Fiction Pick of the Week: Pulse

Pulse by Julian Barnes 2011

Pulse is a new collection of 14 short stories by an elegant master of the form. These stories of mostly middle-aged British characters pulse with hope and optimism and demonstrate that Julian Barnes is an impeccable story teller.

The first 9 stories resonate with humour and wit . The dinner-party, conversations of a group of old friends exposes them as smug, middle-aged liberal elites. Barnes has captured the sharp dialogue exchanges between these upper-class British dinner guests with a wicked sense of style. The stories reveal the way people misunderstand one another because of the ambiguities that often exist between lovers and friends. The 5 stories in the second half of the book are skillfully and delicately rendered around the senses of hearing, sight, touch, and taste as people get closer to one another as they try to connect. Barnes explores the themes of love, loss and death with acute observations that are deeply affecting. Pulse is a gem of a collection written by a very well-respected author.