Synopses & Reviews
After the best-selling
Arthur & George and
Nothing to Be Frightened Of, Julian Barnes returns with fourteen stories about longing and loss, friendship and love, whose mysterious natures he examines with his trademark wit and observant eye.
From an imperial capital in the eighteenth century to Garibaldis adventures in the nineteenth, from the vineyards of Italy to the English seaside in our time, he finds the “stages, transitions, arguments” that define us. A newly divorced real estate agent cant resist invading his reticent girlfriends privacy, but the information he finds reveals only his callously shallow curiosity. A couple come together through an illicit cigarette and a song shared over the din of a Chinese restaurant. A widower revisiting the Scottish island hed treasured with his wife learns how difficult it is to purge oneself of grief. And throughout, friends gather regularly at dinner parties and perfect the art of cerebral, sometimes bawdy banter about the world passing before them.
Whether domestic or extraordinary, each story pulses with the resonance, spark, and poignant humor for which Barnes is justly heralded.
From the Hardcover edition.
Review
"Elegance and versatility those familiar Barnes strengths define this latest story collection from the distinguished British author....Another impressive addition to an already impressive oeuvre." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Marvelously inventive....Pulse sneaks up on you, and by the end, you cannot help but be moved. These are stories that illuminate characters not through dramatic epiphanies but real, small turns in the road and moments of change. [Barnes's] prose is rich without being showy; he has a precision and economy of language that at times recalls William Trevor. Above all, Pulse shows a contemporary master working at the height of his ability." Jill Owens, The Oregonian
Review
"Filled with gems...beautiful, elegiac tales about how marriages endure or change over time....A testament to Mr. Barnes's full panoply of talents...[He's a] confident literary decathlete, proficient at old-fashioned storytelling, dialogue-driven portraiture, postmodern collage, political allegory and farce, [and the] ability to create narratives with both surface brio and finely calibrated philosophical subtexts." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Synopsis
The bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending examines longing and loss, friendship and love, the historical past and contemporary life--all with his trademark wit and sharply observant eye--in this extraordinary collection of short stories.
A newly divorced man invades his reticent girlfriend's privacy, only to discover that the information he finds reveals his own callously shallow curiosity. A couple comes together through an illicit cigarette and a song shared over the din of a Chinese restaurant. A widower revisiting the Scottish island he treasured with his wife learns how difficult it is to overcome grief. And scattered throughout, a group of friends gather regularly at dinner parties, perfecting the art of cerebral, sometimes bawdy banter. Each story in this masterful collection pulses with the resonance, spark, and poignant humor for which Barnes is justly heralded.
Synopsis
In these fourteen brilliant stories, the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending examines longing and loss, friendship and love, the historical past and contemporary life—all with his trademark wit and sharply observant eye. A newly divorced man invades his reticent girlfriend's privacy, only to discover that the information he finds reveals his own callously shallow curiosity. A couple comes together through an illicit cigarette and a song shared over the din of a Chinese restaurant. A widower revisiting the Scottish island he treasured with his wife learns how difficult it is to overcome grief. And scattered throughout, a group of friends gather regularly at dinner parties, perfecting the art of cerebral, sometimes bawdy banter. Each story in this extraordinary collection pulses with the resonance, spark, and poignant humor for which Barnes is justly heralded.
About the Author
Julian Barnes is the author of two previous story collections, Cross Channel and The Lemon Table, and fourteen other books. He lives in London.
Reading Group Guide
The questions and other material that follow are intended to enliven your group’s discussion of Pulse, Julian Barnes’s elegant and moving new collection of stories.
1. “East Wind”
Vernon’s wife had told him, “I just can’t live with you because you always fuck things up” (p. 12). What does he do to prove that his wife was right? Why does Vernon betray Andrea’s tentative alliance with him by invading her privacy? What would this story be like if told from Andrea’s point of view?
