The Sense of an Ending

　　來自過去的信件，告訴你從未了解的真相。

　　後來，我才驚覺：
　　年輕的時候，我們想像自己美妙的未來；
　　年老的時候，我們編織別人不存在的過去。

　　一切都很美好。
　　四十年前，他們頌讚青春，文學，哲學，友誼，愛情；
　　當然也有一些荒唐，嫉妒，幼稚的衝突與胡鬧。

　　四十年後，當你的人生走過了平靜無波的大半日子，
　　當你即將抵達人生的終點，
　　突然發現某一段記憶並非事實的全貌，
　　那麼，當時被剝奪和隱瞞的，究竟是多麼不可告人的真相……

　　高中時代的東尼與三位死黨日日高談闊論著人生應有的樣貌。艾卓安是四人當中最聰明的一位，他早慧的心靈讓他自以為看透人生的本質，因而成為其他三人追隨的對象。

　　大學畢業前夕，艾卓安與東尼的初戀女友薇若妮卡交往，但就在他們正式交往後沒多久，卻傳來艾卓安自殺的消息，自殺的真正原因無人知曉。

　　四十年過去，東尼早已與當年的老同學失去連絡，過著平靜的日子。某一天，他接到遺囑執行人的來信，表示初戀女友薇若妮卡的母親不久前過逝，留給他五百英磅及一本艾卓安的日記。

　　過往的一切突然再度出現在他的腦中，他不得不重新面對過去，審視回憶，卻發覺自己向來以為的記憶不是真的，到底，真相是……？

　　Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize

　　A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning new chapter in Julian Barnes's oeuvre.
 
　　This intense novel follows Tony Webster, a middle-aged man, as he contends with a past he never thought much about — until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony thought he left this all behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

　　★本書中譯版《回憶的餘燼》由天下文化出版。

作者簡介

朱利安．拔恩斯Julian Barnes

　　一九四六年出生於蘭徹斯特的書香世家，父母皆為法文老師，也因此奠定了他自幼的文學基礎。從牛津大學現代語文學系畢業後，曾任《牛津大辭典》的編纂員。以《福婁拜的鸚鵡》、《亞瑟與喬治》、《英格蘭、英格蘭》三度入圍布克獎，皆止步決選名單，於二○一一年終於以本書獲獎。

　　Julian Barnes is the author of ten previous novels, three books of short stories, and three collections of journalism. In addition to the Booker Prize, his other honors include the Somerset Maugham Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, and the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in London.