A Week in December
A Week in December book cover

A Week in December

Audio CD – International Edition, October 19, 2009

by
Price
$13.48
Publisher
Audiobooks
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1846571985
Dimensions
4.87 x 0.94 x 5.62 inches
Weight
6.9 ounces

Description

"This vast novel, well-plotted and gripping throughout, is the first that Sebastian Faulks has set in our time... the ambition and scope of the book are to be applauded. The conclusion is suitably nail-biting and, pleasingly, love triumphs. Sebastian Faulks has probably got another best-seller on his hands." -- Spectator "A portrayal of modern London that is both richly entertaining and highly rewarding. Faulks has come as close as anyone to completing the jigsaw that is this crazy, fascinating city of ours." -- Evening Standard

Features & Highlights

  • A powerful contemporary novel set in London from a master of literary fiction.London, the week before Christmas, 2007. Over seven days we follow the lives of seven major characters: a hedge fund manager trying to bring off the biggest trade of his career; a professional footballer recently arrived from Poland; a young lawyer with little work and too much time to speculate; a student who has been led astray by Islamist theory; a hack book-reviewer; a schoolboy hooked on skunk and reality TV; and a Tube train driver whose Circle Line train joins these and countless other lives together in a daily loop.With daring skill, the novel pieces together the complex patterns and crossings of modern urban life. Greed, the dehumanising effects of the electronic age and the fragmentation of society are some of the themes dealt with in this savagely humorous book. The writing on the wall appears in letters ten feet high, but the characters refuse to see it — and party on as though tomorrow is a dream.Sebastian Faulks probes not only the self-deceptions of this intensely realised group of people, but their hopes and loves as well. As the novel moves to its gripping climax, they are forced, one by one, to confront the true nature of the world they inhabit.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(225)
★★★★
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(150)
★★★
15%
(113)
★★
7%
(53)
★
28%
(209)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Entertaining and Thought-Provoking

I found Sebastian Faulks's "A Week in December" to be one of those good reads that both entertains and makes you think. This book offers a series of character studies running in parallel in modern-day London. The themes covered touch upon many of the pressing issues of the day, including global finance.

One of the most interesting things about this book is its circular relationship to one of my favorite books, "The Fountainhead," by Ayn Rand. Specifically, the last words of "A Week in December" are "Veals laughed," and the first words of "The Fountainhead" are "Howard Roark laughed." In this way, Rand begins on a theme, and Faulks ends on that same theme.

I highly recommend this book to readers with an interest in current affairs and the increasingly interconnected nature of our world.
1 people found this helpful

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