Staring at the Sun

		Barnes examines the ordinary life of Jean Serjeant from her childhood in the 1920s through her adulthood to the year 2021. Throughout her life, Jean learns to question the world's idea of truth while she explores the beauty and miracles of everyday life. "There was no courage without fear, and without admitting fear. Men's courage was different from women's courage. Men's courage lay in going out and nearly getting killed. Women's courage--or so everyone said--lay in endurance." -- Staring at the Sun, 78.

English Editions (View Translations)

Staring at the Sun. London: Jonathan Cape, 1986. £9.95. Print run: 8000.

Staring at the Sun. London: London Limited Editions, 1986. £25.00. [Limited edition].

Staring at the Sun. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987. $15.95.

Staring at the Sun. Toronto: Random House, 1987. $19.95.

Staring at the Sun. London: Picador, 1987. Pp. 195.

Staring at the Sun. New York: Harper & Row/Perennial, 1988. Pp. 197.

Staring at the Sun. Groningen: Marlies Louwes, 1997. Pp. [12]. With artwork by Marlies Louwes. 'Typeset in Bembo and Printed in 40 copies on Zerkall-Bütten.' Text reprinted with the author's permission. Yellow paper cover. (11.7 x 19 cm).

Reviews

Pédot, Richard. "Voyage au centre de la métaphore: Staring at the Sun de Julian Barnes." Etudes Britanniques Contemporaines no.15 (1998).

Lawson, Mark. "The Genre-Bender Gets it Wrong." Sunday Times (London) (28 September 1986): 53.

Hamilton, Ian. "Real Questions." London Review of Books 8(19) (6 November 1986): 7.

Fuentes, Carlos. "The Enchanting Blue Yonder." New York Times Book Review 92 (12 April 1987): 3, 43.

Lodge, David. "The Home Front." New York Review of Books (7 May 1987): 21.

McGrath, Patrick. "Julian Barnes." Bomb 21 (Fall 1987): 20-23.

Fuentes, Carlos. "Dos veces, el sol: La nueva novela de Julian Barnes." Suplemento Lit. La Nacion, 27 March 1988, p. 6.