This book won the 2011 Man Booker Award after the author having several titles on that list in the past few years. The Sense of an Ending is an analytical novella of memories and remembering, time, history, death and life, self-examination, forgiving and forgiveness, and guilt.
Tony is an aging man reflecting on his rather average life, from young adulthood through middle-age. When he is reunited with a friend of his youth, through an unfortunate event, he must come to terms with his incomplete memory and the history he has created for himself. He realizes "history is that certainty produced at the point where imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation."
Through the narration, readers can't help but contemplate their own lives and memories and actions they look back on with regret. This story is not overly wordy, but is full of the right words. I read several reviewer comments regarding the somewhat confusing conflict between Tony and his ex-lover, Veronica and their frustration at "not getting it" but am convinced this is an intentional act by the author to put the reader in the shoes of the main character. I liked the philosophical nature of this book.
I've heard about this somewhere else. I'm going to have find this one myself and read it. Thanks.
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