Alexa Ferrer Friday Post

I am now halfway through the book. I feel like it will all come back to Adrian or Veronica, I’m not sure which one yet. I find it strange that of all the things Tony has experienced in his life these two people are described so much more than his wife or even his daughter. I feel like when we get older a short college relationship or a really smart kid that killed himself aren’t going to be the defining moments in our life. However, I also think that we spend so much time anticipating what’s going to happen next that we get lost trying to find our lives and never end up anywhere. I think it’s both.

            I thought it was pretty low that Adrian started dating Veronica but then again my loyalty as a reader has been built towards Tony and I only know one side of the situation. Regardless, I feel for Tony but I still admire Adrian. His suicide came as a major shock to me but then again I should have seen it coming. On page 15 Adrian talks about suicide being the only true philosophical question. Maybe he felt like he didn’t have a choice; like it was his answer. I wonder if he thought he knew so much about everything that he decided his life would not be anything special. Or maybe he realized that we just keep looking forward when things are good and there will come a point where we start looking backwards and he did not want to reach that point. I don’t know and I’ll never know unless Tony magically figures it out by the end of the book. I don’t think he will, considering the book’s title I don’t think he’ll figure anything out.

            I think his theory about damage is valid when put to use. It ties in psychology with his personal opinions, which I think is how most people form a philosophy about something. I think it’s cool he was able to develop a theory, most people just learn about other people’s theories. 

Ciara's Friday Post

I read through part 2 today and I am starting to understand where this book may be going.  Tony focuses a lot on the idea of memories and their validity.  This book kind of reminds me of Notes from the Underground in terms of reliability, but rather than Tony telling us something and then telling us he doesn’t actually believe it, he tells us from the get-go that he is not sure if everything he is saying is true.  Tony understands that memories are not reliable for depicting the past because our minds alter our memories based on what we consciously or even subconsciously choose not to remember.

Tony reminds me of Nick in The Great Gatsby; he is a quiet bystander, watching the world around him and recording his thoughts on what he sees.  To be completely honest, he does not make much of an impact on the world around him.  He lives too simply and too predictably, and the lack of excitement or change is aggravating; however, I feel like this setting of dull monotony is in anticipation of a turn of events that is about to happen concerning Adrian’s diary.  Is there something in there about Tony that Veronica does not want Tony to see? And why does Veronica’s mom have ownership of Adrian’s diary in the first place?

Tony sees himself pretty clearly.  He knows he is not a complex, insightful person like Adrian was, and he knows his life is tedious and unexciting.  It is almost like he views himself plainly as a stranger looks upon someone they just met: without any biases or preface. This makes Tony a suitable narrator, despite the issue of his memories, because we can assume that the way he sees himself is the way he truly is to others.  He does not try to fool himself into thinking he is better or worse than he actually is.

I look forward to seeing how Tony’s character progresses as the book proceeds.

Keri Friday Post

The next part of "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes brought forth other enthralling scenarios. He finally ends his relationship with Veronica. He tells us about his wife Margaret and his children and grandchildren. It seems as though he ended up getting his life together which made me happy. I think I am starting to see the correlation between the concept of time and his history. The idea of time passing by quicker when fun is being had is ever present. 

I still think that Adrian's suicide is very sad. I actually agreed with Tony's mother when she said he may have done it because he is too clever. She was able to analyze it on the spot. I think that a correlation can be drawn between this and "Notes from the Underground." In "Notes from the Underground", the narrator sees both sides of everything so he renders himself inactive. I believe that since Adrian is so intelligent, he, in effect, did the same thing. He is brilliant and almost too brilliant. Seeing both sides of things would be annoying in my opinion.

I am still thoroughly enjoying reading this novel and still think of it as my favorite thus far.

