"A Week In December" by Sebastian Faulks


Over the course of a week in December 2007, lives collide in London and they don't even know it. A Polish footballer, a hedge-fund manager, a book critic, a young student led astray by Islamic theory, his father a chutney magnate, a teenage boy hooked on skunk, a schoolteacher, a young lawyer with little work, a tube driver and others. They all go about their daily lives not realizing how closely their lives are related or in what ways their paths are going to collide.

A Week in December is a fascinating look at modern urban life. In cities populated with millions of people, we pass by so many people not knowing the complications of their lives, their hopes and fears, and how they may possibly affect our own lives.

Sebastian Faulks weaves many themes into the book - greed, loneliness, disillusionment, love - to show us the nature of this world.

It is obvious that Faulks has done an incredible amount of research for the book on the financial world as well as football, the internet, the London underground, teaching, and Islam. This is impressive and obvious as the characters and events in the book are so real you feel as though you are reading about actual people. Though the characters may inhabit a world the reader is not familiar with, one cannot help but form attachments and sympathies for the characters through their realistic portrayal.

A Week in December is entertaining and will keep you gripped until the end, wanting to find out how the characters' worlds will collide and if they realize the part they are playing in other's lives.

Comments

  1. bookaddict4realMay 3, 2010 at 8:50 PM

    Sounds good cant wait to check it out!

    ReplyDelete
  2. BeckiMay 3, 2010 at 9:12 PM

    This sounds interesting. I might have to add it to my TBR shelf. I'm a culture junkie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ShanMay 4, 2010 at 7:34 AM

    It's a very interesting commentary. I think I was expecting more "drama" but sometimes books are best when they are just examining lives.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LindyLouMacMay 4, 2010 at 9:55 AM

    I am looking forward to this one having just finished 'Human Traces'
    http://lindyloumacbookreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/human-traces-by-sebastian-faulks.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. BooksnycMay 10, 2010 at 9:58 PM

    Thanks for this review - I have this book on the shelf and your review makes me look forward to it even more!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gilion at Rose City ReaderJune 23, 2010 at 1:44 PM

    Shan -- Great review! Thanks for sharing it with me. I listed your review on my Rose City Reader review.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Guestbook" by Holly Martin

Image
Welcome to Willow Cottage - throw open the shutters, let in the sea breeze and make yourself completely at home.  Oh, and please do leave a comment in the Guestbook! Annie Butterworth is the landlady of Willow Cottage, a beautiful cottage in the English countryside with a colourful array of guests.  Every guest is encouraged to write their thoughts in the guestbook and do they ever!  Love, loss, happiness, sadness, guilt, affairs, births, and surprises, it’s all in there.  Even Annie’s life gets caught up in the book. As a young widow, Annie herself is going through some changes.  And the appearance of her brother-in-law, celebrity crime writer Oliver Black isn’t helping.  As the guests of Willow Cottage go about their seaside vacations, Annie and Oliver must figure out how to move on in their lives, and most importantly, if they will do so together. The Guestbook by Holly Martin is a lovely, sweet, and unique book.  Written in the form...
Read more

Literary Giveaway Blog Hop

Image
I am so excited to be participating in the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop, hosted by Judith at Leeswammes' Blog . There are over 50 participants hosting giveaways on their blog between October 15 and October 19. Be sure to hop around and check out all the awesome giveaways! My Giveaway Award season is underway in the Canadian literary world and to celebrate I would like to send someone some fabulous Canadian literature. One lucky winner will be able to choose which book they would like me to send them. Here are the choices (click on title to find out more about the book): A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (bought at library sale) Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Last River Child by Lori Ann Bloomfield The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden (bought at library sale) Two of the books were bought at a library sale as mentioned. They are still in good condition but are obviously well-loved and do still have the library stickers on them. The other t...
Read more

"Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home" by Esi Edugyan

Image
“But where are you from, really?” This is a question that Canadians of all walks of life are often asked.  Part of our identity as Canadians is that we all come from somewhere else, and no matter how long ago, it is a defining part of who we are.   But for many people, this question is about more than where their family came to Canada from.  For many, it brings about a question of home and belonging.  These are the ideas that Esi Edugyan explored in her 2013 Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture, Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home .  Born in Canada to parents from Ghana, Esi Edugyan has travelled to and lived in various countries, all the while searching for her identity and coming to understand the meaning of home. As an author, Edugyan also reflects on Canadian literature and the notion of the “Canadian story.”  Her wildly successful novel, Half-Blood Blues , was set outside of Canada, and something she often heard was that it was not a t...
Read more