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Engleby by Sebastian Faulks
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Engleby: A Novel

by Sebastian Faulks

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508178,425 (3.68)35
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Doubleday (2007), Hardcover, 336 pages

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This was my first Faulks, and I found it fascinating. Engleby was in the same league as some of Kazuo Ishiguro's narrators: a fully formed, convincing voice that is also very unreliabile. However, we don't know how aware Mike is of his actions and their consequences. Is he simply being disingenuous, trying to justify himself or does he genuinely have memory lapses? The psychiatric reports that are included give us clues, but cannot tell the whole story.

The novel's central concern is basically nature versus nurture? Does Engleby's supercilious tone come from trying to compensate for feelings of inferiority due to his coming from a humble background into first public school and then Cambridge? Was he always going to move from being the abused, as he was at school, to becoming an abuser? Do his obsessions come from his being marginalised? Or was he always going to be the kind of person he turned out to be?

This, coupled with the careful recreation of early '70s university life (it reminded me, in its way, of Jonathan Coe's "What A Carve Up!" in this regard), results in an ingenious, well written novel with much in it to ponder. ( )
Grammath | Feb 20, 2009 |  
Although well written this is not an easy read. If this had been the first Faulks novel I'd read I would not be keen to try more. Towards the end I understood why this book is written in such a way. One is looking into a very dark soul so it cannot be less than bleak. ( )
bowerbird | Jan 21, 2009 |  
A creepy little book. ( )
andersonden | Dec 22, 2008 |  
Un-put-downable. fascinating development of story. disturbing denouement. brilliant ( )
jusi | Nov 23, 2008 |  
I was a little sceptical about reading this as there have been many mixed reviews.

The book started well and drew me in quite easily. I enjoyed learning about Engleby's life in Cambridge, and his early life at public school. When he moved to London, I found myself losing interest, and at one point wondering whether to carry on. I'm so glad I did because the last third of the book was brilliant. I felt swept along by the story, and the character of Engleby. I found him to be quite believable. I'm not sure how I felt about him though - I think I liked him, but you never actually felt that you got to know him. I think that was part of his character.

The book was well written - having never read a Faulks before I wasn't sure what to expect. I found it quite easy to take in and well set out. I will certainly be reading more of his work - although I'm led to believe that this particular book is quite different from some of his other books. ( )
Fluffyblue | Nov 20, 2008 |  
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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0385524056, Hardcover)

Bestselling British author Sebastian Faulks reinvents the unreliable narrator with his singular, haunting creation—Mike Engleby.

"My name is Mike Engleby, and I'm in my second year at an ancient university."

With that brief introduction we meet one of the most mesmerizing, singular voices in a long tradition of disturbing narrators. Despite his obvious intelligence and compelling voice, it is clear that something about solitary, odd Mike is not quite right. When he becomes fixated on a classmate named Jennifer Arkland and she goes missing, we are left with the looming question: Is Mike Engleby involved? As he grows up, finding a job and even a girlfriend in London, Mike only becomes more and more detached from those around him in an almost anti-coming-of-age. His inability to relate to others and his undependable memory (able to recall countless lines of text yet sometimes incapable of summoning up his own experiences from mere days before) lead the reader down an unclear and often darkly humorous path where one is never completely comfortable or confident about what is true.

Mike Engleby is a chilling and unforgettable character, and Engleby is a novel that will surprise and beguile Sebastian Faulks' readership.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:04 -0400)

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