Start reading A Week in December on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

 
 
 

Try it free

Sample the beginning of this book for free

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Read books on your computer or other mobile devices with our FREE Kindle Reading Apps.
A Week in December
 
 

A Week in December [Kindle Edition]

Sebastian Faulks
2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (241 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: £7.16 What's this?
Print List Price: £7.99
Kindle Price: £4.94 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £3.05 (38%)
Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £4.94  
Hardcover £16.14  
Paperback £5.59  
Audio, CD, Abridged, Audiobook £13.67  
Audio Download, Unabridged £14.99 or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product Description

Review

`Readers will race through the pages like bankers through cash.' --Guardian

'During times of momentous change, men of letters are driven to produce works that fictionalise the state of the nation, linking individuals with historic events. The 19th century gave us Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Dickens's Our Mutual Friend and Trollope's The Way We Live Now; the 21st has given us Sebastian Faulks's A Week in December.' --Sunday Times

`Faulks's most vivid character is the odious John Veals, a hedge-fund manager, who relishes all the money that he makes and the power that he quietly exerts... Veals is brilliantly insidious... A thoughtful page-turner ... The handsome sunset is heavily, and rightly, weighed down by dark clouds.' --The Times

`As cold, impassive and deadly as a coiled rattlesnake, John Veals will endure as the epoch-defining villain of early 21st-century British fiction.' --Independent

`His book could not be more topical or bang up to date ...Faulks holds a mirror up to our drug-addled, money-obsessed society. The novel is full of Russian babes, venal politicians and bank fraudsters. What more could any reader want? Eat your heart out Charles Dickens.' --Tatler

`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

`Faulk's latest novel has been hyped as the defining novel of the noughties - and it doesn't disappoint... The book makes for uncomfortable reading at times, as Faulks explores many of our daily habits - but it is also brilliantly funny.' --News of the World

`There are moments ... that truly hit home...this book is an old-fashioned call to retrace our path, return to a more connected existence.' --Independent on Sunday

`This is a compelling page-turner depicting both the humanity and apathy that permeate contemporary London.' --Sunday Mercury

`The dark conclusion on which everything converges is that there are two types of terrorist in this country: one type universally reviled and against whom no measure is unjustified, and the other, the one who arguably does more damage, who gets invited to dinner with the Tory party leader. As the days pass, finding out who will succeed with his act of terrorism, and who will fail, makes for a thoroughly thrilling ride.' --Literary Review

`This is a Balzacian enterprise, to which the social and physical labyrinth of London is central and in which the characters are propelled through the plot by a tumult of urban energy and events... It is impossible not to enjoy Faulks's vitality, his rich detailing, language and timing.' --Prospect

`From crosswords to computers, Mr Faulks commands and re-creates our contemporary culture with aplomb.' --Country Life

Book Description

Powerful contemporary novel set in London from a master of literary fiction

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 639 KB
  • Print Length: 402 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0307476626
  • Publisher: Vintage Digital (31 Jan 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B004S12BEA
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (241 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #5,011 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  •  Would you like to give feedback on images?


More About the Author

Sebastian Faulks
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Visit Amazon's Sebastian Faulks Page

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Things fall apart 1 April 2011
By Jeremy Walton TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
In this book, Sebastian Faulks seems to be attempting to sum up mid-noughties London in the same way that Tom Wolfe crystallized the Manhattan of twenty years previously in The Bonfire of the Vanities. A large cast of contemporary characters (including a hedge-fund manager, an Asian chutney tycoon, a barrister, a recently-appointed MP, a Polish footballer and a literary journalist) are briskly assembled as the guest-list of a dinner party which is to take place at the end of the book, and we follow several of them (plus subsidiary ones such as the son of the hedge-fund manager who's interested in mind-altering drugs and a reality TV gameshow, and the son of the tycoon who's a suicide-bomber in training) around for the period of time that gives the novel its title. It's a promising idea, and the reader is carried along for the most part by some interesting stories, but I didn't think the book held together as well as it could have.

The main problem, I think, is (what seems to be intended as) the central character: John Veals the hedge-fund manager. A lot of effort has been put into establishing him as someone who's only interested in making money, but - while this is clearly not intended to be a sympathetic trait - it has the effect of rendering him invisible. Nothing he says or does is of any interest to the reader (a fairly detailed technical account of option trading has been included by way of background to his job, but this stuff is tedious even for people who think they understand it, and it has no place in a work of entertainment). The obvious comparison is with Tom Wolfe's Sherman McCoy, who carried the full weight of The Bonfire of the Vanities; by contrast to Veals, he was a vibrant, memorable character (and the author was able to explain where his money came from in a much more entertaining fashion) who - in spite of his ultimately fatal flaws - the reader felt involved with, and we cared about what happened to him.

The characters that take up the rest of the novel are somewhat better-realised (although it seems that some of them are introduced only to illustrate some aspect of the zeitgeist before being quickly discarded), but I found that the gap at its heart made the book feel like it was always falling apart instead of coming together.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
42 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The idea behind "A Week in December" is similar to that of the Richard Curtis film of a few years back. We follow various of London's inhabitants in the week before Christmas and discover their interconnectedness. And, at the end, love is the answer - parental love, romantic love and love of money, status and power.

