Present Regarding Books A History of the World in 10½ Chapters
Title | : | A History of the World in 10½ Chapters |
Author | : | Julian Barnes |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 320 pages |
Published | : | November 27th 1990 by Vintage (first published 1989) |
Categories | : | Fiction. Short Stories. Historical. Historical Fiction. European Literature. British Literature. Contemporary |
Rendition Toward Books A History of the World in 10½ Chapters
Beginning with an unlikely stowaway's account of life on board Noah's Ark, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters presents a surprising, subversive, fictional history of earth told from several kaleidoscopic perspectives. Noah disembarks from his ark but he and his Voyage are not forgotten: they are revisited in on other centuries and other climes - by a Victorian spinster mourning her father, by an American astronaut on an obsessive personal mission. We journey to the Titanic, to the Amazon, to the raft of the Medusa, and to an ecclesiastical court in medieval France where a bizarre case is about to begin...
This is no ordinary history, but something stranger, a challenge and a delight for the reader's imagination. Ambitious yet accessible, witty and playfully serious, this is the work of a brilliant novelist.

Mention Books In Favor Of A History of the World in 10½ Chapters
Original Title: | A History of the World in 10½ Chapters |
ISBN: | 0679731377 (ISBN13: 9780679731375) |
Edition Language: | English |
Rating Regarding Books A History of the World in 10½ Chapters
Ratings: 3.89 From 12405 Users | 897 ReviewsWeigh Up Regarding Books A History of the World in 10½ Chapters
Turns out the history of the world revolves around fabulation, woodworms, and love. Hard to argue with that. I really enjoyed this book, each of the 10 stories self-contained, but threaded together, with the 1/2 chapter bringing it all together nicely. Witty, educational, philosophical, self-deprecating, all things I was really in the mood for while riding a bike across Quebec. Favorite lines, and there were many, so just a few now so I can harken back with fondness:"A painting may beThe history of the world? Just voices echoing in the dark; images that burn for a few centuries than fade; stories, old stories that sometimes seem to overlap; strange links, impertinent connections. We lie here in our hospital bed of the present (what nice clean sheets we get nowadays) with the bubble of daily news drip-fed into our arm. We think we know who we are, though we don't quite know why we're here, or how long we shall be forced to stay. And while we fret and writhe in bandaged
Shortly after starting this book, and even though I knew it was an early Barnes, I had to stop and check to see when it was written because it felt so immediate. And what it tells me, with that Barnesian wry humor, is theres not much hope:(History just burps, and we taste again that raw-onion sandwich it swallowed centuries ago.) (From Parenthesis the ½ chapter, page 239, 76%)Theres only this:But we must still believe that objective truth is obtainable; or we must believe that it is 99 per cent

I read most of this! A few chapters I stopped reading half-way through because I wasn't enjoying them as much. I decided to DNF as this is a book I had to study last year and no longer /need/ to finish it... and honestly I don't have any desire to revisit the chapters I stopped partway through.
The Prologue Before I met all of you wonderful Goodreaders I was at the mercy of my paltry few well-read friends for recommendations of new authors and books. Derek Crim, childhood friend and fellow bookish enthusiast has offered up some winners: Chabon before Kavalier and Clay; OBrians Aubrey-Maturin series; Kurlanskys non-fiction. In August of 2006 he gifted me a copy of this Barnes novel. Immediately upon completion of its reading it became one of my life-important books. The Beginning This
A History of the World in 10½ Chapters was not what I expected, but that happens a lot to me when reading Julian Barnes. I like surprises, and enjoyed the book. My problem is frequently uncontrolled expectations. I had a similar feeling reading Flaubert's Parrot, if I remember correctly since I read both years ago. It is highly entertaining and the choice of narrator in each fragment is a feat of imagination. Always true with Barnes' writings. The story grew on me as I read on, at the same time
This book is a mixed bag and hard to categorize. Ill call it a collection of short stories and essays, some of which are interconnected. For example, the theme of Noahs Ark applies to at least three of the pieces -- a story of the trip in which the Ark is a fleet of filthy prison-like ships under the dubious leadership of a drunken Noah. Then two Irish women go on an expedition to a village on Mt. Ararat. And an astronaut who walked on the moon abandons science for religion and searches the
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