The state of the nation in Sebastian Faulk's "A week in December"

Britain.

Sebastian Faulks’s A Week in December is estimated as 'a compelling tale of contemporary London' [Cartwright 2009]. In another review it is not just 'contemporary London' but contemporary Britain: 'the state-of-Britain novel, the satirical slice through all social strata' [Lawson 2009]. In a review from the Sunday Times this novel is compared to the nineteenth century masterpieces by Thackeray, Dickens, and Trollope. What is the basis for such a comparison? It is stated that all these books deal with fictionalising the state of the nation, linking individuals with historic events.

It is important to understand what can be viewed as a historic event in Faulks's book. The most probable answer is that it is the economic crisis which began in 2007 and which affected the economies of so many countries. However, it is just one of many issues discussed in the novel. In 'A Week In Deember' by Sebastian Faulks: A Commentaiy, Karen Hewitt states, 'Its wide range of characters and storylines allows the author to turn from one problem to another which, he believes, are characteristic of our country today'. It might happen that a 'normal' reader of the novel treating it as a piece of art would either enjoy the multiplicity of events or feel annoyed by their number. He or she would probably never end up counting them, unlike me, because my first step was to make a list of the issues raised in the novel. However, at Point 24 I realised that in fact the list was not likely to be ever completed due to the number of issues not explicitly marked by the author and we are left to speculate if, for example, the problem of single mothers represented in his narration about Jenni's family, or Bella's fatness were implied or not.

Thus, at the moment I have my uncompleted list of issues in front of me. Koran-related problems; suicides; Virtual life versus True life; reality shows; mortgages; tax payments; religion; literacy versus illiteracy; skunk, etc., etc. Without doubt it can be regarded as the state of the nation, or, I would say more precisely, the state of London and other big cities.

Consequently, the following questions arose: 1) why did not Faulks concentrate on the main problem of the economic crisis (if it is really the main problem from his point of view)?; and 2) how does he show which issues are more urgent or maybe interesting for the artistic exploration, and which of them are just subsidiary?

Trying to find an answer to the first question I had a feeling that it lies somewhere in Veal's personality, which is extremely dull. It seems to me that the only intrigue was in his unsmiling nature and if anything would ever make him smile (or even laugh, as we learn in the end of the novel). Veals is depicted as some awe-inspiring caricature of a financial gambler. His intelligence in his professional sphere, described in such a boring detailed way is cast in the shade by his greed, when we get acquainted with his unwillingness to pay tax, his advantage of having an Anglo-American wife which consists in concealing some earnings, his lack of interest in most things which other people live by, his love for quietness both at work and at home. Do his hands ever touch a book? Yes, quite often, and not just one volume, because his safe is hidden behind the books in the bookcase in the corner of his office. The only feature which Veals shares with some other men, including the characters from the novel, is enjoying the look of Olya. This makes him a bit human, although possibly just brings grist to the mill of his immorality. On the whole, John Veals definitely can not bring success to the book if he stands alone. The author's task was to bring in some other issues and to link other individuals with them.

However, it is hard to explain why he needed so many. From page 5 on, the reader (or am I generalising here?) has to go back to Sophie Topping's list to remind himself or herself who those people are. In this respect it is very much like a play to me, but plays are never so long and it seldom happens that we meet a number of characters from the list only after three hundred plus pages. So, it is not quite easy to navigate through the novel, and I know some people who gave up. Fortunately, I was not one of them and now I will endeavour to answer the second question.

How does the reader feel which issues are most interesting for the author of the book? It might be the vividness of the character's personalities or some bright strokes, as well as lengthy descriptions of some peculiarities of the trade, or short notes and small episodes thrown by the author throughout the novel. Faulks manages to present the inner world of his characters by the manner of their description. For example, Gabriel's romantic nature reveals itself through his love story with Catalina written with much care, and his intelligence is evident to the reader through the manner of his speech; such a complicated and sensitive matter as the European's view of Koran is trusted to Gabriel's careful treatment. Muslim people are represented by the good-natured Farooq and Nasim al-Rashid who 'simply want to enjoy the benefits of wealth and acceptance' [Cartwright 2009]. Veals's descriptions are as boring and dull as he himself. R.Tranter is a very controversial character. He is very knowledgeable but quite unpleasant, and as many uncompromising people he is ready to compromise with Alexander Sedley when he needs it badly for his success. His character is also a caricature of some kind, because being an Oxford graduate he sees the top of his dreams in winning the competition 'The Pizza Palace Book of the Year'. One more character, Hassan, is rather active socially, but the author does not give us a precise description of his personality, even though a lot of pages are devoted to Hassan's thoughts and emotions. I sympathise with Finbar greatly, seeing the irony in the fact that watching his favourite show It's Madness he went mad himself. For me it is the most touching moment in the whole novel because it reveals one of the main problems of life in general, namely, the problem of a child's personality development under the circumstances of parents' neglect. Faulks's manner of leaving this character with his thunderous need for help at the very dramatic moments of the narration makes the readers turn the pages: 'For once, he wanted his parents to come back - even for his father to be there. But they were out, away, and he was alone, trying with all his childish might to keep a grip on a reality that he could no longer properly inhabit' [Faulks 2009: 98]; 'A voice was calling for his mother, but he didn't know if it was his' [ibid., p. 288]. I believe, readers can find at least one issue close to their hearts because Faulks is a master of touching tender spots.

All in all, the novel itself represents a kind of network with the nodes of different size and colour - from bright to neutral. The network is organized as a hammock with the two main nodes on both sides, which are Sophie's list of the guests and the party itself in the end, which is used as a device for looking at the characters all together. However, Sophie can hardly be called one of the main characters though she plays an important role in connecting the people whose actions finally make the plot of the novel. Some people are connected to each other directly, as Jenni and Gabriel, some of them are connected indirectly, as Jenni and Hassan, who was sitting in the train driven by her. Some of them are connected through other characters, as Veals, Hassan and Spike Borowsky -through Olya, or R.Tranter and Hassan - through Knocker al-Rashid. The repeated appearance of a man on a bicycle - 'a bicycle with no lights on shot past him along the pavement, making him to limp to one side' [ibid., p. 39] - helps greatly to glue the whole story, what's more, it remains intriguing even after the book is closed. The narration begins and finishes with a rapid glance on multiethnic London which shows shopping centres under construction and parks and stadiums and graveyards and 'wheels and spires and domes' [ibid., p. 390].

In my opinion, Sebastian Faulks's novel will be of great interest for the historians, because everything in it is so precise - the prices, the salaries of different kinds of professionals, working conditions, clothes preferences, TV programmes, and many other things. However, Karen Hewitt warns Russian readers against thinking of the novel in terms of sociology, 'A Week in December is fiction, and follows the rules of literature, not sociology' [Hewitt: ibid.; 9]. After reading this novel Mark Lawson comes to the conclusion that 'British society is now so various that no single writer can capture all its aspects' [Lawson: ibid]. And still, for the readers, London in 2007 is presented as a kaleidoscope of people who work, socialize, conquer the world, balance on the edge between Virtual and True life, fight for what they think to be their faith, and love. Is this the state of the nation? Yes.