A History of The World in 10 1/2 Chapters

By Julian Barnes

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes

I found this book in the fiction section of Powell’s. I bought it in 2018 because I liked the title, but it would be another year before I actually read it. I know this because the receipt is still tucked into the front cover. I read it entirely while sitting on my dorm bed, with only my string lights, taped to the wall, to light up the pages. Not that I read it all in one night, but when I read it, that’s how I would do it.

“A History” is made up of 10 ½ separate stories, starting with a comical retelling of Noah’s Ark and ending with one concept of the afterlife. The final chapter is a major reason why I recommend this book to others. But it is remarkably similar to the ending of The Good Place, which everyone should watch, so I won’t risk spoiling it.

The stories intersect with one another in myriad ways. Sometimes it is a word or phrase, sometimes it is a symbolic object, sometimes an indirect reference to the events of another chapter. The result is a text more intricate than a collection of short stories; it is a series of ideas refracted among each other.

Now I must admit to a small lie. They are not all stories. The “half chapter” is an in-depth analysis of The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault. Even this analysis is linked in the web-like structure of the book. It raises many important ideas. In the whole book, I have only underlined one sentence from this half-chapter.

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault

The analysis covers how Géricault made this work and the choices he almost made. It comes after a story explaining the true story of the Medusa Raft, which made this painting a relevant social commentary in its time. This context has been almost entirely forgotten, yet the painting still lives on as a masterpiece. What does it mean now that it has been removed from its original context? Should art be removed from its historical moment? Can it be removed? Can anything?

I would recommend this book to anyone with an eye for detail, a mind for philosophy, and a tolerance for religious irreverence.

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My Copy: Julian Barnes. A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. Amsterdam-Netherlands, Netherlands, Adfo Books, 1990. Get it Here!