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Title: Love, Etc by Julian Barnes, Steven Pacey, Alex Jennings, Clare Higgins ISBN: 0-7540-0764-2 Publisher: Chivers Audio Books Pub. Date: February, 2002 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 6 List Price(USD): $54.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.38 (8 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Real-time
Comment: This is a rather unique situation: ten years passed since "Talking It Over", ten years passed in the author's life, in our lives, in the lives of Gillian, Oliver and Stuart. It is not often that we see a sequel developing at normal real-time pace. Imagine "Star Wars, Episode II" being filmed (with the same actors) not just a couple of years after Episode I, but after, how many was that, I'm not really a fan, let's say twelve years.

And it looks awful. Really awful. I identified myself with Oliver pretty much while reading the first book; after all, he's smart, quick-witted, and loves long words such as "crepuscular" (I've noticed that Barnes is personally extremely fond of this word himself; there's rarely a novel which goes without this word). But look what life has done to him. And how Stuart matured and vintaged, if this is a valid word.

And worst of all, it is so bloody realistic. Can't any of us count several Olivers, bright and brilliant, with high hopes (both their own and imposed on them by others), and utterly devastated and reduced to near-nothingness by the age when one should be in one's creative prime?

This does not spur me into going for ecological trade, or banking, or whatever it is what Stuart is or was doing. But this novel is an earnest warning to all us Olivers out there.

Rating: 4
Summary: A fascinating and acute social observation
Comment: Julian Barnes always impresses me with his accurate character portrayal of both the British and the French, as well as with his generally poignant social commentary.
"Love Etc", for me, was a literary drug as addictive as his previous works, though I was left with a greater sense of sadness than I have felt when reading past Barnes' masterpieces. Perhaps it is my memory playing tricks on me, but it seems that the ten years that passed between this work and "Talking it Over" in the lives of both the characters and Mr. Barnes himself, have paid a toll. The work starts with the same ironic and captivating humour of the past, but as it unfolds, the sadness of reality overwhelms the humour. The general lack of optimism left me feeling very numb at times. Whilst captivating, and easy to read because it is in dialogue form; a slightly bitter accuracy of the character portrayal makes it painful to digest the work at times.
This is not to say that the overall impression created by this novel is any less intelligent, measured or fascinating than former works of Barnes. "Love Etc" is a fabulous and thought-provoking reflection of many marriages and friendships through these well-developed, now matured characters whom we met ten years before in "Talking it Over".

Rating: 5
Summary: Impressive
Comment: I remembered "Talking Things Over" as a neat trick, a clever exercise in stretching the boundaries of the novel form, and I expected more of the same when I bought this one (on the day of its release, as I buy all of Barnes' books). I was delighted to find that Barnes has once again raised the bar, this time by using the "talk-around" form to draw even deeper, more intimate, and more harrowing portraits of these three characters. I only hope that I don't have to wait another ten years for my next visit with Oliver, Gillian and Stuart.