Hello Readers!
I am Nidhi Jethava and I am a student of MK Bhavanagar University. As a part of the syllabus, we have one paper on contemporary literature study. So in this blog, I am going to answer the question asked by respected professors. This blog is the part of #thinking_activity on Julian Barnes ‘The Only Story”. It is the part of our study that after completing a particular unit we have to do a thinking activity. So in his blog, I am going to answer the questions of ‘The Only Story.’
In this paper, we have a group task. We have four units and four groups. So here I am putting a Presentation of a group task. I was also a member of this group task.
Here I am putting the teacher’s blog link.
https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2022/02/the-only-story.html
About Julian Barnes:-
Julian Barnes is the author of several books of stories, essays, a translation of Alphonse Daudet's In the Land of Pain, and numerous novels, including the 2011 Man Booker Prize winning novel The Sense of an Ending and the acclaimed The Noise of Time. His other recent publications include Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art and The Only Story.
His book The Man in the Red Coat was published in the UK in 2019 and in the US in 2020. He also selected and introduced a collection of John Cheever stories titled A Vision of the World (Vintage Classics, 2021). His new novel Elizabeth Finch will be published in 2022. (http://www.julianbarnes.com )
About ‘The Only Story’.
Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question.
(The Only Story)
‘The only Storty’ is thirtheened novel by Julian Barnes. It was published on 1 February 2018. The story is about nineteen years Paul Roberts and forty-eight year old Susan Maceold. Story is moslt based on memory. This novel divided into three parts. It is divided into first, second and third person narration. Story beginning with the narration of the Paul Roberts. It’s has tragic end. Story has unreliable narrator.
According to KIRKUS “Much like Barnes’ 2011 novel, The Sense of an Ending, this one involves a man looking back at a youthful error in judgment and considering its consequences. Paul, the narrator, recalls being 19 and falling for 48-year-old Susan, who's in a loveless, sexless, and abusive marriage. Cocksure about their relationship in spite of others’ judgments—Paul’s parents and Susan’s husband are righteously indignant, and the duo are kicked out of the tennis club where they began their affair—Paul decides to move in with Susan to pursue “exactly the relationship of which my parents would most disapprove.” The thrill of independence is short-lived, though, as Susan’s nascent alcoholism intensifies; the first half of the book mentions Susan’s drinking habit, but as if to mirror Paul’s youthful ignorance, Barnes doesn’t overtly signal how deep she’s sunk until she’s practically beyond help.”
Q. 1) Memory Novel - Structurally as well as thematically
Answer:-
“I think there’s a different authenticity to memory, and not an inferior one. Memory sorts and sifts according to the demands made on it by the rememberer.”
‘The only Story’ is a memory novel. It is based on the memory of Paul Roberts. Sometimes memory should be happy or sometimes it should be somethings that are unbrearble. This novel wildly talks about that Memory sorts and sifts according to the demands made on it by the rememberer. The novel majorly talks about the theme of memory. We come to know four aspects of memory.
History is collective memory; memory is personal history.
Trauma in memory.
Memory and morality
Memory prioritizes.
When we are connecting these points with Paul’s narration then we come to know that Paul is narrating or we can say shaping his memory so here we come to know he is constantly giving a shape to memory. He might be hiding something more terrible or we can say ’Trauma in Memory’. It might be possible that he understood that his grief is more than anything and for escape from that he narrate things in a different way.
In the novel, we come across the story of Eric and his love affair. So it is the best example of a memory novel. Paul suddenly talks about him. Eric had a relationship with American women and Eric was read to leave earthly things but at the moment he realized that he is going the wrong way and he saves himself but Paul was not able to do this. Another reference is that when Eric was beaten that time Paul was run away and afterward he said that he went to help of police, so all such things describe somehow that Pual is coward, fail and loos character. He made so many wrong decisions throwout his life and his remorse is never ever accepted.
Q. 2) ‘The only Story’ as Postmodern Novel.
Answer:
While discussing the novel ‘The only Story’ as a post-modern novel we come to know some important things/points that make this novel a postmodern novel.
Postmodernists rejected the view which culminated with realism, that literature was a reliable source of universal truths, though such view was never before questioned. Thus, 'The Only Story' questions the memory narration of Paul who, earlier in the novel, considers himself as a truth-teller.
