Barneys Version by Richler Essay Sample

Montreal is the largest city in Canada. It is a city known for its distinct local culture. Montreal is the home of Ziggys bar. A bar mentioned in the book Barneys Version by Mordecai Richler which has quite some similarities with Ziggys Pub. Barney a character in Barneys version book is a regular at Grumpys bar. Ziggys Pub, is on 1470 rue Crescent Montreal, Quebec, a place where people come to have a good time as they take their favorite drink. All the reviews I saw, were impressive; praising the place as a good place to run away from your problem, drink and have a good time with friends. Ziggys is a beautiful place, serene and lovely for partying. Everybody I saw was happy and seemed to be enjoying them fully.

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Ziggys bar is a place where the author Ritchie spent smoking his trademark cigars outside on the terrace, gossip and also get away from work related issues and catch a bit of a hockey game. When Richler died, the regulars ate Winnies, and Ziggys came together to celebrate the author. Ziggys Pub, is affectionately described as Richlers second living room. He loved Ziggy and his scotch and smoked meat sandwich. As Richler describes the place, Ziggys is a fun place and all the regulars there live like a family and have fun and gossip together as they take their favorite drinks. Just like Richler, Barney loved scotch at his regular bar. Two Scotches on the table. Izzy reads the paper as he waits for Barney in a booth. Barney drops down across from him. (Richler, 100). Barney's sitting at the bar chatting it up with Jill and a BLONDE (38) patron. He's already quite drunk.

Barneys version is a masterful version piece of fiction that contains humor, complexity, passion eloquence and a particular aesthetic point of view. Despite his old age and his failing memory, Barney introduces us to his life as he can best recall it. Barney tells his version of the story through a story of his life. His father was a cop in Montreal, and his children; describes them as renegades. The story talks of his three wives, three children and a possible murdered best friend. The murder is however revealed towards the end of the book. Barney smokes too much, drinks a lot of whiskeys, and messes up his life and comes to reality as he approaches old age. This story reminds one of the author Richler, who frequented Bars in Montreal and smoked as he took his scotch.

Barney the main character in the novel, is a hard drinking, hard smoking, foul-mouthed, hedonistic writer and producer can be compared to Richler. Barney was a man of many sexual exploits and past loads of self-doubt. Although Barney married thrice, he had one true love, Ciara, the woman who killed herself in Paris, thereby creating his fame. Barneys version is an autobiographical account written in the old age of how his life was from Ciara to the assumed murder of his best friend until his death. The book's events take place in Paris then, later Montreal, a place where the Jewish people had been harassed for a long time. It relates to a typical life in Montreal, Canada.

Barney is a hardworking person and the story talks about his successes and failures, both professional and personal. He works at as producer in the filmmaking industry. The story begins when Barney is living with his best friend Boogies in Rome. In the process, he meets a poet and an artist b the name Clara. Clara becomes pregnant Barney marries her. On their wedding day, Clara confesses to having other children and also to have ran away from her husband who was a Russian gangster. I was married to a Russian gangster for maybe five days. I ran away on the honeymoon. I just never bothered to do the paperwork to change the name back. Only two - Yosel and Chaim. They're locked in our attic. When you're out getting the hockey scores, I let them down and force feed them pork roast milkshakes through a funnel. (Richler, 20)

Unfortunately, her pregnancy ends with a stillborn and then Barney discovers he was not even the father. Barney leaves Clara, and she kills herself, and she becomes a feminist icon. Barney then becomes famous by association. Where Clara lies dead on the bed. An empty bottle of sleeping pills at her side. Her sketches and poetry were scattered all over the room. Barney drops to her, feels for a pulse. Nothing. His eyes well up with tears (Richler, 25)

Barney returns to Montreal and marries a daughter of wealthy Jewish Family. However, at the wedding, Barney meets Miriam, and they fall in love at first sight. He tells Boogie that he was in love. Boogie, I said, Im in love. For the first time in my life, I am truly, seriously, irretrievably in love. Of course, I didnt realize at that time that the Second Mrs. Panofsky was standing right behind me, and now she embraced me, rocking my head. And so am I, honey, she said. (Richler182) Although Barney is married, he sends Miriam flowers and declares his undying love for her. Boogie, his friend, is out of rehab and come visiting, and he and his wife take him to the lake house. Then in a different turn of events, Barney finds his wife and Boogie in bed together. A seemingly drunken Barney has an argument with Boogie. During the argument, Barney passes out in the dock and Boogie falls into the lake. Barney wakes up to find Boogie missing and no body was found. Barney is the accused of murder. Due to his drunkenness, Barney cannot even remember the events of that day, is found not guilty but the society know that he is guilty, and since he cannot remember what happened, he too is convinced he is a murderer.

However, Barney knows he did not kill his friend and still expects the home to walk through the door. He is convinced that he will see him, while his family sees him as a murderer. What if I told you, he said, addressing the jury, that I was now going to perform a little miracle? What if I now counted to five, and then Bernard Moscovitch walked right through those doors into the courtroom. One, two, three, fourFIVE! You see, said 2Hughes-McNoughton, you all turned to look because you all have more reasonable doubt that there ever was a murder committed.(Richler 320).

Barney divorces his wife and finally marries Miriam. They visit the lake house, and a Blair shares professional interests with Miriam. Barney gets jealous and sleeps with an actress from his shows, and consequently, Miriam divorces him. However, he convinces Miriam to be buried next to him when he died. Finally, Boogies body is found in a forest near the lake house full of injuries. The injuries are found to be consistent with a skydiving accident. It is evident that after falling into the lake, Boogies was picked and dropped on the forest below. The WATER PLANE is still in the air and has begun to swing back around.

It opens its hull and drops its water load - along with the BEACH BALL onto the side of a MOUNTAIN which we can easily identify as the spot where they found Boogie's remains. (Richler, 411). When Barney finally dies, Miriam visits the grave and places flowers on his grave as she weeps. She reaches the highest peak on the only hillside in the cemetery. A view of the entire city. Maybe the most picturesque spot ever. She mutters a silent prayer before laying the flowers down. Her eyes moist with tears, she grazes the tombstone with her fingertips, then starts back down the hill. (Richler, 412)

In conclusion, Barneys version masterful version piece of fiction that contains humor, complexity, passion eloquence and a particular aesthetic point of view. Barney can be said to be a replica of Richler, the author of the book. Barney is a regular at Grumpys bar, where he goes to take some scotch and watch hockey. About the book and its characters, Ziggys bar is a just a place like Grumpys bar. Ziggys bar is a place where the author Ritchie spent smoking his trademark cigars outside on the terrace, gossip and also get away from work related issues and catch a bit of a hockey game. Barney just like Richler, smokes too much, drinks a lot of whiskeys, and messes up his life and comes to reality as he approaches old age. However, Barney is a miserable man who has had three failed marriages including his marriage to his love of his life, Miriam. Barney is also a suspect in the murder of his best friend, of whom he found in bed with his second wife. Barney cannot remember the events of that day, maybe because he had Alzheimers disease, which the author reveals towards the end of the novel. Barney has to live with the guilt that he killed his best friend but since there was no body, he not charged. The remains of his friend Boogie, are later found in the forest and the incident ruled as an accident.

Work Cited

Richler, Mordecai. "Barneys Version. 1997." London: Vintage (1998).