It's an ambitious idea but, as a whole, it didn't work for me. In the first few pages of the book, the reader is exposed to a "bullet -point" list of about 30 characters (rather like a particularly dreary Powerpoint presentation), many of whom play no significant part in the following four hundred-odd pages. This "data dump" is followed up by (to my mind) tedious lectures about high finance in unnecessary detail. The funniest sections of the book concerned the literary critic, but I felt there were far too many in-jokes about the literary establishment for this to be effective. The parts intended as satire - concerning the reality TV show and the online parallel universe game fell flat for me, partly because these already seemed dated - the parody is of "Second Life" rather than today's ubiquitous Facebook. Many of the characters seemed to merge into one stereotype - I had difficulty in particular with distinguishing most of the women from one another.

The character that I found of most interest was the would-be suicide bomber Hassan - his story of all, was well-told. His parents were also drawn with warmth and humour. There were one or two other minor characters who were of interest, or added a light touch - such as Roger - and I felt I would have liked to have seen more from these people's lives rather than yet more information on hedge funds.

Normally, I love books from Sebastian Faulks - and I even forgave the psychology lectures in "Human Traces" as the book was so powerful and full of humanity. Towards the end of "A Week in December", I found a passage which made me wonder - like other reviewers - if the whole thing is some kind of weird joke on Faulks' part:

"From now on, you can only write about the nineteenth century...no more stuff about today...but...anything from before you were born, that should be alright, shouldn't it?"
"I, er...I think you may be right. The truth is I can't bear contemporary stuff."

Reading "A Week in December" was, for me, rather like being on Jenni's Circle Line train. I was looking forward to a journey round the people and places of London but instead I was stuck in a claustrophobic carriage packed too full of people that ground to an unexplained halt in the middle of nowhere.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
29 of 33 people found the following review helpful
What would RT say? 30 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover
RT, being a completely poisonous book reviewer in the story who hates everything written in the last 50 years, would hate it. I have some sympathy. The opening chapters made me feel that Faulks, in some type of existential crisis, had been going to Andy Mcnab's creative writing class - jumping from scene to scene, clearly intended to weave a tense, none-too-complex tale with one-dimensional characters and an explosive conclusion. I almost chucked it in the bin, but I met RT just in time and was hooked until just before the end, where Faulks's sentimental tears dampen the fuses to all the potential blasts. In the end I guess we have to be satisfied with the novel idea that love redeems.

I'd guess Faulks knows people like a lot of the characters (if so, at least as far the Holland Park set are concerned, he has my sympathy). However, oddly, the most interesting person in the book for me was Hass, the terrorist, the one of whose type Faulks likely has least direct knowledge. I felt the examination of Hass's character, motives and experience of Islamic extremism was convincing and worthwhile.
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Poignant and compelling
I found this a gripping read though the ending didn't quite pay off the sense of urgency generated by the opening section. That said, I am keen to read more of his work.
Published 29 days ago by christuart
CHRISTMAS WEEK
Not the best book written by Sebastian. Too much about the Banker. Did have other interesting aspects. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Charlie Hinde
Very good read
A Week In December is a very easy and enjoyable read. The many characters are drawn skillfully by the writer and the sense of anticipation builds throughout. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. A. Gilbert
A week in December
This is a brilliant novel, the product was in good condition and arrived promptly. Although it didn't have the gloss of the new, the drop in price admirably made up for that and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Nell
Disappointing
This is the first Sebastian Faulks book I have read - and I suspect it will be his last. It is intended as a satire of contemporary life in Britain, and has a promising approach... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Khan
A damp squib
Although the book is an easy and enjoyable enough read, it contained too much tedious, highly specialised detail for my taste. Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Baldwin
Dissappointing
I was surprisingly sad to finish A Week in December in that for most of the book I didn't actually enjoy it that much. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lucybird
State Of The Nation, Actually . . . .
Richard Curtis in a curly wig and false beard would look a lot like Sebastian Faulks, I think. Anyway - I couldn't get Mr Curtis out of my head whilst reading this, because it... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Roger Risborough
Oh, please, Sebastian!
Oh, Sebastian Faulks, what have you done? From the sublime Birdsong, to the ridiculous - A Week in December? Birdsong would probably be on my desert island book list. Read more
Published 2 months ago by KDGR
Brilliant book, hard to put down
I really enjoyed this and found it hard to put down as I wanted to know what was happening next to each of the characters. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Rachel
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Popular Highlights

 (What's this?)
&quote;
The essential change seemed to her quite simple: bankers had detached their activities from the real world. Instead of being a service industry  helping companies who had a function in the life of their society  banking became a closed system. Profit was no longer related to growth or increase, but became self-sustaining; and in this semi-virtual world, the amount of money to be made by financiers also became unhitched from normal logic. &quote;
Highlighted by 10 Kindle users
&quote;
the intractable truth remained: that by being so pure, so high-minded and so uncompromising, Islam had limited the kind of believer it could claim. &quote;
Highlighted by 5 Kindle users
&quote;
He was like a Church of England Christian who paid lip service to the Bible as a whole, but only believed in the New Testament because the Old, while full of good stories, was ancient Judaic stuff, of chiefly anthropological interest. &quote;
Highlighted by 5 Kindle users

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Customers Who Highlighted This Item Also Highlighted


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject






i.e., each title must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Privacy Statement Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Delivery Information Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Returns & Exchanges