Departure(s) by Julian Barnes

In Departure(s), Julian Barnes reflects on love, memory, and aging through a story of reunion and time, blending fiction and memoir in a thoughtful farewell.

on Feb 15, 2026

Departures contains a wealth of thought-provoking material. Using themes such as memory, love and mortality, Julian Barnes has carefully built a remarkable piece of literature from moments in each individual’s life to illustrate a world of memories, frustration and sadness.

This work consists of three parts (memoir, essay and fiction) in which Julian Barnes braids them together to create a fictitious narrative that appears more like a collection of essays and memoirs rather than a single piece of fiction. He does this intentionally—therefore creating an experience for the reader.

Barnes weaves together two love stories chronologically, threaded together with an exploration of aging, memories and bodily fragility. At times, memory serves as a character within his work and the author invites readers to ponder the authenticity of their own memories and the narratives they have constructed over time. The work draws on the Proustian moment expressed in the famous madeleine from In Search of Lost Time, highlighting how small details can trigger large emotional discoveries.

The book has been arranged in two parts. The first part is more philosophical in its approach and deals with the concept of memory. It is filled with observations and references to other authors. The second part turns into a story about Stephen and Jean as they look back on their lives after a hiatus of forty years. This change from one format to another may be confusing to readers used to traditional novels but reinforces the overall argument about how our memories change over time as we grow older.

There is also an underlying emotional current in the text. The author seems to suggest that this will be the last book he writes, creating a reflective or almost farewell tone to the storyline. In this way, rather than being tell a story dramatically, its strength lies in its restraint and calm acceptance of what life is, just as memories are fragmented and imperfect.

Although Departure(s) may not fit the pattern of what a novel is generally considered, it exemplifies its own strength as it is written like a conversation between the author and reader regarding what really have the most meaning in each of our lives; namely; love, aging, and the understanding that we are all ultimately going to have to say goodbye to one another. By being so thoughtful, intimate, and profoundly reflective, it can serve as an excellent conclusion to Barnes' outstanding body of work as a writer.