A History of the World In 10(1/2) Chapters

A History of the World In 10(1/2) Chapters by Julian Barnes opens with an insect spilling the dirt secrets of life on Noah’s ark. It only gets stranger, funnier, and more subversive from there. Barnes’ web of engrossing stories reveals the searing impact of faith, for better or worse, on the human imagination. His careful drawn characters travel up jungle rivers, make interconnected journeys to the fabled Ararat Mountain, visit the afterlife, cope with various threats of extinction, and try to care for themselves and each other in the face of brutal, onrushing history. The world Barnes has built for us is bizarre and relevant in equal measure, and definitely worth a visit.