Nothing to Be Frightened Of
by: Julian Barnes
List Price: $24.95
Prices subject to change.
Price: $16.47
You Save: $8.48 (34%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Product Description:
Two years after the best-selling Arthur & George, Julian Barnes gives us a memoir on mortality that touches on faith and science and family as well as a rich array of exemplary figures who over the centuries have confronted the same questions he now poses about the most basic fact of life: its inevitable extinction.
If the fear of death is “the most rational thing in the world,” how does one contend with it? An atheist at twenty, an agnostic at sixty, Barnes looks into the various arguments for and against and with God, and at the bloodline whose archivist, following his parents’ death, he has become—another realm of mystery, wherein a drawer of mementos and his own memories (not to mention those of his philosopher brother) often fail to connect. There are other ancestors, too: the writers—“most of them dead, and quite a few of them French”—who are his daily companions, supplemented by composers and theologians and scientists whose similar explorations are woven into this account with an exhilarating breadth of intellect and felicity of spirit.
Deadly serious, masterfully playful, and surprisingly hilarious, Nothing to Be Frightened Of is a riveting display of how this supremely gifted writer goes about his business and a highly personal tour of the human condition and what might follow the final diagnosis.
Two years after the best-selling Arthur & George, Julian Barnes gives us a memoir on mortality that touches on faith and science and family as well as a rich array of exemplary figures who over the centuries have confronted the same questions he now poses about the most basic fact of life: its inevitable extinction.
If the fear of death is “the most rational thing in the world,” how does one contend with it? An atheist at twenty, an agnostic at sixty, Barnes looks into the various arguments for and against and with God, and at the bloodline whose archivist, following his parents’ death, he has become—another realm of mystery, wherein a drawer of mementos and his own memories (not to mention those of his philosopher brother) often fail to connect. There are other ancestors, too: the writers—“most of them dead, and quite a few of them French”—who are his daily companions, supplemented by composers and theologians and scientists whose similar explorations are woven into this account with an exhilarating breadth of intellect and felicity of spirit.
Deadly serious, masterfully playful, and surprisingly hilarious, Nothing to Be Frightened Of is a riveting display of how this supremely gifted writer goes about his business and a highly personal tour of the human condition and what might follow the final diagnosis.
Alternate Versions:
Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category:
- Books » Subjects » Biographies & Memoirs » Arts & Literature » Authors
- Books » Subjects » Biographies & Memoirs » Memoirs
- Books » Subjects » Biographies & Memoirs » General
- Books » Subjects » Biographies & Memoirs » General AAS
- Books » Subjects » Literature & Fiction » Authors, A-Z » ( B ) » Barnes, Julian
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Could not even finish
I am in a book club.And we choose this book for last month's read.We all agreed, we hated this book.The writing did not flow well, and it was very random.The "story" (if you can even call it that) jumped around a lot and made it difficult to follow.I am not sure how this book managed to get such good reviews.I read a lot, and even if I am not enjoying the book, I rarely do not finish.This book, just got added to that very short list.
Rating: 
- Amateur, do-it-yourself stuff
On page 39 Barnes writes, "Perhaps I should warn you (especially if you are philosopher, theologian, or biologist) that some of this book my strike you as amateur, do-it-yourself stuff," and on page 165 he warns that his mind "lollops from anecdote to anecdote." No kidding, Joolz. On the backcover Kate Summerscale claims this book is a "disquisition" on death. Uh, not quite. This book is an assortment anecdotes and quotes from a gang of Frenchmen that Barnes was unable to pull together into a coherent ... Read More
Rating: - Julian Barnes does not need a Memento Mori
Barnes writes: "This is not, by the way, `my autobiography'."The book is, however, intensely autobiographical, in a discursive rather than chronological or comprehensive way.It deals mainly, but not exclusively, with two themes that have occupied much of Julian Barnes' life: the fear of death which, despite the book's title (ah! but what if you take the word Nothing to mean Nothingness?), has become an essential part of me" and his attitude to religion: "I don't believe in God, but I miss Him."
Read More
Rating: - Hello Mr. Death, how are you?
More and more we're getting books about aging and death as writers age and deal finally with "the one story that will prove worth your telling" (Conrad Aiken).Julian Barnes checks in with a beautifully written book that intereweaves his personal experiences with the deaths of those close to him with literary reminiscences about death and dying, and his thoughts about his own impending death.I say "impending" not because Barnes is terminally ill, but because all our our deaths are "impending" in one way ... Read More
Rating: 
- Masterful
Nothing to Be Frightened Of
This is a masterful set of reflections on death and dying, simultaneously funny and serious, fresh and wise.Barnes compiles relevant and artfully integrated personal ruminations and anecdotes involving his parents, his brother, the French writer Jules Renard, and many other cultural figures.The title comes from Renard, who suggested that when one says of death that "there is nothing to be frightened of," the emphasis belongs on the NOTHING.
- Could not even finishI am in a book club.And we choose this book for last month's read.We all agreed, we hated this book.The writing did not flow well, and it was very random.The "story" (if you can even call it that) jumped around a lot and made it difficult to follow.I am not sure how this book managed to get such good reviews.I read a lot, and even if I am not enjoying the book, I rarely do not finish.This book, just got added to that very short list.
- Amateur, do-it-yourself stuffOn page 39 Barnes writes, "Perhaps I should warn you (especially if you are philosopher, theologian, or biologist) that some of this book my strike you as amateur, do-it-yourself stuff," and on page 165 he warns that his mind "lollops from anecdote to anecdote." No kidding, Joolz. On the backcover Kate Summerscale claims this book is a "disquisition" on death. Uh, not quite. This book is an assortment anecdotes and quotes from a gang of Frenchmen that Barnes was unable to pull together into a coherent ... Read More
- Julian Barnes does not need a Memento MoriBarnes writes: "This is not, by the way, `my autobiography'."The book is, however, intensely autobiographical, in a discursive rather than chronological or comprehensive way.It deals mainly, but not exclusively, with two themes that have occupied much of Julian Barnes' life: the fear of death which, despite the book's title (ah! but what if you take the word Nothing to mean Nothingness?), has become an essential part of me" and his attitude to religion: "I don't believe in God, but I miss Him."
Read More
- Hello Mr. Death, how are you?More and more we're getting books about aging and death as writers age and deal finally with "the one story that will prove worth your telling" (Conrad Aiken).Julian Barnes checks in with a beautifully written book that intereweaves his personal experiences with the deaths of those close to him with literary reminiscences about death and dying, and his thoughts about his own impending death.I say "impending" not because Barnes is terminally ill, but because all our our deaths are "impending" in one way ... Read More
- MasterfulNothing to Be Frightened Of
This is a masterful set of reflections on death and dying, simultaneously funny and serious, fresh and wise.Barnes compiles relevant and artfully integrated personal ruminations and anecdotes involving his parents, his brother, the French writer Jules Renard, and many other cultural figures.The title comes from Renard, who suggested that when one says of death that "there is nothing to be frightened of," the emphasis belongs on the NOTHING.
