![]() ![]() ![]() The rest of this review will spoil the pleasure of a raw read. If knowing that Elizabeth Finch is about a student enthralled by his no-nonsense teacher - all written with Barnes’ trademark easy erudition and wit - is enough for you, then off you go: Buy, read, repeat. This story’s surprises are not noisy but they are sharp. ![]() Neil signs up for a blandly titled, no-credit night course his life is forever altered. Narrated by a fitfully employed actor named Neil, the book is many things: an academic novel, a critique of cancel culture, a paean to those we learn more from than ever expected. Elizabeth Finchis the latter.īut it is also fun, and not always rigorous. Understood? There are books you read on the beach and others you read at a desk, pencil at the ready. “I shall expect rigour from you in return. I shall not attempt to stuff you with facts as a goose is stuffed with corn.” Rather, she promises a dialogue and, finally, “rigorous fun.” I shall not be pelting you with pie charts. She speaks “without notes, books or nerves” and continues: “Do not be alarmed. ![]() Elizabeth Finch is older, vaguely fallen from grace, teaching an adult-education class. “You will have observed that the title of this course is ‘Culture and Civilisation,’” declares the eponymous subject of Julian Barnes’ 25th novel. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |