Books - A Week In December.

I've been reading a lot over the past year or so. Thing is, I've never actually put my thoughts about them down to pen and paper. I've been thinking of getting a book journal or something... but I think I'll start it off on here and see how it goes. Book journals are expensive, see.

So... I'll start with the most recent book I've finished:

A WEEK IN DECEMBER

Sebastian Faulks (b. 1953)

Published 2009.

First sentences:

"Five o'clock and freezing. Piledrivers and jackhammers were blasting into the wasteland by the side of West Cross Route in Shepherd's Bush. With a bare ten months to the scheduled opening of Europe's largest urban shopping centre, the sand-covered site was showing only skeletal girders and joists under red cranes, though a peppermint facade had already been tacked on to the eastward side. This was not a retail park with trees and benches, but a compression of trade in a city centre, in which migrant labour was paid by foreign capital to squeeze out layers of profit from any Londoner with credit."

Set in December 2007, this book begins with the planning of a dinner party to be held in a week's time by the wife of a newly elected Tory MP. And the people she invites become the main characters of the story, including a cold, ruthless hedge fund manager; a Muslim who is being influenced by radicalists of Islam; a book reviewer who just shoots all contemporary books down in flames; a lawyer who just has too little work and too much time on his hands among other characters. And throughout the week, we see how they live their lives, how they live in today's London society, and how they somehow interact and cross paths with each other.

The book is really well written, and you are somewhat drawn into the portrayal and life of the character. However, it is quite difficult to understand the nature of their lives sometimes, especially if unfamiliar with hedge funds and the financial markets. That is the only thing I struggled with, really. But I'm sure some basic background research would help understand how hedge funds and stuff work.

The book has some parts which make the reader think about the society and the state it is in. It poses the question on whether bankers don't work for the people and their customers anymore, instead going to all odds to make profit to satisfy their greed, no matter who gets effected or how badly so.

There are also a number of parts when the suspense rises... for example, the hedge fund manager doing a massive, yet barely legal trade, and does he get away with it? Does the student, influenced by Islamists, carry out his task? And how would it effect some of the other characters?

I wouldn't want to give too much away, because I think it is worth a read. It's easy to follow, despite all the interactions and the hedge fund. But it is indeed an enjoyable book!