Julian Barnes Quote
In those years before mobile phones, email and Skype, travelers depended on the rudimentary communications system known as the postcard. Other methods--the long-distance phone call, the telegram--were marked For Emergency Use Only. So my parents waved me off into the unknown, and their news bulletins about me would have been restricted to Yes, he's arrived safely,and Last time we heard he was in Oregon, and We expect him back in a few weeks. I'm not saying this was necessarily better, let alone more character-forming; just that in my case it probably helped not to have my parents a button's touch away, spilling out anxieties and long-range weather forecasts, warning me against floods, epidemics and psychos who preyed on backpackers.
Julian Barnes
In those years before mobile phones, email and Skype, travelers depended on the rudimentary communications system known as the postcard. Other methods--the long-distance phone call, the telegram--were marked For Emergency Use Only. So my parents waved me off into the unknown, and their news bulletins about me would have been restricted to Yes, he's arrived safely,and Last time we heard he was in Oregon, and We expect him back in a few weeks. I'm not saying this was necessarily better, let alone more character-forming; just that in my case it probably helped not to have my parents a button's touch away, spilling out anxieties and long-range weather forecasts, warning me against floods, epidemics and psychos who preyed on backpackers.
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About Julian Barnes
In 2004 he became a Commandeur of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His honours also include the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was awarded the 2021 Jerusalem Prize.