"Marriage Lines": New Short Story

A new story by Julian Barnes will be one of five featured stories on the BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Reading the week of October 16-20. The plot of "Marriage Lines" is described on the BBC website: "A return visit to the island of Barra brings back memories of decades past, holidays and young love. "

Visit the BBC Radio 4 Website for more information or to listen to the Afternoon Reading.

From the BBC Website:

Sir Tom Stoppard, Julian Barnes, Marina Warner, Helen Simpson and Nina Raine have each written a short story to be read by actor Alan Howard, who turned 70 this summer.

Alan has, most recently, been the voice of the Ring in Peter Jackson's Tolkien trilogy and was also the acclaimed star of numerous Royal Shakespeare Company productions during the Seventies and Eighties.

These special commissions range from Julian Barnes's gentle celebration of a Scottish island's role in one man's marriage, to Sir Tom Stoppard's playful disquisition on Matthew Arnold's celebrated poem, Dover Beach.

Presenter/Alan Howard, Producer/Jill Waters

NAXOS Audiobook -- A History of the World

Julian Barnes's A History of the World in 10½ Chapters is now available in an unabridged audiobook from NAXOS Audiobooks. When you order through NAXOSDirect, use the coupon code JulianBarnes to receive free freight from now until the end of December 2007.

Excerpt from the Disc Jacket:

"A History of the World in 10½ Chapters tells a series of apparently unconnected stories ranging from a woodworm’s-eye-view of the journey on Noah’s Ark to an astronaut’s quest for its final resting place. There is pastiche and learned disquisition; there is heart-stopping documentary and heart-lifting revelation.

"But these stories are not separate. They are all linked by a complex weave of inquiry into history itself, into love, myth and fabulation. It’s about everything that matters, told with brilliant imagination, intelligence and humour."

Order via NAXOSDirect (use coupon code: JulianBarnes), Amazon, or Amazon.co.uk)

Barnes Discusses Philip Roth's The Counterlife

Julian Barnes discusses Philip Roth's novel The Counterlife with John Freeman for Critical Mass, the blog of the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors (September 25, 2007).
Read the interview.

Excerpt from the Interview:

Q: Does this book speak to you about your own work? I feel of all your books, A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters is most similar to it. Did The Counterlife influence the writing of that book, or any other of your works?

A: I was certainly well advanced in thinking about my History when The Counterlife came out, and had already started writing it. So: no. It seems to me that I can and do admire Roth the more easily because I don't think he has the slightest influence on me. But then, I would say that, wouldn't I?