Talking It Over by Julian Barnes Presented by

Talking It Over by Julian Barnes Presented by Sherry Lu 2004/05/06

Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes n n n 19 January 1946—born in Leicester, England. 1968—receiving his BA degree in Magdalen College, Oxford. 1966 -67—as an English teacher in a school in Rennes, France. 1969 -72—the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary. Reviewing books for the Times Literary Supplement, later becoming literary editor of the New Statesman. 1979 -86—as a television critic, first for the New Statesmen and then for the Observer (London).

Works Metroland (1980) Before She Met Me (1982) Flaubert's Parrot (1984) Staring at the Sun (1986) Metroland (1987) A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (1989) Talking It Over: A Novel (1991) The Porcupine (1992) Letters from London: 1990 -1995 (1995) Cross Channel (1996) England, England (1998) Love, Etc. (2000) Something to Declare: Essays on France (2002)

Talking it Over n A story of a love triangle: Stuart and Oliver are best friends Stuart marries Gillian Oliver falls in love with Gillian Oliver marries Gillian.

Narration (1) n Multiple Points of view n Unreliable narratives n Repetition n The characters address the reader directly. n Stuart, Oliver, and Gillian each tell their own story, with a few other voices also making themselves heard.

Narration (2) n Each offering a different point of view, a different spin, and, occasionally, an entirely different account of what happened. n They not only strive to seduce the reader's admiration but inquire nervously about what the others are saying, provide warnings against their deceptions, and so on.

Characters Stuart: a young banker, careful, a bit unsure of himself, without a university education. Stuart: rabbit imagery. (33) n Oliver: a pedantic, unfulfilled soul, a wilder, artsy type who travelled, studied, and finally wound up as teaching at the tacky Shakespeare School of English. Oliver: dog imagery. (47, 79, 203, 250) n Gillian: trained in social work for while, but then became an art restorer. n

A homosocial relationship (1) In a patriarchal society the privileging of male homosocial relationships is naturalised. n Stuart and Oliver are schoolboy friends. Their initial exchange is overtly and consciously economic: "Lend us a quid". (18) A pair who are overtly aware of and even discuss the economic foundation of their relationship. n “We very occasionally went on double dates but they were without exception complete disasters. For a start, Oliver would always provide the girls and I would always provide the money" (52). The 'girls' are referred to as somehow secondary to the men themselves. n

A homosocial relationship (2) A competition between them. n Stuart and Gillian: Stuart has essentially taken Oliver's 'job' and found a girl for himself. “Just like at school. Poor old Oliver. This time I simply wrote him a decent-sized cheque and told him not to worry about repaying it" (73). n Oliver's response: to triangulate the relationship. He thus convinces himself that he is in love with Gillian, thereby justifying his willful insertion into Stuart and Gillian's personal life. n

A homosocial relationship (3) Olives and Gillian: “We live in an era of market forces, Stuart, and it would be naïve or, as they used to term it, romantic not to realise that market forces now apply in whole areas where hitherto they were deemed inapplicable” (160). n Stuart: “He hasn’t changed, Oliver. Land us a quid, give us your wife. He’s basically a parasite, do you see? A work-shy snob and a parasite” (163). n

Female role (1) Women as purely sexual objects and never as equals. Stuart and Oliver really view Gillian as the object of negotiation. n Gillian: initially rejects her opportunity to speak. She tells the reader "I'm an ordinary, private person. I haven't got anything to say" (9 -10). Later feels a need to defend her opinions and actions. n Gillian and Oliver: Oliver "needed someone like Stuart around. It's the same as colour theory. When you put two colours side by side, that affects the way you see each of them" (258). n

Female role (2) n Gillian has been reduced to viewing and placing herself as subordinate to the needs and interests of both Stuart and Oliver (242). n Gillian: “Love, respect, fancy. I thought I’d got all three with Stuart. I thought I got all three with Oliver. But maybe three’s not possible. Maybe the best you can get is two, and the HOLD button is always on the blink” (255).

Truth? Lies? n The conflicting stories: seem to suggest that there is no real truth, only conflicting stories, but it is possible to discover the facts, though how they should be judged is another matter.

Reference n n n n http: //www. julianbarnes. com/bib/tio. html http: //www. completereview. com/reviews/barnesj/tio. htm http: //mural. uv. es/jahesa/notestalking. htm http: //www. julianbarnes. com/ http: //www. english 1. org. uk/barnes. htm http: //www. nybooks. com/authors/128 http: //www. salon. com/weekly/interview 960513. html