Diary of A Stranger (Engleby - Sebastian Faulks)

Member Name: Mauri

Product:	Engleby - Sebastian Faulks
Date:	18/06/09 (123 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well written, gripping, unusual

Disadvantages: None

Sebastian Faulks is a well regarded writer with many fine books on his CV including Birdsong (1993) Charlotte Gray (1998) and On Green Dolphin Street (2001). He seems to be always looking for new challenges in his writing and recently in 2008 he became the latest author to write an official James Bond novel 'Devil May Care', at the request of the trustees of the estate of Ian Fleming. Engelby written before the Bond novel in 2007 once again proves his versatility as a writer.

In 'Engleby' Sebastian Faulks skilfully introduces us to the life of Mike Engleby. His story is gradually revealed and the reader gets drawn in to a disturbing world of obsession and cruelty. Engleby is a poor working class boy growing up in a dysfunctional family in the 50's. Because of his academic ability he gains a scholarship to public school and later a place Cambridge. You might think that things have worked out well for Engleby but he is not an ordinary boy, physically abused by his father and emotionally disconnected from his mother and sister, even at a young age Engleby finds it difficult to relate to others. This sense of alienation is heightened further by the physical bullying he experiences at boarding school and by the time he reached adulthood Engleby is truly an outsider not being able to easily empathise or connect emotionally with others.

While at university in the 70's Engleby becomes attracted to Jennifer a vivacious fellow student. He tries his best to get to know her. He moves in her circle of friends and while never becoming really close with her he is accepted on the fringes of her social group. Jennifer then suddenly goes missing and Engleby's world changes forever and the repercussions leading from this event shape his future in an unexpected direction.

We learn Engleby's story through his own words as the novel is in the form of a memoir written in the first person. The more we find out about Engleby and his life the more we get drawn into world.

Engleby reminded me of Camus' anti hero Meursault in his famous novel L'Étranger (The Outsider) published in 1942. Meursault is a person who is totally disconnected with life. The realisation of the absurdity of existence for him has led to question the very nature and the purpose of living. The inevitable futility of life and death lead him to a lack of emotional engagement with others and events even violent ones leave him unmoved. Engleby also displays this seemingly dispassionate existential view of life. His existence impact upon him, he is almost a detached observer and makes little attempt to find a purpose to it. He drifts along from school to university and then drifts into a career in journalism, never questioning or really caring about his situation. Despite this seemingly grim story there is a lot of humour in this book. Engleby is surprisingly a charming if rather strange narrator. Faulks uses Engleby as to look back with unerring wit at the past fifty years pointing out through his brutally honest critical and yet dispassionate eye many aspect of those times from education, progressive music, student politics, economics and in general the absurdity of life as he sees it.

Many of Engelby's recollections are extremely funny, his prodigious drug taking and drinking is ever present and to be his defence mechanism to cope with what life throws at him. He is extremely clever and posses a photographic memory but he sees little point in his abilities, he simply does what he needs to in order to pass his exams and later gain a living although money is of little interest to him.

Engleby also has a Forrest Gump like knack of encountering important figures of his time in the course of the story he bumps into the famous actor Sir Ralph Richardson, up and coming politician Jeffrey Archer and Ken Livingstone the radical leader of the GLC, these encounters are very amusing. I'd almost go a far to say that Engleby is actually a comic novel, a very dark and sometimes disturbing one but nonetheless comic. Faulks also adds new dimension to the story by way of Jennifer's disappearance, a mystery which Engleby and the police try to figure out.

Faulks has managed to make Mike Engleby a sympathetic character although I wouldn't say he ever becomes likeable. As we read Engleby's thought's on various matters as he expresses his jaundiced opinion on people and events we cannot avoid agreeing with some of his insights. His description of life in the second rate public school despite the disturbing amount or bullying that he suffers is genuinely funny as his description of student life and various 'student societies' that he joins (mostly to be close to Jennifer). Despite the witticisms and humour of the narrator we are always keenly aware of a darker undercurrent present in the writing. The cleverness of this book lies in Faulks' ability to create with such a multi-faceted character as Engleby. As I have said he is an outsider, he has been abused through his younger life and as such he serves as a sympathetic figure but in many ways he is also a sociopath. He shows a complete lack of empathy with others, he steals and cons people without remorse and seems incapable of love. Above all he has an unquestioning belief that his view of the world is the 'right' view. He gets very angry by small matters and yet shows a lack of emotion at truly tragic experiences.

Faulks tells the story through Engleby's memories but these are not presented chronologically. We start off when Engleby is at university but then travel back to his early years and school and then forward again to his later life as a journalist. This style of narrative can be a little confusing but it also allows the author to reveal different aspects of Engleby's character at a more controlled rate thus teasing the reader and of course we have to remember that Engleby might not be a reliable narrator. Faulks' writing style has always been one of his strong points as a writer and this is also the case in this novel.

The only fault (a minor one) I could find with the story is a slight predictability of the ending; then again others I have spoken to who have read it disagree on this point and tell me that they found a real twist in the tale at the end. I guess you'll have to make up your own minds on this one. Having said all this, the story still had me gripped up to the last line.

Overall 'Engleby' is a great read. The main character is a very clever literary creation and the story is intriguing and told in a way that engrosses the reader. The use of humour makes the dark subject matter easier to accept.
Highly recommended.

'Engleby' is available to buy at Amazon in paperback (352 pages) for £4.89 (+p&p) at the time of this review. ISBN-10: 0099458276/ ISBN-13: 978-0099458272.

© Mauri 2009

Summary: A darkly comic tale of a disturbed individual