Nothing to Be Frightened Of

By: Julian Barnes

Narrated by: Simon Vance

A memoir on mortality as only Julian Barnes can write it, one that touches on faith and science and family as well as a rich array of exemplary figures who over the centuries have confronted the same questions he now poses about the most basic fact of life: its inevitable extinction.

If the fear of death is “the most rational thing in the world”, how does one contend with it? An atheist at 20 and an agnostic at 60, Barnes looks into the various arguments for, against, and with God, and at his own bloodline, which has become, following his parents’ death, another realm of mystery.

Deadly serious, masterfully playful, and surprisingly hilarious, Nothing to Be Frightened Of is a riveting display of how this supremely gifted writer goes about his business and a highly personal tour of the human condition and what might follow the final diagnosis.

©2008 Julian Barnes (P)2021 Recorded Books

Brilliant

I love Julian Barnes, and I'd buy anything Simon Vance reads. So this Audible title was a no-brainer.
This is a non-fiction title: a personal disquisition on the existence of God, the fear of or confidence in an afterlife, and discordant family relations.
I loved listening to it and will do it again in a year or so... to refresh my memory, to absorb more than what I probably caught at first-listen.
Highly recommended.

Excellent

Excellent meditation on mortality. I highly recommend it for all readers. It is interesting, thought-provoking and humorous in parts.

For everyone over sixty 😉

I am about the same age as JB when he wrote this book and I also started contemplating mortality.
The narration couldn’t have been better.