Departure(s) by Julian Barnes (Hardback) – Our Review

Our Review… Booker-prize winning UK author Julian Barnes is 80 and his latest release Departure(s), in his own words, is his final book. It’s hard to really describe what Departure(s) is about – it’s sort of a memoir, but more a collection of memories and reflections than the story of Barnes’ life. It’s a moving meditation on ageing and memory, with musings on philosophy and the writings of Proust – and writing in general. It’s the story of two of his friends who were partners at Uni and who he helped reunite 60 years later. It touches beautifully on life’s big questions – loss, illness, grief – and contemplates death, the inevitable for us all. Remodelling literary genres is what Barnes is known for, so it’s no surprise this fiction/nonfiction hybrid is not easy to categorise. However you describe it, Departure(s) is brilliant – witty, poignant, heartwarming but also very likely to bring a tear to your eye.  It’s a book that will make you think and feel about the ordinary things in life – the insignificant and the important. It’s for anyone staring old age in the face, for those of us starting on that path and for those dealing with ageing loved ones. Review by Andi