I had no idea I'd be finishing a book yesterday and start reading a collection of eleven short stories, which I almost finished this morning ... but that's precisely what happened when I got "lost" in Julian Barnes' majestic writing.
The symbolism of the book's title has been made explicit by the author once for the Chinese the lemon is the symbol of death, thus whenever he gathers to discuss mortality or any other related issues, the local café table becomes their "lemon table".
The eleven short stories are related to ageing and its variegated emotions, which may range from regret to awareness of the growing inability to pursue passions with the same old vigour. But the book is a lot more than simply that - it is a rather clever approach to life and the desire to hang on it.
There are quite a few stories I thoroughly enjoyed and though none left me indifferent the one which impressed me most was the story of Mats Israelson for being utterly poignant on what unrequited love may mean.
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