`Barnes' stylish prose, eye for emotional detail and sense of absurdity never let him down... He suits the short story very well' --Literary Review, December 6,2010
`The prose is crisp and elegant, light on its feet but resonant with pathos, and flecked with acute observations that never fail to strike a vivid chord with the reader.... It all makes for a diverse, entertaining collection, alternating between plangency and playfulness' -- Tatler, December 6, 2010
`one of the most civilized and culturally rich brainscapes in contemporary fiction' --Sunday Times, January 7, 2011
`The stories are intelligent: emotionally, stylistically and intellectually. Aesthetically. Also, innovative and experimental without being pretentious or inaccessible. And, oh yes, beautifully written.' --The Irish Times, January 7, 2011
'the writing is as clear, as wry, dry and elegant as ever' --The Times, January 7, 2011
`The promise shown by some of the other bright young stars of Barnes's generation has faded or fizzled out. His own star continues to shine. This is a delightful collection'. --The Scotsman, January 7, 2011
`masterclasses in the form, full of the sidelong wit and intelligence that make the writer one of our most consistently deft short-form stylists' --Saturday Telegraph, January 7, 2011
`The ways in which human beings misunderstand each another are infinite in their variety, and in his latest volume of stories Julian Barnes describes some of them.' --Sunday Telegraph, Jane Shilling, January 11, 2011
`With Pulse Barnes reminds us once again that he is a master of the small story...A joy during the act of reading and a source of many complicated afterthoughts, Pulse is a deep and sincere collection of beautifully crafted short fictions. This is an immediate best book of the year that will take some beating in 2011' --Time Out, January 11, 2011
`The artful arrangement of the short stories in Julian Barnes's new collection dramatizes the conventional split between mind and body' --The Independent, January 11, 2011
`In this, and each of these elegant, understated, often affecting stories, Barnes shows a profound understanding of the fluctuating currents and ambiguities between friends and lovers. Like a pulse, their rhythm changes with circumstance and health, time and age. And like a pulse, they offer hope' --Sunday Herald, January 11, 2011
`By turns compassionate and critical, witty and poignant, this is writing to revel in' --Daily Mail, January 11, 2011
`Pulse is a collection of 14 short stories by the masterly Julian Barnes, celebrating the human condition with skill, with and precision. Some are laugh-out-loud hilarious, many somber and melancholy. All are brilliant in execution.'
`One finishes the last page with huge reluctance, wanting more; moved educated and, above all, uplifted. Literary magic.'
--The Lady,
`All the stories in Pulse have the absolute completeness and density of the very best short fiction. You could add a litre of water to the last two mentioned and there would still be enough material to flavour the whole novel' --New Statesman
`only Barnes could unite the heat of `passion' with the coolness of `taste' --Scotland on Sunday
`Barnes dwells with his usual perspicacity on how couples contrive to both rub along and rub each other up' --Word Magazine
`combines mordant humour, perspicacity and invigoratingly crisp writing' --The Independent on Sunday
`Barnes' stories, at their best, are always exploring the borderlines of what is knowable' --The Spectator
`Impeccable short stories from the Flaubert's Parrot author, haunted by notes of solitude and mortality, and with endings as well-judged as the exit of a perfect dinner guest' --Metro
'terrific collection of stories' --The Shortlist
`Julian Barnes writes so exquisitely that every page of this collection contains literary pearls.' --Mail on Sunday
`Pulse is as satisfying as any of Julian Barnes's much acclaimed novels. This fabulous collection of short stories is troubling, witty, sharp and moving.' --Sunday Express
`Pulse is never less than interesting, elegantly written and quirky.' --Prospect
