shocking to me. Since the novel is written in such a flowing, quick manner, his suicide immediately jumped out as something shocking and unexpected. Because another adolescent's suicide happened earlier, I first thought that maybe Veronica was pregnant and Adrian could not cope, just as Robson couldn't. I actually left off right on that page so I am still unaware of Adrian's reason for the desperation that led to his suicide.

Tony narrates in such a straightforward and almost naive way that it's noteworthy when some of his lines are said. They are written in such a throwaway manner that the reader forgets the length to which they resonate. One prime example is Tony's comments about childhood abuse. He first ponders whether Veronica was somehow traumatized, as an explanation for her irritating behavior. But he then goes on to wonder whether in fact everyone has been abused sometime in their lifetime. It was a thought provoking notion that ties in to the age old discussion; parents can really screw up a child. A perfect childhood is impossible, but Tony almost makes it seem as if a damaged childhood is unavoidable. I even annotated whether or not Tony was "abused".