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A Week In December (2009)

by Sebastian Faulks(Favorite Author)

3.19 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0091794455 (ISBN13: 9780091794453)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Hutchinson

review 1: Well that is 2 weeks of my reading life I won't get back. What a peculiar book. The possibilities with this story were endless, but in the end the book itself seemed so. I couldn't understand a word of the financial dealings and why it is described as 'darkly humorous' and 'funny' I can't imagine. The satire, such as it is, is obscure or non-existent and the ending seems to leave too much unresolved.
review 2: A more than usually difficult book to rate. I found the concept interesting but I'm not sure that it was executed as well as it should have been by an established author. With some intelligent editing and development or even fewer characters I would have found this as effective as Engelby or Birdsong. I found it at time difficult to get to know or even re... moremember some of the characters when they were recalled into the storyline. R Trantor and Farooq al-Rashid and certainly the socially inept John Veals, we learnt something of but others such as Len Foxley and even the MP and his PM in waiting – and others on the evening party list - gained only a snap shot at best and remained non characters to the end. Did some invitees not even turn up to the party? I’m not sure.Maybe there were too many characters and the concept could have been carried off with fewer characters with better impact without compromising Faulks intention of portraying the empty and pretty much hopeless existences of people representing the cross section of London life a week or two out from Christmas – itself not an insignificant point. A third reading of the book – my first reading I terminated early as I could not initially get the gist of the novel – may piece together many of the aspects that I possibly am still missing but the message on this reading was clear and intentionally disturbing. Unlike the main review above the characters individually I don’t think come to address themselves – life just goes on and by and large the characters and their lives don’t change.I think with a clever screenplay and actor selection this would make a brilliant series for television with the viewer following the characters slowly and evenly through the week to the ultimate conclusion in the story – the only conclusion drawn of course is what the viewer draws him/herself. I can see Alan Rickman for instance making a superb R Tranter and there has to be a place for Colin Firth, Patrick Malahide, Ralph Finesse, Emma Thompson, Hugh Bonneville and even Michael Gambon.I have given it 3 stars – I would like to have given it 4 because it’s capable of that and I have no doubt I’ll be reading more of Sebastian Faulks. less

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