Flaubert's Parrot tops ranking of Julian Barnes's fiction

A ranking of Julian Barnes's fiction lists ten works, placing Duffy (1980) at number 10 and Flaubert's Parrot (1984) at number 1. At number 10, Duffy is noted as the first in a series about a bisexual private eye that Barnes published under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh; the piece says it was written in 10 days and calls it, in the words of Barnes's friend Martin Amis, 'refreshingly nasty'.

The Porcupine (1992) is described as a short, savage satire of a collapsed European communist regime, while The Lemon Table (2004) is the second of Barnes's story collections, preoccupied with ageing and containing pieces that range from musical comedy to reflections on death and art.

The list highlights The Sense of an Ending (2011), on which Barnes finally won the Booker after a fourth shortlisting, as a quiet, middle-class meditation on memory, sex and remorse. Staring at the Sun (1986) is noted for its inventive near-future framing and predictions of online books and a form of AI.

Arthur & George (2005) is presented as a historical novel inspired by a real miscarriage of justice and featuring Arthur Conan Doyle, while Talking It Over (1991) is praised for its rotating first-person accounts of a love triangle; its sequel Love, Etc followed in 2000 and the piece notes Barnes has announced that his new book, Departure(s), will be his last.

Key Topics

Culture, Julian Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot, Duffy, Arthur & George, Dan Kavanagh