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Julian Barnes - Keeping an Eye Open

Mariella Frostrup talks to Julian Barnes about his book Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art, a collection of essays on various artists, plus Attica Locke on an inspirational book.

In his new book Keeping An Eye Open: Essays on Art, the hugely acclaimed novelist Julian Barnes brings together articles he's written on some of his favourite painters. They range from Gericault to Manet to Bonnard to Lucian Freud. He talks to Mariella about his approach to writing on art and trying to be a companion to the reader, about how his novels influence the essays and whether knowing any artists' life story can help us understand their work.

Mariella talks to Alex Johnson about the incredible and varied libraries from around the world captured in his book Improbable Libraries, Ramona Koval reports from Australia where authors have developed a surprising habit of giving away prize money and crime writer Attica Locke reveals the Book She'd Never Lend.

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Thu 21 May 2015 15:30

Chapters

  • Julian Barnes

    Duration: 12:06

  • Australian Literary Prizes

    Duration: 04:05

  • Improbable Libraries

    Duration: 06:15

  • Attica Locke

    Duration: 04:58

Close Reading of Ian McEwan's Enduring Love

I’m holding back, delaying the information. I’m lingering in the prior moment because it was a time when other outcomes were still possible; the convergence of six figures in a flat green space has a comforting geometry from the buzzard’s perspective, the knowable, limited plane of the snooker table.  The initial conditions, the force and the direction of the force, define all the consequent pathways, all the angles of collision and return, and the glow of the overhead light bathes the field, the baize and all its moving bodies, in reassuring clarity.  I think that while we were still converging, before we made contact, we were in a state of mathematical grace.  I linger on our dispositions, the relative distances and the compass point – because as far as these occurrences were concerned, this was the last time I understood anything clearly at all.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Mariella Frostrup
Interviewed Guest Julian Barnes
Interviewed Guest Alex Johnson
Interviewed Guest Ramona Koval
Interviewed Guest Attica Locke

Broadcasts

  • Sun 17 May 2015 16:00
  • Thu 21 May 2015 15:30

This Week's Book List

Read along with us - a list of books discussed in each programme

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