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A Week in December cover art

A Week in December

By: Sebastian Faulks
Narrated by: Colin Mace
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Summary

A Week in December takes place over the course of a single week. It brings together an intriguing cast of characters, each apparently in his or her own world but - as gradually becomes clear - intricately related.

As the story builds to its climax, Faulks pulls together powerful ideas about family, money, religion and the way we live today.

©2009 Sebastian Faulks (P)2009 WF Howes Ltd

What listeners say about A Week in December

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Really gripping story

I am really enjoying this audiobook. The story is fascinating - we are introduced to several seemingly unconnected characters - and gradually they all fit in to the narrative as it slowly unfolds. Faulks' writing is first rate - his description of how the hedge funds make their money is an education in itself. The great strength of this recording however is the sterling work done by the narrator - Colin Mace. He has to cope with a different voice for each character, and does so brilliantly. I strongly recommend this book.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not convincing

I'm disappointed to be writing this review, I like Sebastian Faulks (or at least, I did) especially Birdsong and Engleby. But A Week in December is full of difficult to believe characters and pompous moralising, especially on the subject of state education, which Faulks, having being educated at a posh public schools seems to know very little about. Ditto, football. The passages involving the Polish centre forward training at his new premiership team are patronising and excruciating. After having recently read 'The Big Short', a much better book on the financial crash, then even the descriptions of the Hedge Fund manager and his machinations felt shallow and unconvincing.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not one of the author's best books

I've read most of Sebastian Faulk's books and am impressed by his versatility across a range of genres. He has written some splendid and moving books, but "A Week in December" is not one of them. Despite an excellent reader, who helps the listener differentiate among the large number of characters, I was confused for the first few chapters as to who was whom as so many were introduced at the start of the book. The book is largely a dystopic commentary on modern urban life in Britain. There are over-long polemics about the genesis of the banking crisis and much about the rise of Islamic extremism. Through the voice of a character who is a writer and critic Faulks airs some of his criticisms of other writers, albeit disguised for those of us not in the know.
The book is made up of several stories running in parallel that hardly impinge on one another and so the expectation is that by the end some connections will be formed. My main disappointment is how the book ends.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

This book is cynical, angry and a very difficult read. Every character preaches about something and the narration is flat and lifeless. Very disappointing all round.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Deep and entertaining observation of numerous lives inter-twining in 21st Century London, dealing with the topics of the day such as financiers' greed at everyone else's expense, the positives and negatives of multi-culturalism, the disaffection of youth and their escape into extremism and drug abuse, as well as the juxtaposition of virtual and real lives. Interesting, thought provoking and entertaining.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

More masterful storytelling by Mr Faulks

Any additional comments?

A very enjoyable & entertaining listen. Sebastian Faulk's technique is flawless and I was kept totally enthralled throughout. Highly recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Total disappointment

Three five star reviews, how can you go wrong? Easily by downloading this book. The first eight hours are tedious, shallow portraits of various characters, so shallow that I couldn't really care less about what happens to them. It seems to be a current trend to write in this fashion, the result is a total lack of coherence apart a very tenuous theme linking the various thin plots collimating in a sense of disappointment and let down that you've just wasted the last 14 hours.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Sheer enjoyment from start to finish...

I have increasingly become a big fan of Sebastian Faulks. This book is my favourite to date. The narrator is perfect and manages to sound different and convincingly so, for each character. Gabriel Northwood is the lone voice of sanity and common decency and gets my vote. Interesting thoughts on "purist" Islam with some excellent living-in-the-real-world balance from the also excellent Farooq. Buy it and enjoy it - almost a book for our time.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best this year for me

An absolutely wonderful multi-layered tale of life in modern London, as told through several brilliantly drawn characters. I loved this book!! Colin Mace does a brilliant job of narration. Really kept me gripped from start to finish. Shades of John Lanchester's 'Capital' in here. Highly recommended!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An enjoyable listen

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook because the storyline was entertaining and kept me interested throughout. The story is based around different people who all come from different backgrounds, cultures, ages and all have different beliefs. I have to say that I enjoyed following the exploits of all characters, except one!

Every time it came round to listening to this one character and his life, I would completely switch off. The aforementioned character is a director of a hedge fund, and all the chapters that followed him I found to be extremely mediocre and laborious to listen to. I have no knowledge or any interest in finance or banking. But each time his chapter would come round I would find myself instantly switching off and becoming completely uninterested. I found it very detailed and involved, way too logistical for a laid back sebastian faults novel!

If it was not for this minor hiccup I would gladly have rated this audiobook 5 stars. Please don't be put off by it, I would still recommend giving it a listen: just be prepared. Conversely, this could be just a personal bug bear I have around discussing finance and banking, business etc etc. After all, ones man compost heap is another man's treasure and all that......!

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1 person found this helpful