A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (Vintage International)

Rating:
Summary: A worm's eye view of history
Review: This was one of my favourite books of the year. It is often difficult to decipher exactly what Julian Barnes is getting at in his writing as he likes to present a detatched, intellectual view of the world with many different points of view incorporated in his immaculately constructed prose. A History of the World is, in essence, a series of essays describing various dispirate angles of history from the little man's perspective. Never is this done better than in chapter one, a brilliant and original short story describing the voyage of Noah's ark from the mouth of a stowaway woodworm.

Other parts I enjoyed was the short chapter on love, an exemplary piece of prose that can only come from the mind of a great thinker who has pondered deeply what it is to be in love. Three superb short stories deconstructing the myth of Jonah and the whale, a comic tale of a Titanic survivor and a ship carrying Jewish refugees on a futile voyage around the States were particularly memorable in different ways. And for a prime example of the pure intellectual strand of Barnes' writing, sample his essay on art history concerning a portrait of 'The sinking of the Medusa'. You will never pass by a picture with a cursory glance again.

I am aware that Barnes insists this work is a novel, claiming that 'things in it thicken and deepen' but I think it is essentially a collection of original and thought provoking essays. A worms eye view of history.