The Sense of an Ending, written by Nick Payne, based on the novel by Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending, written by Nick Payne, based on the novel by Julian Barnes


Tony Webster- the magnificent Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA awards winner Jim Broadbent – is the hero of this sophisticated, intellectual, thought provoking narrative.

Although he is retired when we first meet him, an inheritance and a missing diary offer the audience the occasion to travel in the past, meet young and senior Veronica Ford, Margaret Webster, Sarah Ford, Adrian Finn and other characters that have had a smaller or important impact on the course of events in the life of the protagonist.
He is surprised, awed perhaps, to find one day that he has inherited five hundred pounds from a recently deceased Sarah Ford, who was the mother of a former difficult girlfriend, Veronica, called by the hero’s ex-wife- The Fruit Cake.

After talking with the solicitor- an endeavor that the author observes renders us in the mood of using the same expressions, legalese-Tony Webster finds the letter from the deceased that has no explanation for the money, but especially curios is the fact that there is a diary and that we would find out belonged to…Adrian Finn.
Memories include the time when young Tony was in school, where the apparition of Adrian Finn caused something of a sensation, for this was a bright, forthcoming, unusual, creative, open-minded student, who soon gained the trust of teachers, one of them considering the intelligent young man as a successor.

History classes appear as especially interesting, dynamic, combative, open minded, the professor Hunt challenging his pupils to think, inviting them to answer questions about what history is…”the stories of the conquerors” says Tony, to which the teacher replies that they can be also the commiserations of the vanquished.
Henry VIII is brought forth, with funny answers like “it was complicated during his reign” to more complex discussion when the subject of a colleague who had committed suicide is touched upon, as a possible minor historical event, which for Adrian Finn demonstrates the limitations of historical investigations.

The student gives this example to prove that with things that had happened in the past it is next to impossible- maybe indeed beyond our powers- to find what really happened, since they do not know, in the absence of a letter explaining the motives, what determined the young student to kill himself.
To this the professor protests that there are always historical sources and that the intelligent Adrian Finn disconsiders the historians, who have access to letters, testimonies from friends, family, there would be phone calls that some would remember, letters and other material.

In trying to communicate with Veronica, older Tony Webster finds that there is resistance, the woman would not give her information through the counselor, who is the only means of exchanging information, and if the money reaches the hero, the diary is supposed to be missing, and some amusing alternatives are explored- calling the police in does not make too much sense, not much more than resorting to burglary.
Tony Webster has the email address of David Ford, Veronica’s brother and through him, after some messages are exchanged, the protagonist finds a way to belatedly write to the “Fruit Cake” and even meet the woman who was so negative in the past and is rather cold now- seeing as she is played by Charlotte Rampling, it gives the public a sensation like a cold shower.

When young, Tony and Veronica met at a party, where the opening line of the young man was rather strange- I have a compulsive disorder or something along this line-and they date each other, the young woman even takes him to meet her parents and spend the night in a room where he masturbates- the resulting sperm is mentioned in the very first phrase of the Man Booker Prize winning novel.
The relationship is awkward, the sexual tension is high and there is very little release of pressure and frustration for the young man, at least in his opinion, since they have a kind of infrasex, sometimes masturbating each other, other times he is pleasuring her, bringing her to an orgasm, but with a feeling of inadequacy, unfulfillment and reproach for the male partner.

After a while, Tony receives a letter from Adrian, who writes about the fact that he and Veronica form a couple, something which will soon become apparent and he would rather find this from his friend rather than learn from a stranger and be very appalled, traumatized perhaps by this knowledge.
The hero is so frustrated, perhaps jealous, angry and diminished by this information that he sends a message that he would later regret, attributing to it magical, cursing powers that could alter the lives of those involved in such a terrible manner as to consider himself a bastard.

Senior Veronica takes Tony Webster to see a group of adults that have challenges; they have some disabilities that mean they need special attention and the support of trained personnel.

When the protagonist talks to the one that is called Adrian, he understands- he thinks- what happened, that this is indeed the son of his former friend, who has committed suicide and surely has affected his then partner, Veronica, who after this trauma would give birth to a child with problems, had to dedicate her life to him, saw him growing and as he became too large for her, she had to seek professional help and institutionalize the man who is in his forties now.
Only is this the real story of what happened?

There is a surprise in this analytical, introspecting, beautiful narrative that has deservedly won the Man Booker Prize- some say the most prestigious award for works written in English currently- for the author of the fantastic novel- the Sense of an Ending.