The Sense of an Ending Thursday Post

Pages 50-80

Anthony's high school friend, Adrian, has committed suicide. Unlike when their previous classmate committed suicide, Adrian leaves a letter which explains why he did it. Anthony explains that unlike everyone else Adrian did not let life "happen to him", which is a very interesting way of looking at it and interpreting life. Despite this people continued to say that his death was due to a lapse in judgement and a sudden "crazy-ness", even though we know that this is not true. Anthony later says "It's more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious nor defeated." This relates back to the discussion with their high school teacher, but what he is saying is that if you survive (like Tony did but not Adrian), then it does not mean you won or lost but instead you let your life happen to you. Which seemed to me like a very depressing statement, although somewhat true.

Throughout the entire novel (and especially towards the middle or part two) Tony keeps bringing up the idea of memories and how they manifest themselves. There is one quote where he says "Who was it said that memory is what we thought we'd forgotten? And it ought to be obvious to us that time doesn't act as a fixative, rather as a solvent." I think this relates to many of the events that follow this paragraph. Many times people remember things differently then how they occurred and not on purpose, but rather something that their mind just does. When he emails Jack, Jack acts completely differently to how he remembered him. Instead of acting better then him, or poking fun at him he is actually helpful. Tony also says he pictured him playing golf, or sitting at home but instead he is doing the opposite. He is traveling the world, and carefree and helpful.

Ryan Cordero Thursday Post

Barnes makes interesting remarks about the concept of memories. My favorite line about memories is when Barnes writes, “…what you end up remembering isn’t always the same as what you have witnessed”. Memories are malleable and are normally affected by emotions and bias. It’s hard to remember specific facts, but it’s easy rethink events to suit your insecurities. Memories are dangerous because we end up harming ourselves by subconsciously changing how we remember things and there’s nothing we can do about it. This reminded me of the movie Memento in which the main character only holds onto one memory, which he takes as concrete fact, but the whole time his own mind changed the events and the memory he took as fact was actually fiction. Adrian’s decision to commit suicide is easily the most intense part of the next section of Sense of an Ending. Since one of Tony’s friends also committed suicide while he was young we can see how Anthony has matured and developed as person. I think Adrian’s note represents the only way he felt he could separate himself from society. I made the same point when we discussed Dostoyevsky. Growing up everyone tells you that you can do or be whatever you want, which is a pretty blatant lie. Depending on your situation you really only have certain amount of option. For me and my peers we all have the same basic path, get good grades, get into a good college, get a degree, then another degree, then earn a good paying job or start your own company, all because that’s just how life works. 

Raouls Friday post

SPOILER ALERT!! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVENT READ TO PAGE 135.

Today I read my third section of the Sense on an Ending. I found the last reading to be not only quite interesting but also frustrating as shit. I understand that you (Mr. Shapiro) are probably going to say that Anthony Webster is a representation of myself. But, I truly find this guy to be odd. I understand that these are stories from his memories; but on the other hand, he is fixated on the past. You might say what do I know of the past as a ignorant seventeen year old highschool senior. I must admit I know nothing at all about the subject from personal experience, but I do know that life is in the present. Any way, I think his relationship with Veronica is an absolute shit show. Veronica is a bitch. However, this story is told through the multiple filters most of which is the untrustworthy memories of tony. I was so pissed though that Veronica burned Adrians diary!!! Then she claimed that someone should not read someone else's diary; however, she obviously read it. Any way the diary held truly genius ideas! I think that the destruction of that diary was a slap in the face to not only adrian but to the world of philosophy. Adrian had also written his diary in a way that he wanted other people to read it.
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Thursday Post

          One particular detail that caught my attention in today’s reading was Tony’s discussion on his book collection; he was pleased that he had more blue than orange (“a proof of seriousness”) and “enough of the right titles”. This illustrated his character -he wanted to appear smart and conform to society’s judgments, just like the incident where he turned his clock back again to appear more like a ‘normal’ person. I felt this was also representative of his ‘child-adult’ complex; he continually throws in how he pretends to act like an adult, calling his intelligent book collection something he wanted to grow into and saying he felt very grown-up when going to a bar. I do think he eventually grows out of this stage because his interjections from the relative future demonstrate his more complex understanding of the situation that his past self did not have. 

