Quite frankly, I'd never even heard of Mordecai Richler until I read the autobiography of his British editor and publisher, Diana Athill. She predicted he'd become the grand old man of Canadian literature, and apparently he did. Lord only knows what I was busy doing at the time. In any event, I picked up a cheap kindle copy of "Barney's Version". It's a book that should be, in certain ways, familiar to fans of the mid-century New York golden age -- Roth, Bellow, Mailer, and all the rest -- but we're in Montreal, Canada if we're not hanging around the bohemian quarters of Paris after the war, and the titular Barney's a die-hard Canadiens fan. Still, the novel's prose is a joy: equal parts nostalgic, quick-witted and swinging. Also, the frequent footnotes, that undercut Barney's eponymous version, prove themselves to be a surprisingly effective comic and literary device.

Barney, it must be said, is a bit more of a jerk than most of the main characters created by the aforementioned authors: acerbic, moneyed, hard-drinking. But he's not without his charm, or his attractions, at least to his three wives, all of whom are rendered wonderfully, if not exactly fondly. "Barney's Version" is a bit more of a comedy than the sort of book the aforementioned Big Three usually produced: Richler seems willing much more willing to play his main character's eccentricities, terrible decisions, pet peeves, and misfortunes for genuine laughs than any of those authors would have. Filled with good bits and big characters and even an unsolved murder mystery, "Barney's Version" is, if absolutely nothing else, a lot of fun to read.

But it's more than fun, really. Barney's more-or-less past his prime when we meet him, and much of the book's plot describes his slow slide into irrelevance. Barney's a grouch, sure, but Richler still presents his halting progress toward death with genuine pathos. Whatever mistakes he has made in his life, Barney has made sure to surround himself with friends and family, most of whom stick by him as he prepares to leave this world. Barney, we learn, has grown rich off of connections with talents bigger than himself and middling, often state-supported Canadian television shows. But the author goes out of his way to show us that never losing track of the neighborhood kids he grew up with and showing undying loyalty to his kids -- even at their most problematic, were two things that Barney -- God rest his soul -- did right. Recommended. ( )

Go past the first part, which is often a bit too political and didascalic. Know your English and your American culture: you'll need it.

But I cannot help loving a book that makes me wanna try cognac.

Culturally voracious, adamant about his shortcomings, generous and uncompromising, if somewhat unbearable. "Now I know. The monster was me"

Splendid - but still inferior to the very similar "Till we have faces" and "L'età dell'oro". ( )

Loved it; especially the ending and how well it was set up early in the book.

Great first-person character expression! ( )

Richler layers on enough historical and cultural references (including Duddy Kravitz and St. Urbain Street) within the first five pages that his novel starts requiring footnotes. Actually, the footnotes are there by design, added by a fictional editor of this fictional memoir by a fictional character named Barney Panofsky, who is out to redeem his reputation in his twilight years after a long-time acquaintance slanders him in another autobiography.

Barney's memory is beginning to suffer, demonstrated as he stumbles a bit to recollect certain trivia while rambling all over his personal timeline through the early chapters. Eventually he settles down to follow something more chronological, interspersed with notes from his present, and the narrative becomes easier to follow through its three parts delineated by his marriages. Barney's dry, sarcastic wit does him service and lends some rich humour, though he also succumbs to lashing out in anger as he knows how to hold (and act upon) a grudge.

Barney's background is Jewish Quebecois (just like Richler's own), but many of his reflections are universal: the too swift passage of time, the unremitting memories, the odd ways in which people can come and go from one's life. Regrets and honest self-assessments mount. There is no clear takeaway at the end this story, not even in the epilogue, which is perhaps the best verisimilitude of all. Even if it was sometimes absurd, Barney's was not so bad as lives go, and it feels like ending enough. ( )

Barney Panofsky is a fictional character but from what I have read of the author's persona and life he is largely drawn from Richler's own experiences. This book was the last one Richler completed before his death and it is a fitting tribute to his career I think. Of course, I haven't read any of the other books Richler wrote but I do still remember the film made from The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz which I thought was equal parts hilarious and disturbing. (Duddy Kravitz makes a few cameo appearances in this book.)

Barney is in his 60s living on his own since his third wife left him but still continuing to direct his TV production company, drinking at the bar and at home, and smoking cigars at all hours. He has learned that an old compatriot, Terry McIvor, is publishing an autobiography which will paint Barney in a very bad light and so he has decided to write his own autobiography which will contain his version of events. Barney divides the book into three parts named for his three wives (Clara, the Second Mrs. Panofsky and Miriam) but don't expect a straightfoward narrative from Barney. He does eventually get to the point but it is a long and winding, albeit fascinating, road. We do eventually learn that his first wife Clara was someone he met while living in Paris and that she committed suicide very young. Barney returned to Montreal determined to make more of his life and that meant finding another woman to marry. At his wedding reception to the Second Mrs. Panofsky he met Miriam and fell instantly in love. In case you think this is artistic license this same scenario played out between Richler and his second wife. His second marriage ended when he found his wife in bed with his close friend at the cottage he owned in the Laurentians. Barney was secretly glad to have a reason to divorce his wife so that he could woo Miriam but when his friend never returned to the cottage after going for a swim in the lake Barney was charged with his murder. Barney swore to the end that he did not kill the man but are we to believe Barney who has proven to be an unreliable narrator about events both big and small. Although the police could find no body nor any blood they charged him with murder. Barney was acquitted by a jury but most people believe he got away with murder. Miriam, however, did believe him and they did get married, have children and live together quite happily. And then Barney committed one mistake that Miriam could not forgive so she left him and married a younger man. Barney continues to be devastated about losing Miriam and thinks they will eventually reconcile. He also thinks his friend will show up out of the blue proving that he was innocent all along. As Barney continues to pen this autobiography it becomes clear that he is having memory problems and very quickly he deteriorates until he has been put into a personal care home. The book is corrected for errors by his son who also adds an Afterword which sheds some more light on Barney Panofsky, the man, the husband and the father.

Although I felt like I should abhor this character I actually grew to love Barney Panofsky. I'm sure he would have been horrendous to live with but life would not have been dull. And I suspect the same applies to Mordecai Richler. This book was selected by CBC as one of 100 Novels that Make us Proud to be Canadian and I think it was an inspired choice. ( )