2. “At Phil & Joanna’s 1: 60/40”
The four “At Phil and Joanna’s” stories are constructed entirely of dialogue and produce the effect of a continuous conversation. Is it difficult to make out who is speaking, and does it matter? What social class do these characters belong to? What pleasures do they take in being together?
3. “Sleeping with John Updike”
What undercurrents are notable in the friendship between Alice and Jane? Who is envious of whom? Which friend is more dependent upon the other? Which aspects of the story strike you as most true, considering friendships between women?
4. “At Phil & Joanna’s 2: Marmalade”
The presence of an American at Phil and Joanna’s highlights the particular psychological and social condition of being English. How is English identity expressed and underscored in this story?
5. “Gardeners World”
How, and why, does the acquisition of a garden upset the equilibrium of Ken and Martha’s marriage? What biblical story do you associate with a couple in a garden? Is this marriage really “a democracy of two”?
6. “At Phil & Joanna’s 3: Look, No Hands”
The characters revisit the premise of Raymond Carver’s well-known story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” Why is there a long pause after each mention of the word “love” (p. 81, 82)? Is it mainly the men who wish to avoid the subject? What do they talk about instead of love? How would you describe these couples, and what, if any, progress is made in their ideas?
7. “Trespass”
Like “East Wind,” this story focuses on a new relationship from the man’s point of view. What qualities in Geoff get on Lynn’s nerves and vice versa? Is Geoff more interested in hiking than in Lynn?
8. “At Phil and Joanna’s 4: One in Five”
What do the four “At Phil and Joanna’s” stories have in common? What kind of impression does the series make? What subjects come up repeatedly? How would these conversations be different with an American setting, in people of roughly the same education and social class?
9. “Marriage Lines”
What does the description of the knitting patterns in local fishermen’s sweaters reveal about the islanders’ understanding of life and death? Why will the widower not return to the island? How does he come to the realization that “he was not in charge of grief. Grief was in charge of him” (p. 128)?
10. “The Limner”
The painter decides that for his final painting, he will make a portrait of his beloved horse (p. 134). Why will this be more satisfying than his usual work? What does the story suggest about the power of the artist to be truthful and just? What do the painter and servants know about dignity that the master does not?
11. “Complicity”
How important is a sense of “complicity” between potential lovers, and what details illustrate this? Both people in this couple have conditions that affect their sense of touch: the man a skin allergy and the woman has poor circulation that leaves her fingers numb, so she wears gloves. How is Barnes using the sense of touch to suggest its role in romantic attraction?
12. “Harmony”
What is wrong with the blind musician in relation to her parents? Does the doctor M--- seem to be using an early form of psychoanalysis, such as Freud used on his so-called hysterical patients? The doctor’s operating principle is “music seeks harmony, just as the human body seeks harmony” (159). Does this seem sensible in attempting to heal physical and psychological illness?
13. “Carcassonne”
“Falling in love is the most violent expression of taste known to us” (p. 189), says the narrator, having told the story of Garibaldi’s first sight, through a telescope, of his wife-to-be Anita Riberas. Discuss the story’s ideas about the mystery of taste, and the concept of love at first sight.
14. “Pulse”
What does the narrator’s careful fitness regimen tell us about him? What is his relationship with his parents like? What does he learn about his parents’ marriage when his father loses his sense of smell (p. 200)?
15. The narrator asks, “Do you think there are people who have a talent for marriage, or is it just a question of luck? You would think, wouldn’t you, that if you were the child of a happy marriage, then you ought to have a better than average marriage yourself—either through some genetic inheritance or because you’d learnt from example? But it doesn’t seem to work like that” (p. 217). Why haven’t love and marriage worked for him?
16. Several of the stories feature awkward men who have difficulty with women. Compare Vernon from “East Wind,” Geoff from “Trespass,” and the narrator of “Pulse.”
17. What do the stories of the collection imply with regard to the different talents of men and women for empathy and intimacy? Which of the marriages in the collection seems most successful?
18. How do the stories in Part Two highlight the nature of human attraction? What role does Barnes attribute to the five senses play in the process?