The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

This topic has been created for those of you who are reading any of the Mookse Madness books by Julian Barnes.
These are the four books that have been selected.

Flaubert's Parrot
A History of the World in 10½ Chapters
Arthur & George
The Sense of an Ending

I have started reading A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, which has been sitting around on a bookshelf unread for some time. I am enjoying it so far, but it seems to be a short story collection, not a novel, and the links between the stories are not that strong.

It’s been some years, but I remember liking some sections more than others.

I just read my review, I reported liking the 1st and 9th chapters the best.

I agree - it is just a loosely themed short story collection, but it does contain some of his better stories - the first (woodworm) and the last (heaven), plus the one about the terrorists on the boat were the ones I remember best. I have read most of Barnes' work, and will find this difficult - I admired Flaubert's Parrot but much of it sailed over my head, and will probably vote for Arthur & George.

I've read all the books on this list:

I found History of the World.. rather patchy
I liked Flaubert's Parrot a lot - I've read it twice and second time round was better
The Sense of an Ending is a masterpiece - imo

I DNF's Arthur and George.

I finished "History" and will review properly when I am back on a full-sized keyboard. Briefly: it is a good short story collection with some recurrent motifs but not a strong theme to link them.