LONDON — It was fourth time lucky for British writer Julian Barnes, who won literature’s Booker Prize on Tuesday. Barnes, a finalist on three previous occasions who once described the contest as “posh bingo,” finally triumphed with “The Sense of an Ending,” a memory-haunted novel about a 60-something man forced to confront buried truths about his past after the unexpected arrival of a letter.
The 65-year-old writer, previously nominated for “Flaubert’s Parrot,” “England, England” and “Arthur and George,” conceded that “in occasional moments of mild paranoia” he had wondered whether forces were working against his ever winning.
Barnes had been the strong favorite to win the 50,000-pound ($82,000) award. He beat five others: Stephen Kelman for “Pigeon English,” A.D. Miller for “Snowdrops,” Carol Birch for “Jamrach’s Menagerie,” Patrick deWitt for “The Sisters Brothers” and Esi Edugyan for “Half Blood Blues.” The Associated Press
