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'The Sense of an Ending' is an outstanding piece of literature that encapsulates time, memory, age, history and knowing ‘self��. A story about Tony Webster's life and told chronologically and in reverse which leaves you questioning - 'is it better to regret the things you haven't done or the things you have'.

A story that is ‘constructive�� with the mature reckoning of what Tony has and is forced to see in his life, and equally quite a ‘destructive�� narrative where the sensibility and critical analysis of his actions and importantly his memory of them, lead him to slowly unravel the perceptions others had of him and the unshakeable image he had of himself and what he believed to be true.

“But time...how time first grounds us and then confounds us. We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe. We imagined we were being responsible but we were only being cowardly. What we called realism turned out to be a way of avoiding things rather than facing them. Time...give us enough time and our best-supported decisions will seem wobbly, our certainties whimsical.��

Psychologically insightful at times, mentally agonising to see the perceptions of others battle the unconscious mind of the man who does not see, and then the meditation and reflective analysis of what this all means to the MC Tony and of course to us.

Brief Plot Summary

A middle aged Tony Webster after trying to track down a diary following the death of a friend is forced to contend with new revelations, new facts, different opinions his friends and others had of him and most importantly the knowledge that he deceived or was untrue to himself.

Review and Comments

Tony is content with his life, and the book, if read as a chronological reflection on Tony’s story, can appear a rather mundane and normal epilogue of a man’s life, who has loved, conquered, harmed, and succeeded. In fact, if this is all this book was about then I wouldn’t be recommending. Now think of two timelines in parallel, because the second part of the book is about remorse and the retelling of some of this story in reverse with regrettable actions, self-deception at the core, and being forced to rethink and rewrite your own history �� because you got it wrong. Or at least there is another opinion and perspective on you!!!

In the book, Tony’s ‘self awareness�� or lack off is the engine and substance of the plot. He had intended to write something that would hurt Adrian, yet he is forced to read a letter where he barely recognises himself��.

“I reread this letter several times. I could scarcely deny its authorship or its ugliness. All I could plead was that I had been its author then but was not its author now. Indeed, I didn’t recognize that part of myself from which the letter came. But perhaps this was simply further self-deception.��

An otherwise unlikeable character, or some of his actions were, is forced to concede some ground which does educe empathy from the reader. However, to draw out some important themes there had to be a character like Tony in the story. A forced day of reckoning, a sad and poignant time for an older Tony too, and a rather emotional story as he has to come to terms with his past.

“History isn't the lies of the victors, as I once glibly assured Old Joe Hunt; I know that now. It's more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious or defeated��.

It is deep but wonderful, it is a simple story with some complexity to the storytelling, it is character driven and wonderfully so, even if you don't love Tony and it is beautifully written with sooooo many quotable messages, as we are left pondering on one of them "...how far do the limits of our responsibility extend?"