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Engleby | 
| Author: Sebastian Faulks
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £3.81
You Save: £4.18 (52%)
New (33) Used (14) from £1.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  78 reviews
Sales Rank: 144
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0099458276
EAN: 9780099458272
ASIN: 0099458276
Publication Date: March 27, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 73 more reviews...
Into the depths of a disturbed mind August 29, 2008
I love the chatty first person style of this book which keeps wandering around and going off at huge tangents, although always eventually coming back to make the original point. The narrator is very precise in his writing and, at the same time, has the ability to gloss over areas and be as vague as possible.
Hearing only one side of a story like this gives a very sinister impression of the action as information is skipped and sometimes missed completely, leaving the reader to guess whether or not this has been done on purpose or the narrator just isn't aware.
Mike is an unlikeable man with sociological problems which are clear from the beginning of the book - although the reasons behind them only develop gradually.
I like the historical context. The story is not about the times but the carefree (careless?) 70s and obsessive 80s seems to mirror the events in Mike's life.
This is a book to be read slowly and carefully as there is lots of detail - which increases towards the end of the book when the medical definitions kick in (at this stage I did become a bit bored with the overload of description). Overall a great read.
Like an ill-fitting straight-jacket August 25, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
One reviewer's comment highlighted that nothing much happens throughout it's length which although is possibly a fair criticism, Faulks does manage to keep you turning the pages of this weighty novel.
Another reviewer commented on the dissapointing ending of this engaging work - I have to disagree with them. Much of this book concerns itself with the thoughts and opinions of central character Mike Engleby but for me the few last pages spill into a dreamy half world where truth and make-believe cohabit what could be described as a happy ending.
Being the product of 1970's boarding schools, sympathising with Engleby was second nature to me and I sincerely hope that today's such institutions manage to produce rather more socially rounded individuals.
Disturbing, unputdownable! August 22, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It takes a lot to find a book that actually gives you goosebumps in the middle of the night. This one did. A genius piece from the Faulksmeister - his best yet. Lucid prose that never verges into self-indulgence, a masterful insight into a disturbing and formidable mind and a thought-provoking discourse on personality, nature/nurture and the whole damn meaning of life. Was a little disappointed by the ending but I'd challenge anyone not to be impressed by this book. Disturbingly I also felt I could associate with Mike (!) on many levels. Worrying.
 Chilling but compelling August 16, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It sounds paradoxical to say that I didn't like the book or Mike Engleby, its central character, yet I enjoyed reading it to the extent that I didn't want to put it down. `Engleby' is disturbing and thought provoking, a brilliant depiction of a societal misfit abused by his father and emotionally neglected by his mother. Outstandingly intelligent, he obtains a scholarship to a second-rate public school where his classmates ostracise him, and thence to Cambridge.
The story is told as a journal, a one-sided account from the warped perspective of a sick mind. In many ways Engleby seems immune to the opinions of others, although he ponders the exclamation mark when he sees himself referred to as Mike(!) in the diary of Jennifer Arkland, the fellow student with whom he became obsessed.
As the book develops, the revelation when it comes is chilling (to say more would spoil it for those who haven't read it). I wonder if others were as surprised and shocked as I was or whether most readers foresaw what was coming. My failing to see the pointers only serves to exemplify the brilliance of the writing.
It's a book that provokes a strange mixture of abhorrence and sympathy. To create a dislikeable character with whom readers develop even a degree of empathy is tribute to the skill of the writer. This book is as different from Faulks's other works as a sword from a feather, but it's every bit as strong as `Birdsong' and a strangely compelling five-star read. You really ought to try it, but be prepared not to like it.
unforgettable character August 15, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Engleby is a character who is rare in fiction and shoudl be much prized - an entirely unsympathetic protagonist who is nontheless totally compelling. The period reserearch that must have been done is also convincibgly threaded through the story, but over all it is the masterfl depiction of a character in extremis that stay with me. At times I fluctuated, patience wise with the narrative, it does seem to drag in places when scenario decsription gets rather bogged down but it's the charactersistaion that wins through every time. if you liked charlotte gray then this is at least three times as good.
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