Julian Barnes- Nothing to be Frightened of

He talks about death- and agnosticism and atheism. And as the title says, it is nothing to be afraid of.

The author is a first-time read for me, and I wonder why. I had not even heard of him, which is a pity. Because he has such an engaging style of writing, that even a book about death is full of the gentle humour that reminds you of a breeze blowing idly, while you sit on a balcony or on a sea-shore.

Some examples.

He quotes Flaubert in advice to writers- 'Be regular and ordinary in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.'

Sibelius- 'Always remember that there is no city in Europe which contains a statue to a critic.' Or yet another quote from Ford Madox Ford, on critics - 'It is an easy job to say that an elephant, however good, is not a good warthog; for most criticism comes to that.'

A different one from Sibelius, " Misunderstand me correctly."

I know these are not about death, the subject of his book. There are many, actually, but I will reserve them for another time, another blog. Or you could even read the book.