Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: I am an avid reader with no devotion to any particular genre or author. I read "History" on a recommendation from a friend whose taste I trusted, and I was so pleased that I've read it twice over again in a matter of 3 weeks (more or less - I read certain chapters multiple times, others only once). Even if you have no shortage of self-awareness and literary competence, this book will make you feel noticeably improved in those areas. I couldn't be happier that this book found its way to me.
Rating:
Summary: Challenging, funny, and worth every minute...
Review: I am an avid reader with no devotion to any particular genre or author. I read "History" on a recommendation from a friend whose taste I trusted, and I was so pleased that I've read it twice over again in a matter of 3 weeks (more or less - I read certain chapters multiple times, others only once). Even if you have no shortage of self-awareness and literary competence, this book will make you feel noticeably improved in those areas. I couldn't be happier that this book found its way to me.
Rating:
Summary: A creative analysis of the human condition.
Review: I could recommend this book because of the creative devices used to convey Barnes's message, or because of the message itself (that humanity perpetuates an endless cycle of self-destruction), or because of the amazing forethought presented by a young writer, or because of the tenderness with which he approaches his subject (that's us). But I won't choose; I'll recommend it for all of these reasons.The comparisons to Joyce and Calvino (on the back cover) are apt, except Barnes is more compassionate than Joyce and less cryptic than Calvino. Barnes is a Boccaccio for our times. It's rare that I find a philosophical novel to be so compelling. Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Touchingly honest , steeped in irony and brilliance
Review: I loved this book! It was given to me by a friend and I can't understand why more people haven't read it. I found Parenthesis especially moving- free from the cloying, false sentimentality that we are so often spoon-fed and fostering the empty belief that once we fall in love, all mysteries are revealed. I strongly reccommend this book and others he has written, they are moral and intellectual fodder; he manages to captivate and liberate all at the same time!
Rating:
Summary: More than the sum of its parts...
Review: I respectfully and totally disagree with the misinformed reader who gave this book only 2 stars. I'd list it as one of the great books of the twentieth century for many reasons. It appears at first glance to be made up of disconnected stories, histories, journal entries, and fables. But what is so masterful in the writing style is the way that, with a little work from the reader, these disparate elements reorganize themselves into an organic whole. I find many qualities of Barnes' work "musical', perhaps none more so than his singular use of leitmotifs. Words, phrases and themes echo from one chapter to the next, linking ideas, characters and symbols to the very end of the book. What leitmotifs? Some examples: Noah, the Ark and the Flood; historiography; shipwrecks; pilgrimage; G-d as destroyer; the eventual and inevitable corruption/destruction of all art and history. Barnes IS in love with his own prose and loves to play with the reader to prove his own erudition, but never entirely without a point. I have several favorites among the chapters, particularly the first and last. In both, the identity of the narrator is crucial to the overall structure of the book. Both address "the oldest story in the world." Both are mildly to wildly comic in degree and both address head-on why we go on, why we remain dedicated to the struggles of this life (and, perhaps, the next.) From proto-Biblical narrative, to art criticism, to pseudo-history, to parable we're led on to the secret of it all. I thought it was just a jim-dandy read.
Rating:
Summary: Read it more than once to do it justice....
Review: I studied this book as an A level text, and at first I hated it - I found it to be a confusing disjointed book about woodworm and arks with an extremely unsatisfactory ending :"I dreamt I woke up - it's the oldest dream of all and I've just had it." But upon reading it a second time out of necessity, I realised just what a gem of a book it was. Julian Barnes is an extremely intelligent and sensitive writer, with a brilliant sense of humour. All the books are linked, with themes and motifs, which are cleverly hidden throughout the book. The book is a satire of traditional history books, under a comically incongrous title - it is impossible to say every part of the world's history in 10 1/2 chapters! He deals with weighty subjects - love, survival, history, and tries to teach us our previous misdemeaners in a manner such as to prevent us from doing them time and time again.(ref. the holocaust.) I loved this book, and I read it time and time again. With every chapter comes a new idea, a new slant on an old idea and I hope others will see what I saw in it. Persevere in reading this book right to the end and it will reward you.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant for train journeys
Review: I studied this book for the purposes of school coursework last year. This was in the midst of shuttling by train across the length and breadth of England and Scotland looking at Universities hoping to apply to some of them... Suffice to say, there was never a dull moment on any of those journeys with this book close by. I am never completely fond of Julian Barnes, but his exploration of human truths through little glimpses of our history is rivetting. There is stealthy and wry wit here, as in Chapter One (where we learn what really happened on Noah's Ark...) or Chapter Three (in which woodworm are put on trial for devouring a bishop's throne...) along with the inevitable visits to our own crazy twentieth century. Yet there is also undeniable weight here, deftly underlined in the "parenthesis" or half-chapter about Love, and the ending is quite mystical and unexpected. One of Barnes' best achievements. Strongly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: I thought this book was weird when I had to read it for a college course, but I have since referred to it in nearly every other course I have taken, as well as numerous papers and occasionally even in conversation. The theme of the dominant narrative is one not mentioned by other reviewers. The various chapters address how what contemporary society knows of history is what the strongest wanted the story to be. Barnes says that the strongest, the "winners," are also the most ruthless, and therefore the least moral and least fit to write history...and yet that is the way of the world. Very interesting. Very thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: The book of the year.
Review: I want everybody to know how I feel about this book. This is a very good book and I would like to buy it so that I can read it in my own home. My highschool class read it in our english class, and I was very fascinated by all the stories... all the stories have something that everybody can relate to. All I can say is: READ IT OR YOU WILL REGRET IT!!
Rating:
Summary: Barnes works are mesmerizing.
Review: I'm not quite sure exactly what universe it is that Julien Barnes inhabits, but I must say that it is an unusually interesting place to visit. Having been blown away by another of the authors books-Flaubert's Parrot-I decided to try another of his novels to see if the substance and style of that books could be repeated. It turns out repetition is not one of Mr. Barnes apparent life goals. In The History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters Mr. Barnes once again blows me away in a manner absolutely at odds with, but just as mesmerizing, as Flaubert's Parrot. If Barnes has one unifying aspect to his novels it's that he can take the arcane and use it as a window to the world. In Flaubert's Parrot, the oddity of the parrot became a metaphor for the oddity that was Flaubert. In History of the World, Mr..Barnes latches onto an array of arcane and esoteric symbols to both analyze an historical epoch while concomitantly questioning the validity of historical analysis, within various arenas, itself. It's a nifty trick, an enlightening exercise, an entertaining expedition of epic proportions. One of the particularly interesting elements of Barnes style is his ability to tackle "heavy" topics in a straightforward, serious yet light-handed manner that allows for the flow of the ideas, the flow of the text, and the flow of the story (or, in this case, stories) to march on without getting bogged down. The man possesses a highly inventive and creative mind, a very off beat view of the world, an admirable craftsmanship with language and a very dry, very British tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. It all adds up to a splendid reading experience. This is a truly novel novel!
| 
