Love, etc Audiobook (Unabridged)

" Absolutely dazzling in verbal virtuosity and character development. Julian Barnes is a genius. "

" Barnes use of multiple narrators pays off at the end of this book, a story revolving around a love triangle. It's entertaining enough, but I would not have recommended it without the excellent denouement. "

" Typical Barnes with witty interplay throughout the characters and a light, deft touch, but the ending is darker than I expected and it leaves an aftertaste. I don't think you can really read this without having read his previous book Talking It Over. "

" A book about the relationship between a woman and her two husbands (ex and present). Written more like a play than traditional fiction and not exactly smooth and easy to read...but rather good all the same. "

" Certainly not the best of Barnes' books, not least because all of the major characters, and pretty much all of the minor ones too, are really objectionable people. Good for completists though, I guess. "

" In the beginning of the novel, it wasn't really great at all. It eventually did but not enough. The very beginning, vocabulary was thrown into my face that I've rarely seen in my life and I would constantly check what they meant in a dictionary. It was very frustrating and tedious, I suppose. I really didn't like Oliver because of his way of thinking with all those words and he doesn't even use them when he speaks. The writing style was interesting, it was like a play... In the end, it reveals more how everyone thinks different in a situation like, Stuart leaves most of the important factors out, while Gillian points them out, and etc. "

" This sequel to Talking It Over is just as delicious as the first book. Oliver, Stewart and Gillian, three rather tiresome characters, tell their own stories in this surprisingly tense and thought-provoking dramatic love triangle. "

" As entertaining and impressive (style-wise) as its prequel. I wish I were more interested in Gillian and Stuart, though. My love for Oliver isn't enough to carry this book past a three-star rating, even though it's really good and the kind of book I'd read again/recommend to people. "

" First purchased and read in 2004 while backpacking. Left that copy at a hostel's bookswap corner. Re-purchased and re-read in Oct. 2011. "

" A return to the characters of "Talking It Over," who leap to life again, but this feels largely like a retread, and the parts that are new seem out of character. "

" Makes you think about relations you have, you have had...what is real, what is imagined. Great characters, developed and matured after 10 years (since previous novel), but still so lost... "

" sequel to talking it over. a less optimistic and more cruel look at the same relationships... but naturally.. the people in question are older and mid life is never a good time for people to show off their best selves. "

" perhaps i should read the first book before reading its sequel. "

" Very smart monologues, better than Talking It Over. Audiobook is the way to go. The fine actors bring out nuances I'd probably have missed. "

" In "Talking It Over" are most of the whats, while in this sequel to it we find out the whys. Or at least a couple of hypotheses. Any moral to it? Dunno. Stuff just happens. "

" This is the second of his books I have read and I didn't like it as much. I hated one of the characters (although I do think that is the point) and would have loved to have just skipped all the parts in which they appear. Easy read though, good for the train. "

" Very well written, with a toe-curlingly pendantic main character, Stuart, who indirectly seeks revenge through being "nice". The book has some of the most depressing and yet in some way true insights about relationships that I have read in a long time. "

" I didn't see the point. It was boring and a struggle to finish. "

" At first I really enjoyed the self-absorbed banter of the characters, particularly in the first book, Talking it Over, until I realized that ultimately, this is all supposed to boil down to a manipulative, scheming woman, and how she fucks with men's minds. Please. "

" Not able to get into the story. "

" A book about the relationship between a woman and her two husbands (ex and present). Written more like a play than traditional fiction and not exactly smooth and easy to read...but rather good all the same. "

" perhaps i should read the first book before reading its sequel. "

" Barnes use of multiple narrators pays off at the end of this book, a story revolving around a love triangle. It's entertaining enough, but I would not have recommended it without the excellent denouement. "

" The book isn't poorly executed--it's that the characters (especially Stuart) are unlikeable, almost nauseating. I can't believe I read this, since I didn't even like "Talking it Over". "

" This is the second of his books I have read and I didn't like it as much. I hated one of the characters (although I do think that is the point) and would have loved to have just skipped all the parts in which they appear. Easy read though, good for the train. "

" At first I really enjoyed the self-absorbed banter of the characters, particularly in the first book, Talking it Over, until I realized that ultimately, this is all supposed to boil down to a manipulative, scheming woman, and how she fucks with men's minds. Please. "

" I didn't see the point. It was boring and a struggle to finish. "

" Despite not knowing that it was the sequel to another book that I hadn't read (which I am not currently trying to track down), this is a great, if slightly pessimistic (depending on how full your cup is) view of sustaining a relationship. "

" One of my least favourite reads of Barnes. It seems he found some scraps laying around and flung them into a thinly veiled story. The characters are also all boring. "

" Liked Talking it Over so much better. Still interesting to see what happened to all the characters, but not nearly as clever and Oliver in particular was not as engaging as he was in the first book. "