The Sense of an Ending

Literature, capital L, is supposed to intensify normal life. Julian Barnes knows this; his narrator in The Sense of an Ending says as much early on. And yet this short novel has the mountain-out-of-a-molehill feel of On Chesil Beach: fine writing, astute observations, some flashes of power, but small in the way that England is small.

Heat and Dust

Parallel lines never meet, but in this perceptive novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvla the parallel lives of two women in India a half-century apart do touch. The 1923 strand follows a British official's wife who takes up with a minor Indian prince. Despite the declarations of all the old India hands, including her husband, that they know the country best, it is the newcomer who feels at once at home, even during the insufferable heat. The post-independence thread has a more optimistic and modern outcome. Throughout, the author's crystalline, gorgeous prose propels the reader forward. Her characterizations may not go deep enough for some, but discerning readers will appreciate the Greene-like sophistication and remove.

I Only Roast the Ones I Love

Jeff Ross's memoir-cum-instruction manual is a cut above the usual celebrity fare. His putdowns invariably strike home, producing what Arthur Koestler called the human body's only "luxury" reflex: laughter. Although I would argue that, for a sane life, laughter is more necessity than luxury.

The Man Who Outshone the Sun King

Nicolas Foucquet is not a name that will ring many bells, but anyone who has seen his magnificent home of Vaux-le-Vicomte near Melun, about 50 miles from Paris, will not soon forget it. The financier responsible for this edifice eventually ran afoul of King Louis XIV and ended up spending the last two decades of his life banished in an Alpine fortress. With a deft and clear style, Charles Drazin has chronicled the rise and fall of Foucquet against the background of war, insurrection and intrigue in 17th century France.

Endgame

In Endgame, author Frank Brady provides an admirably detailed biography of world chess champion Bobby Fischer. The reader who is familiar with the game, however, will be left wanting more about the nature of Fischer's dominance over the board. I suspect the chess content was watered down in the interests of appealing to a wider audience.

Narcopolis

There must be something about being a drug fiend that makes the fiend think he is fascinating. But as this novel by Jeet Thayil shows, it ain't necessarily so.

491

This novel by Swedish author Lars Gorling might be described as a cross between Lord of the Flies and A Clockwork Orange. Told in the first person by an adolescent offender who is sent to an experimental group home, the narrative is full of offensive behavior (including a dog having sex with a woman) that created a sensation when it was published in the 1960s. A film of the book was widely banned. If the point is alienation and generational disconnect, that message comes through loud and clear.