Different levels of life

"Every love story is a potential grief story. You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it works, and sometimes new is made, and the world is changed. Then, at some point, sooner or later, for this reason or that, one of them is taken away. And what is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotinally possible." (Levels of life)

"Levels of Life" is a heartbreaking personal meditation on the ceaseless grief of an affectionate and devoted husband (Julian Barnes) upon the sudden death of his wife (Pat Kavannagh). It is also a book of linked narrative-a historical essay on ballooning and photography, etc. It is not until halfway through the book that J. Barnes introduces his own story (The Loss of Depth). In 2008, after an illness of five weeks, Julian's wife Pat dies leaving him a widower at the age of sixty-two. The novel is a sharing of his experience of grief and mourning.

It is not an easy-reading book. I must confess I had to restart reading the first chapter a few times. After reading it, I admit I found myself in front of two different stories: the first two chapters represent the first story and the last one the center of the novel. This novel touches on aspects of grief that most of us will have faced at some time or are still going through. Each chapter is a metaphor in itself.

At first glance the stories seem loosely linked. However, reading the beginning of each chapter we find a linking pattern: (1):"You put together two things that have not been put together before and the world is changed."(2)"You put together two things that have not been put together before; and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't." (3) "You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it works, and sometimes new is made and the world is changed." Barnes is interested in how things are put together and what happens when they are apart.