Julian Barnes: Pulse and The Sense of an Ending, Booker Prize Winner

Julian Barnes, who collected a cool £50,000
for winning the Booker Prize

I am currently reading The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, 2011.  Claim to Fame: 2011 winner of the Man Booker Prize.*

The first Julian Barnes book that I read was Pulse (also published in 2011), which I picked up at the library because I kept seeing it on the recently returned cart.

Pulse is a collection of short stories. I typically do not read short stories, but really enjoyed the book.

Barnes writes dialog and human emotions so well, and his writing is quite witty.  This is partly due to his acute observations of nonsensical idiosyncrasies that we all have.

Let's face it, we humans are funny without meaning to be.
 
* As a side note - I was aware that the Booker Prize was a prestigious award for writers, but not familiar with the details of the award, so did some research.

The Booker Prize is awarded to the best novel by a citizen of the UK Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland.  I had no idea...  It's so limiting, yet deigns to include lowly colonies.

In 2008, Indian author Aravind Adiga won the prize for The White Tiger, which I highly recommend.  Not only is it superbly written, but also provides a view into a fascinating culture.