The very assumption that art imitates life is questionable; it could be that life imitates art. Thus, Paul's falling in love with a middle-aged woman is seen by him as some 'literary-moment'. Though it does not turn out to be so romantic as literature imagines it to be.
There is no realm that contains objective reality and objective truth, according to postmodernist, and in this context we speak of relativism, which is another typical postmodernist trait. Thus, our narrator Paul is in search of objective truth about human relations and try to make sense of whatsoever is happening, but ultimately fails and starts looking at everything in terms of relativism.
Modernists also believed in the cult of the genius, which they inherited from the Romantics, according to which artists were the elite, hypersensitive persons who can grasp the ultimate truth, which was another idea of modernists that postmodernists rejected. Thus, the protagonist through which 'The Only Story' is narrated has no grasp over the objective truth and neither is he a hypersensitive soul. Through narrator, Julian Barnes rejects the idea that writers are genius who have grasped the universal truth
Modernists still pretended that their novels were not constructs but that they somehow revealed the truth, which again the postmodernist challenged. Even the notion of consciousness, personality, mind, were rejected by the postmodernists, who claimed that consciousness was rooted in language which describes nothing but itself according to them. Thus, the world view constructed by the word ‘love’ is questioned in this novel. The word ‘love’ is supposed to give us a worldview of happiness, togetherness, blissfulness, idyllic, peaceful, harmonious, joyful, ecstatic, heavenly life. In this novel, ‘love’ shatters family life, it brings pity and anger, it makes people alcoholic and liars.
-Theme of Existence. ( Arshad Nawaz)
Most of us have only one story to tell. I don’t
mean that only one thing happens to us in our lives:
there are countless events, which we turn into
countless stories. But there’s only one that matters,
only one finally worth telling, this is mine (Barnes,
2018, p. 13).
Julian Barnes sees that self-distance is a major obstruction in the psychological development of a person which is more regrettable than social estrangement. The novel is absurd in its nature as it manages the hero's depression and feelings of
anguish radiating from his irritation, breakup, meaninglessness, convention, and his actual self. As Paul asserts,
"Would you rather love the more, and
suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less?
That is, I think, finally, the only real question"
(Barnes, 2018, p. 13).
Q. 3) Theme of Love (Passion + Suffering)
Answer:-
‘The Only Story is a love story, which talks about the theme of love that love turns into passion and later on sufferings. Novel’s most of the quotes describe itself this theme. This novel is about nineteen years Paul Roberts and 48 years old Susan. The beginning of the novel talks about these things. Julian Barnes very passionately describes this thing. It is not only about a romantic love story.
“Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question. You may point out – correctly – that it isn’t a real question. Because we don’t have the choice. If we had the choice, then there would be a question. But we don’t, so there isn’t. Who can control how much they love? If you can control it, then it isn’t love. I don’t know what you call it instead, but it isn’t love.” (TOS)
Paul is the character who becomes the victim of these things. He, a 19-year-old university student; she, a 48-year-old married woman and a mother of two; they, in London’s suburban “stockbroker belt”, sometime in the 1960s. It is not a romantic, peaceful and happy ending kind of Love. It is described the horre reality of life, Paul’s mistakes, Susan’s over-drinking, the disaster of love, Nothingness of life Paul’s sexual desire, Susan’s rigidity, and Joan’s philosophy towards life and love.
Quotes :
First love fixes a life for ever: this much I have discovered over the years. It may not outrank subsequent loves, but they will always be affected by its existence.
“Perhaps love could never be captured in a definition; it could only ever be captured in a story.”
“In love, everything is both true and false; it's the one subject on which it's impossible to say anything absurd.”
This novel talks about the failure of love and suffering in the love. Joan is one of the best examples. She very idealistically represents this idea of love. Another example is Ellen and Paul’s story is at the center. Which describes that love is passionate turns into suffering.
Q. 4) Critique of Crosswords
Answer:
Crosswords are the symbol that is very significantly used by Jullian Barens. In this Novel two people are playing crosswords, one is mr. Gordon Macleaod and another is Joan.
It is said that Crossword puzzles have several benefits like:
hey can strengthen social bonds. Completing a crossword puzzle on your own is impressive, but you should never feel bad if you need to ask for help. ...
