19 May 2014

Student Review: Arthur & George by Julian Barnes

Trade paperback, 445 pages
Published 2007 (originally 2005)
Acquired May 2007
Previously read December 2009
Reread February 2014
Arthur & George
by Julian Barnes

I always like to ask my students what they thought of the books we read when the semester is over, though this semester I did not allow for as much time/space as I did in the past, so the comments are consequently less detailed. In any case, my impression of the reception of Arthur & George is vaguely positive: they felt it was slow to start, and were frustrated with the lack of resolution, though I think I got them to at least comprehend why that was the case with our discussion of postmodernism:
  • "Drop Arthur and George"
  • "I think you should teach Adam Bede, Arthur & George and Frankenstein (which I had already read in high school but didn't get that much out of at the time) again definitely"
  • "Arthur & George and Between the Acts were my least favorites as the 'density' of the text and slow pace made it really hard to get through."
  • "I really liked Frankenstein, The Thing in the Forest, Sherlock Holmes, and Arthur and George."

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