‘I think I’ll join this society of hers. It doesn’t matter what it’s for because they’re all the same. They’re all called something Soc, short for Society. Lab Soc, Lit Soc, Geog Soc. There’s probably a knitting group called Sock Soc.’ 

Mike Engleby is a university student at Cambridge. He is intelligent and writes with wit and irony about life at college and later on about his burgeoning career as a journalist in London. We get the impression of a bright young man with bold opinions who takes whatever life throws at him on the chin. 

We also get the impression of a skilled observer. With emphasis on observer. Mike Engleby seems to observe life rather than take part in it. He does not have friends or girlfriends but develops a keen interest in another student, Jennifer, who later disappears under suspicious circumstances.

The first part of the book introduces the character Mike Engleby. Although well written, it is too slow-moving for my taste. What stands out to me is the last third of the book.

A story told in first person is subjective. Readers get a version of reality which is coloured by the personality and background of the narrator or perhaps we get the edited version the narrator would like us to see. 

As events unfold the reader is forced to re-evaluate Mike’s earlier accounts of what happened. How much truth were there in these accounts? Which events may have had a completely different interpretation?

The last part of the book is primarily a journey into the mind of Mike Engleby. It is disturbing and dark, but also highly fascinating. Various layers of perception and deception work as an inconsistent diffraction filter through which we observe Mike’s bended reality. When is he deceiving himself, telling us the potentially twisted truth as it appears to him? When is he intentionally deceiving us?  

An actual chill was running down my spine, when I finished the book. Presumably I ought to be concerned about thoroughly enjoying the exploration of a mind of what can only be described as an intelligent and intellectual psychopath. I guess the human mind is fascinating. And even when spiralling out of control, Mike Engleby has some rather profound thoughts on life, consciousness, reality. There is a short distance between genius and insanity as they say.

Engleby will not be to everyones taste, but Sebastian Faulks is undoubtedly an excellent writer. The narrator of the audiobook, Michael Maloney, should also be mentioned for capturing the voice and personality of Mike Engleby. My rating ends at 3 1/2 stars generously rounded up to 4 stars.

Title: Engleby
Author: Sebastian Faulks
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Literary Fiction