And the 2011 Booker goes to: Julian Barnes

It wasn’t a turn up for the books in the end: Julian Barnes, the odds-on favourite, has won this year’s Booker prize for his novel, The Sense of an Ending. The award has been marred by controversy this time round, with a rival prize now expected to be established, one that recognises outstanding literary achievement. The Booker’s self-defence has been supremely confident: Ion Trewin derided his critics as “lovies” and told them to quit bleating until judgment was passed, sure that the result would quell dissent. Apparently, it won’t be enough to call off the dogs because Barnes, in that great Booker fashion, is an overdue winner. Have a quick trawl of Twitter this evening and you’ll find that plenty punters think The Sense of an Ending was not quite his finest hour. It’s a common view: David Sexton’s review for the Spectator is below. That said, it would be very churlish to say that Barnes does not deserve to have won the Booker Prize at some stage.