          Today’s reading also focused more on Tony and Victoria’s interesting relationship, which reminded me of Meursault and Marie’s from The Stranger; in both, the characters don’t seem to be on the same page. In fact, I find myself comparing Tony to Meursault quite often; even though the story is told in flashback form, and Tony has analyzed the past situation more over the years, it seems that he had a simple, straightforward way of thinking at that time, just like Meursault did. To be quite honest, I disliked Victoria –she was extremely bitter and annoying. By refraining from showing affection until after her brother and father had judged and validated Tony, she seemed extremely insincere and it made me question what their relationship had been before. What was particularly interesting to me was the chain of events with her mother –she seemed distant from the rest of the family and even prodded Tony to take charge, even praising him when they broke up.

Ciara's Thursday Reaction

I definitely see the ideas of Camus and Dostoyevsky all over this novel.  Tony reminds me of Meursault regarding his relationship with Victoria.  Though Tony’s thoughts are more complicated in general compared to Meursault’s limited physical motivations, he does not dwell on the strange nature of their relationship.  When they have sex after they break up, Victoria is angry that the sex did not have the desired effect on him, but he takes a calm approach to the situation and easily moves on from it.  Just like Maria in the Stranger, Victoria is upset with his lack of emotion and tries to change him, but his attachment to her never reaches the stage where she could wield this power.

Tony never likes to come to a standard conclusion; rather, he does not like to commit one idea to fact.  This could be because he is not confident in his own ability to perceive the world appropriately, or it could be that he does no trust his mind’s ability to preserve memories exactly the way they occurred.  In fact, he warns the reader that there is a large chance that the way he remembers things may not be the way they actually happened, which brings up the issue of the unreliable narrator that we faced with Dostoyevsky.  We do not know whether to believe what Tony is saying is true, but we have no choice to believe so; it is the only information we have to work with.

Everything Adrian does is thought out, so I believe that Adrian must have had a good reason as to why he committed suicide.  By a good reason, I mean a logical reason.  In today’s society, we are told to think of life as a gift that should never be taken for granted, and never wasted. We are told that suicide is never the right choice…but who said?  Who said this life was meant for every one?  The only reason more people do not commit suicide is because it is the body’s automatic physical response to prevent us from harming ourselves; however, if we had a mind like Adrian’s that could properly rationalize a situation, would more people do it?  I believe that it is possible that suicide could be the right choice for some, because I do not believe in definites: my mind is quite Dostoyevskian in that respect.

Alex's Thursday Post

     I am really starting to enjoy The Sense of an Ending and I am finding myself reading more out of pleasure than anything else. I appreciate Barnes’s English sense of humor and his wit. He has a very clever way of composing sentences, I have actually highlighted a few that stood out to me: “...what you end up remembering isn’t always the same as what you have witnessed”, “All political and social systems appeared to us corrupt, yet we declined to consider an alternative other than hedonistic chaos.”. I have read up to the end of Part 1 in which Tony focuses the most on his adolescence and earlier years and recaps his later years. Tony really honed in on his early life and only mentioned his later years within a couple of pages (I noticed a lack of interest). He notes that his life in present day has no connection to “his story”, which justifies his brevity on the matter. Perhaps Tony will share his story in Part 2. 

     Ironically enough, Adrian commits suicide just as Robson did back in high school. In my previous post I had predicted that something would occur later in the novel in regards to Adrian and it was proven to be true during tonight’s reading. There was a sharp shift in tone after Adrian’s suicide. It is almost as if Adrian’s suicide marked a turning point in Tony's life which caused him to mature instantly. The reasons behind his suicide remain unclear to Tony and to us. Some argue that he was “too clever” and Tony takes the most emotional/irrational approach and blames Veronica. I cannot help but relate Adrian’s character back to the Underground Man. In this novel he represents logical thought. We discussed in NTFU that logical thought often times comes with the consequence of losing common sense. Perhaps Adrian’s lack of common sense resulted in the suicide? I am eager to find out in Part 2. 

     Tony mentions childhood trauma briefly in regards to Veronica. He states that we are all somehow damaged and it is up to us to chose whether to repress it our act out on it. I am questioning whether this could apply to Adrian as well. Tony, along with the rest of the clique claim to not have known much about Adrian’s personal life, perhaps childhood trauma could be a contributing factor to the suicide? 

