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Gosh this is a tough one. I really did enjoy reading this book and the writing was lovely. I also enjoyed the spinning out of ideas about history and memory. But, ultimately, for me the plot was disappointing and many-pages-long drumroll that sustained the pace of the story landed onto into a (ta-da!) cornball ending. I had the same experience that I sometimes have in movies when I am enjoying myself throughout but I walk out mildly disappointed. I would have given Barnes ten Booker prizes for Flaubert's Parrot, by far my favorite of his novels, but this novel's plot just seems too slight despite the interesting ideas spinning around it.