This distinction makes George’s story seem more immediate through this section, even though they are both taking place at similar points in time and both narrations adopt identical, and fairly cool third person omniscient tones. In “Beginning,“ the first chapter, the passages are short, often only a page or two in length, with Arthur’s in the past tense and George’s in the present. The novel is structured into four quite distinct chapters, each of which contain a series of titled passages which initially alternate between Arthur and George. The story traces each of these characters separately, characterising their lives and the forces which made them who they ultimate became, and finally, in chapter 2, brings them together in a way which is equally powerful for both characters. These complex but subtly developed themes underpin the fictionalised stories of real life characters Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, and George Edalji, solicitor and victim of the Great Wyrley outrages. This sight extends to questions of guilt and innocence how we judge and determine, and perhaps more broadly, how each of us lives our lives with the knowledge of our impending death. It is about what we do and don’t see: the visible bonds of friendship, sympathy, or hatred and prejudice. From the simple impact of optical myopia to the complex impact of metaphorical myopia–short sightedness and long sightedness. A child wanted to see.” (3) Julian Barnes’ latest novel, Arthur & George is a novel about sight in all of its forms. It always begins like this, and it began like this then. However, the real magic of Arthur and George is, as is almost always the case with Barnes, in the great beauty of the narrative, which brings these characters into fictional life. There are images of George’s real book cover, real newspaper clippings, and other quotes from the annals of history. Barnes has clearly done a tremendous amount of research, and even a reader who comes to this work without the slightest knowledge of Arthur Conan-Doyle will leave with a good understanding of the key events in his life, from his earliest memory to his death.

Julian barnes arthur and george review