A Sense of an Ending Thursday Post

I’ve enjoyed reading The Sense of an Ending so far. Having just read Part 1, the first part ends on a depressing yet thought provoking note. Throughout the first part of the novel, we get to know Webster from his early days in school to his retirement. I found the last part of chapter one to be very profound as it essentially reduces life to an individual’s collection of memories with the romanticism of youth long gone.  I could relate too many of Webster’s early observations in school. Comments on what he calls the cleansing skepticism he adopted in school to protest against many of the beliefs they tried to shove down his throat stood out in particular. The author so far has been very witty in recounting his memories to the reader. Adrian’s suicide was completely unexpected to me as I thought Adrian would play a larger role as the novel unraveled. I guess from Adrian’s suicide the author conveys that even as a remarkable student, Adrian’s death was processed and forgotten in the blink of an eye, despite how romanticized Adrian chose to portray taking his own life.  I hope that the second part of the book offers some answers on Adrian’s relationship with Veronica as I found it fairly clear that his suicide had at least something to do with his infatuation with Webster’s former lover.

Kaylee Thursday Post

            Through the next 25 pages of The Sense of an Ending, we follow the narrator, Tony, through his young-adult life. It seems he is still trying to find himself and become an individual in society. It seemed from the bginnning that his relationship with Veronica was not going to last. To me she wasn’t that into him. And the fact that she wouldn’t sleep with him until they broke up, reiterates this. I found it interesting that Tony never questioned Veronica about his virginity directed, he just assumed that because she wouldn’t sleep with him that she was a virgin. This is typical to human behavior believing that you cannot possibly be the problem, aka finding a scapegoat.

Soon after the weekend with Veronica’s family, Tony introduces Veronica to his friends. By doing so Tony is seeking approval from both parties, however when it seems like they approve of each other too much (Adrian & Veronica) he gets jealous. I have seen this with myself before. For example, when my best friend from camp comes to visit she gets to hang out with all my friends. They all get along really well, but of course I like to believe that she is still closest to me. I guess its likes a protective thing? I get you Tony. As the book continues, the inevitable “what are we?” discussion finally comes up between Tony and Veronica. In this particular part of the story and their discussion after sex, Tony is very similar to Meursault in The Stranger in regards to his indifference about her and their situation. He literally has nothing to say and no feelings strong enough to make an effort. He claims he is just “peaceable”, while Veronica calls him a coward. However, I don’t think he was being a coward because he clearly wasn’t afraid, he just didn’t have anything to say.

While in Bristol, Tony also mentions the Severn Bore. He admits to witnessing some kind of mysterious worldly occurrence. Although I do not fully understand it, it definitely holds significance in his life. There could be some correlation between his feelings of unsettlement and feelings of reversal to his relationship with Veronica. And oddly enough, right after he sleeps with her. At this point things aren’t too hot for Tony, especially when Adrian and Veronica get together #lowblow. Following that, Tony discusses damage and how it affects everyone and everything at one point or another. He also goes into the level of effect it has on people, which I find very interesting considering every person handles things differently and you can witness this everyday all around you. 

Keri Thursday

The next part of "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes brought forth other entertaining scenarios. He finally gets as far as he wants with Veronica but ironically enough, he gets there after they break up. In my opinion, Tony did nothing wrong yet Veronica treats him as if he is the devil. To be honest, I think she is delusional and that her family is strange so I felt bad for Tony since he was subject to their judgment. Any person put in that position gets stressed out.
On the notes of Adrian's suicide, I actually agreed with Tony's mother when she said he may have done it because he is too clever. I think that a correlation can be drawn between this and "Notes from the Underground." In "Notes from the Underground", the narrator sees both sides of everything so he renders himself inactive. I believe that since Adrian is so intelligent, he, in effect, did the same thing. He is brilliant and almost too brilliant. Seeing both sides of things would be annoying in my opinion.
I am still thoroughly enjoying reading this novel and still think of it as my favorite thus far.