They improve your vocabulary. ...
They increase your knowledge base. ...
They can relieve stress. ...
They boost your mood.
It was Paul Roberts who describe hidden aspects of this crosswords. It’s significe the laisure of british people. By playing this game people might thing that they are solving the puzzles or difficulties of life.
“Everyone in the Village, every grown-up – or rather, every middle-aged person – seemed to do crosswords: my parents, their friends, Joan, Gordon Macleod. Everyone apart from Susan. They did either The Times or the Telegraph; though Joan had those books of hers to fall back on while waiting for the next newspaper.
I regarded this traditional British activity with some snootiness.
I was keen in those days to find hidden motives – preferably involving hypocrisy – behind the obvious ones
Clearly, this supposedly harmless pastime was about more than solving cryptic clues and filling in the answers.
My analysis identified the following elements:
the desire to reduce the chaos of the universe to a small, comprehensible grid of black-and-white squares;
Further addition: 1a) a successful means of taking your mind off the question of love, which is all that counts in the world.
the underlying belief that everything in life could, in the end, be solved;
2b) the further belief that once you have solved something in life, you will be able to solve it again, and the solution will be exactly the same the second time around, thus offering assurance that you have reached a pitch of maturity and wisdom.
the confirmation that existence was essentially a ludic activity;
3b) false confirmation that you are more intelligent than some give you credit for. and
the hope that this activity would keep at bay the existential pain of our brief sublunary transit from birth to death. That seemed to cover it!
Correction to 4). To begin: ‘the hope that this arse-bendingly boring activity would keep …’.”
In the novel, there is a very interesting episode where Paul asked Joan ‘Why she cheat him in Puzzle?’
‘Why do you cheat at crosswords?’
Joan laughed loudly. ‘You cheeky bugger. I suppose Susan told you. Well, it’s a fair question, and one I can answer.’ She took another pull of her gin. ‘You see – I hope you never get there yourself – but some of us get to the point in life where we realize that nothing matters. Nothing fucking matters. And one of the few side-benefits of that is you know you’re not going to go to hell for filling in the wrong answers in the crossword. Because you’ve been to hell and back already and you know all too well what it’s like.’
Another interesting scene is when Gorson. On two occasions, he is found solving the crosswords with Paul Roberts. The answers to the puzzle are ‘Taunton’ – a name of a town – meaning continue mocking at – and - ‘TREFOIL, REF – arbiter – in the middle of TOIL – work.’ If we read these words in context of the relations between Paul and Gordon we may find it symbolically significant. Taunton – making mockery of something/somebody and Trefoil – a popular warning symbol signifies triangular relation among Paul – Susan – Gordon. Both these words in the crossword puzzle seems to signify a taunt on Paul’s middling in between Susan and Gondon’s not-so-happy married life.
In 21st century people also playing Crossword. Nowadays Wardly is world widely plying. 
Q.5) Paul - the unreliable narrator
Answer:
What is an Unreliable narrator?
The fallible or unreliable narrator, on the other hand, is one whose perception, interpretation, and evaluation of the matters he or she narrates do not coincide
with the opinions and norms implied by the author, which the author expects
the alert reader to share. ( MH Abrams)
Paul is the protagonist of the story. The story is based on the memory of Paul. Memory is something that is not trustworthy of we can say that it sifts according to individual. Paul during his conversation warns the reader. Here are the quotes which discuss Paul as an Unreliable Narrator.
“You understand, I hope, that I’m telling you everything as I remember it? I never kept a diary, and most of the participants in my story – my story! my life! – are either dead or far dispersed. So I’m not necessarily putting it down in the order that it happened. I think there’s a different authenticity to memory, and not an inferior one. Memory sorts and sifts according to the demands made on it by the rememberer. “
Later on, he said: I never kept a diary.
So here as a reader we should aware of the narration of Paul., So all these things prove that Paul is an unreliable narrator.
Q. 6) Susan - madwoman in the attic
Answer:
The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination is a 1979 book by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, in which they examine Victorian literature from a feminist perspective. Gilbert and Gubar draw their title from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, in which Rochester's wife (née Bertha Mason) is kept secretly locked in an attic apartment by her husband.
