I think I've come to the conclusion that I don't know what all the fuss is about re Sebastian Faulks. I've only read two of his books so far and both of them have left me feeling 'meh'.

This book is set in 2007 and follows the lives of a wide cast of intersecting characters over seven days. Mostly set in London & mostly revolving round the imminent banking crisis.

The characters are very sketchily drawn, one or two are more rounded, but there are just too many to give any sense of depth to any of them. I found one or two that I could warm too: Hassan and his family and friend Shahla, Jenni and her brother, Gabriel and his brother - I would have liked much more about them.

The Veals family, whilst distinctly unpleasant people, were reasonably detailed, as was all the wheeling and dealing behind hedge funds (I know a friend referred to it as 'Janet and John do hedge fund management' but as I had a very sketchy understanding of it, that didn't bother me too much). What I didn't like was his treatment of Islam or his veiled linking of religion to Schizophrenia. On the whole I didn't care if most of them lived or died or what was going to happen to them over the week - Hassan was the only reason I bothered reading to the end. He also hardly bothered to disguise the various financial institutions - all very obvious, even to me. Surprised he hasn't been taken to task about it. Oh and what was the point of the recurring bicycle with no lights? Can anyone explain that to me? Lastly, his TV program: It's Madness. He should leave that to Ben Elton, he does it far better.

The only sentence that stays with me and I feel is resonant with the point of the book and where we are today. The hostess of 'the dinner party' is considering all her multi-million rich guests and realises:
"But apart from Farooq al-Rashid,.........none of them had engaged with anything that actually existed".
Sad inditement (me included) is that most folk aren't employed in actually producing anything anymore.

I still intend to read Birdsong as I believe it's supposed to be very good. Am going to check Mount TBR and see if I have any others of his awaiting my attention & then off load them - I think there's very little chance of me wanting to read them after this. (Just checked - I have a copy of On Green Dolphin Street too - anyone going to step up & tell me it's worth reading???)

I plan ‘releasing’ this book at the next Edinburgh Bookcrossing Meet-up. The Edinburgh BookCrossing meetings are held every first Thursday of the month - we’re currently hosted by Biblos bar and restaurant on the corner of Chambers Street and North Bridge.

Picked up at Meet Up last night, thanks

Am in two minds about this book and haven't quite decided yet if I did like it or not. I generally like Sebastian Faulks but with this one I struggled. I like the idea of telling the story of several characters over seven days but I only ''warmed'' to a few of them. John Veal I did not like at all and all that financial dealing and wheeling was far too much for me so I got quickly bored.I was more interested in his son Finn and also Jenni & Gabriel and of course Hassan. Same as Casssandra2020 Hassan was the reason I persevered as I wanted to know what was going to happen to him.
Overall though I think the book left me disappointed as I am used to much better novels by Sebastian Faulks .

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Enjoyed some of the character's stories more than others, and so skim read some parts of the book that didn't interest me as much. The parts of the book that were interesting and moved along at a faster pace kept me hooked! Worth a read :)

Passed onto SavAged.

Thanks, Raycheese, I WILL get round to reading this, promise!
*later* Not as bad as I expected from the earlier reviews, the stories all motor along at a decent pace and the character of the banker is as unappealing as you could wish for.

Released at the October meet.

Picked up at the meetup because I've never read any Faulks.