Raoul's Thursday Post

SPOILER ALERT IF YOUR NOT AT PART TWO DONT READ THIS!!

So today I read my second installment of the Sense of an Ending, quite frankly I liked todays reading much more than yesterdays reading. The fact is that Adrian's suicide is quite juicy. I find the story of his suicide kind of interesting and in a way there is a possibility that Anthony beings to blame himself because of the letter that he sent to Adrian. Honestly though I find suicide to be out of the question; however, I have a strong believing that the government should not protect me from myself (i.e. drug laws and helmet laws, but I also get the health care factor into that but its the idea), so I do not believe that the government should make suicide illegal. Anyway, suicide so far has been a recurring theme in the novel. The philosophy behind the suicides have also been interesting. The first suicide was done because the kid could not face the world. The second suicide was done because adrian understood the world too well. I did not like that the media labeled Adrian's suicide as madness. I feel like they do this in order to make suicide seem like an illogical idea (which in many respects it is). Any ways, the last sentence of part one brought up one of my favorite ideas, "who writes history?" Antony claimed that it was the survivors, I find this to be an interesting way of looking at his life. Maybe Antony is on a suicidal path.

Maya's Thursday Post

         A little further into the book, around page thirty, we are told of Tony’s first girlfriend Veronica. In novels, relationships usually have a set way of materializing. Love at first sight, the boy/girl next door, the good friends who ultimately end up becoming romantically involved. Tony’s relationship, though, is rather strange. Their time together comes off as dry and almost forced, making it slightly uncomfortable to read. There were some parts that were understandable. I think it’s completely justifiable that Tony felt uncomfortable at Veronica’s family’s house. Meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time was probably incredibly stressful which is why he analyzed every move they made and every word they said. Still, it seemed as though he was walking on eggshells rather than just being careful around Veronica’s parents. 

          When the two of them are talking about the books and music they like, it kind of felt like they were in some sort of intellectual competition. Veronica would say something negative about Tony’s taste in literature or music and he would think of a way to defend himself against it, almost prove himself to her. It was way too similar to the frigid wife the dentist character had in The Hangover. While those two weren’t exactly in intellectual competition, something was obviously off with them. The Hangover relationship is made more blatant for comedic purposes, but I feel like this book scene really shows how there was just something off about Tony and Veronica from the start. 

          Every time he’d crack one of his sort of lame jokes, it was cringe-worthy. You kind of almost felt bad for him. You can sort of tell that he is a caring guy, though, when he points out that the girl who was cheated on was more upset by the fact that she wasn’t the sole winner of that particular guy’s affections instead of the fact that she was being cheated on. It was a strange quote to read. Partly because this girl’s situation is the entire premise of the show “The Bachelor”. Girls leave the show and go back home distraught that they weren’t the one picked to be in a fake relationship with some random guy. 

Ryan Pearson Thursday

            The Sense of an Ending is proving to be a quite a breather in comparison to our last book. Although at times rather graphic, I find the story to be somewhat relatable. His description of having sex was not really necessary and I had to remind myself that this was not 50 Shades of Gray. Aside from that, the book flows pretty well. The extent to which Tony Webster, along with the other two members of the clique, envies Adrian is becoming more evident. At one point, Tony even mentions that he was jealous that Adrian came from a “broken” family. He claims that only Adrian and Hobson led lives interesting enough to be written about. As soon as he thinks of this, he directs his attention to how Hobson’s suicide will affect him, rather than the sadness involved with the death. He is thinking about how the reporters will approach him for information for the book. This anecdote is quite telling of his character.

            Tony begins to grow up and goes to university. He begins and ends dating Veronica, or at least for now. Tony appears awfully insecure and worried about his friends’ opinions of his girlfriend- especially that of Adrian. Somewhere around two years later, he finally wakes up and asks Veronica what their “plan” is. She, not knowing how to respond, notions that she wants to break up with him. Sometime after, they hook back up and have sex. I stopped reading here due to a lack of time tonight, but I am eager to continue reading and see what will play out between Tony and Veronica, and Tony and Adrian.

            Ryan Pearson