In this novel, we find some similarities between Bartha and Susan. Bartha was suffered by his husband and here Susan is suffering from some kind of this thing. She becomes an alcoholic. She speaks lies to Paul. Somewhere she is stuck with responsibility. She was beaten by his own husband. She had extramarital affair with Paul, she somewhere wants love, some kind of warmness but she was constantly become a victim of hatred, sexual pleasure and was beaten so many times. Susan also become a victim of child abuse when she went to his uncle Hemph’s house. When finally she went with Paul there she feel lonely and that time she become alcoholic like anything. In the end, Paul also abandons her and her daughter Clara taking care of her. Susan’s character is fascinating because there is another character who counterpointed to Susan’s character. The story of both Susan and her friend Joan is interesting but Joan might digest the philosophy of life.
Q. 7) Joan - one who understood existential enigma
Answer:-
Joan is the formal tennis partner and friend of Susan Macleod and sister of Gerald. Gerald is the ex of Susan. She is around fifty-three and she kept yeppers with her. One Ypres died and she decided never to keep them because when you are alone and you love someone whatever they were and they died at that time you feel pain as like you lose your person. Later on, she kept another named Sible. Joan is the counter character of Susan. She had digested the philosophy of life. She spent her time with sible, she drinks, smokes,d and played tennis and crosswords.
In the second part of the story, we come more about Joan. There is a long conversation between Paul and Joan. In the novel, there is a very fascinating incident where Paul asked her cheating in crosswords.
‘Why do you cheat at crosswords?’ Joan laughed loudly. ‘You cheeky bugger. I suppose Susan told you. Well, it’s a fair question, and one I can answer.’ She took another pull of her gin. ‘You see – I hope you never get there yourself – but some of us get to the point in life where we realize that nothing matters. Nothing fucking matters. And one of the few side-benefits of that is you know you’re not going to go to hell for filling in the wrong answers in the crossword. Because you’ve been to hell and back already and you know all too well what it’s like.’
So if we look at this conversation Joan’s character is a very well understood existence enigma.
Q. 8) Whom do you think is responsible for the tragedy in the story? Explain with reasons.
Answer:-
The novel ‘The Only story’ has a theme of Responsibility. Our protagonist Paul at the age of seventy is not happy with life. He has described at the beginning of the story that it is his only story, which was ultimately one kind of disaster. He is the narrator of the story. He and Susan were in a relationship. When they come to a relationship Paul was such young and Susan was about forty-eight. This tragedy happed because of Paul. He has the nature to escape from an uncomfortable and tough situation. The ship of his relationship was broken because of his escape, his childisness. When his relationship was broken than he started to blame others.
So here Paul stated blaming Gordon for domestic violence so here Paul blaming that if Gordon had not acted badly with Susan this tragedy might not happen. For understanding more we have to look in to the novel ‘The Sense of the Ending’ where Julian Baned gave a metaphor of ‘Link’. When we see these links then what becomes significant is Imagine in Chain on the link is breaking then who or what is the responsible for that? What are the possible answers is this chain is made with metals? So here we can say that if the chain is made with the qualitative metal it might be not broken. There is frangibility. Some links very quickly break down and some are still there. So if there is a frangibility link will be there. So here Paul also tries to question the responsibility in a different way. Paul is not so much fragile for sustain.
Here the reason is that when Pual is overvieing himself he felt guily and remorse for disater and he wants to escape from all the things. Paul has no frangibility or we can say the capacity to sustain or grab the situation.
Thank you.
Works Cited
Julian Barnes: Official Website, http://www.julianbarnes.com/. Accessed 9 February 2022.
Abrams, M.H., and Geoffrey Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Cengage Learning, 2012.
Barnes, Julian. The Only Story. Jonathan Cape, 2018.
“THE ONLY STORY.” Kirkus Reviews, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/julian-barnes/the-only-story/. Accessed 9 February 2022.
Nawaz, A., Ijaz, M., & Anjum, K. M. (2021). Postmodern Absurdist Critique of Julian
Barnes’s The Only Story. Global Language Review, VI(II), 94-100.
https://doi.org/10.31703/glr.2021(VI-II).11
Characters:20215
Words:3479
Sentences:198
paragraphs: 120
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