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Levels of Life cover art

Levels of Life

By: Julian Barnes
Narrated by: Julian Barnes
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Summary

”You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed…”

Julian Barnes's new book is about ballooning, photography, love and grief; about putting two things, and two people, together, and about tearing them apart.

One of the judges who awarded him the 2011 Man Booker Prize described him as “an unparalleled magus of the heart”. This book confirms that opinion.

©2014 Audible, Inc. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Levels of Life

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The tropics of grief

Would you listen to Levels of Life again? Why?

Totally and utterly heartbreaking.His exploration of his own grief of losing his wife of 30 years is detailed and totally honest

What did you like best about this story?

his honesty and total love of his wife

Which scene did you most enjoy?

It hurts as much as it's worth,so in a way one relishes the pain. if it didn't matter,it wouldn't matter

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

i was in flood of tears

Any additional comments?

the most beautiful book i have read in years

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Truthful and painful

What did you like most about Levels of Life?

The link between the ballooning and living after a death, and the very truthful and thoughtless things people say and do to a bereaved person. Sounds quite a confessional report from the author, and is sometimes painful to hear, but it is absolutely how it feels (bereavement, not ballooning). Made me think carefully about what I would say, and what I would feel most supported by in such circumstances.

What did you like best about this story?

This is not a story but a disguised autobiography.

Have you listened to any of Julian Barnes’s other performances? How does this one compare?

This is more thoughtful and considered, with a great depth of feeling.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The reading made me think very hard about the situation, and was sobered by his courage in reading his own experience.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The heights and depths- exquisite

So very, very well written! Well crafted in three parts. The first two parts are facinating. The third part is one of the most honest and powerful I have ever read.

A surprising and powerful novel, and I plan to read it again.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Levels of Life Julian Barnes

Currently listening to this book on a way to tube station in the morning and I could not ask for a better way to fill this time if I looked for it. The fact that the author covers the books makes it very special. Great plot, era and very technical knowledge. Highly recommend.

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6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A novel and touching book, the likes of which I’ve never read before

A novel and touching book, the likes of which I’ve never read before.

I came across this book by chance in a sale and was totally unprepared for what was to come, leaving my somewhat thrown by the first act (no spoilers).

Such was my unpreparedness that I almost gave up but, being a third through, I persevered. I am glad I did because I was treated to an insight into grief and loss that I didn’t know I needed as much as I did.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Heart-rending

My wife and I have both been captivated by this audiobook and have each listened to it several times.
It holds together, in a web of images drawn from its early chapters on ballooning and photography, the most beautiful exploration of love and loss. Barnes' memoir of his grief is candid, insightful, and heart-rending.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Well written but not his best

I did enjoy this short book and the final section dealing with the loss of his wife was both touching and fabulous. I hold back on my rating however as the initial set up, all about balloon flight, went on far too long for me. I know that's Julian's style but this time, as I say, it felt too long a preamble.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

All levels including zero

What made the experience of listening to Levels of Life the most enjoyable?

The most enjoyable element was the resonant metaphors which repeatedly occur throughout the text, regardless of the seemingly disparate ingredients of ballooning, photography, love and grief.

What did you like best about this story?

Barnes's characteristically elegant prose. I've read/heard almost everything he's written but it struck me for the first time in this book that he manages to achieve a great paradox in his writing. Everything seems simultaneously familiar and surprising.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I don't think 'enjoy' is the word but the passages on grief were very affecting - prompting a sense of painful anticipation.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It didn't occur to me to listen all in one sitting but I might well do this when I revisit the book - which is a certainty.

Any additional comments?

This may be my favourite Barnes book - perhaps due to that authority which writer as narrator confers.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely wonderful and thought provoking

What did you like most about Levels of Life?

It really made me think Julian Barnes is also wonderfully articulate.

What did you like best about this story?

The honesty of Julian Barnes

Which scene did you most enjoy?

There wasn't any scenes as he is talking about the experience of dealing with bereavement

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Julian Barnes has a beautiful voice

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining, informative, beautiful, sad, moving

Entertaining musings on the technical and psychological changes in humanity's ability to view itself heralded by the invention and combination of photography and aeronautics. Then follows a deeply personal detailing of the writer's experience of romantic love, loss and grief. Beautiful and sad, and powerfully moving.

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1 person found this helpful