Bookseller Reviews
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WBRG April 2013: Insightful and Enthralling
There is no getting around the fact that John Lanchester's novel 'Capital' is a brick of a book. At almost 600 pages it seems amazing that a reader can be ... READ MORE
The Grass is Always Greener
Welcome to Pepys Road, London home to a whole spectrum of people from all walks of life. There's an elderly woman at number 42, a Pakistani family who run... READ MORE
Synopsis
The residents of Pepys Road, London - a banker and his shopaholic wife, an elderly woman dying of a brain tumour, the Pakistani family who run the local shop, the young football star from Senegal and his minder - all receive anonymous postcards with a simple message: We Want What You Have. Who is behind it? What do they want? As the mystery of the postcards deepens, the world around Pepys Road is turned upside down by the financial crash and all of its residents' lives change beyond recognition over the course of the next year. From the bestselling author of Whoops! and How to Speak Money comes a post-financial crisis, state-of-the-nation novel told with compassion, humour and unflinching truth.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Faber & Faber
- ISBN: 9780571294466
- Dimensions: 240 x 160 x 39 mm
- Weight: 894g
Customer Reviews
View allLight reading
Interesting premise and an easy read with some genuinely funny bits. However I felt the story line and characters were overly simple and stereotyped, which... READ MORE
Wanted to love this.....but
I was really hopeful of this book. The "story behind every doorway" idea has always been attractive and here was a writer actually doing it, set in London ... READ MORE
Rainbow nation
This story is set in our capital city and truly reflects the multi-cultural nature of our society. The author places the characters in one particular stree... READ MORE
Great start then tapers into disappointing end
I was initially engrossed in this novel, it follows a simple premise, following the lives of various people living on a South London Street. However my int... READ MORE
Classic novel by excellent writer.
Book covers massive themes with a cosy turn of phrase. Great Stuff!
Not great, just good
I liked John Lanchester's previous book Whoops and was looking forward immensely to Capital. It had been hailed as possibly the State of the Nation novel o... READ MORE
A good read
This book focuses on the lives of a variety of people who all live on the same street and receive mysterious postcards.
Despite the fact it's quite a long ... READ MORE
A must read!
In this ‘Big Smoke novel’, John Lanchester cleverly helps to melt the difference between fiction and non-fiction. A report on the City of London merged wit... READ MORE
An okay read
It took me much longer to read this book than normal. There were so many characters I had to keep flipping backwards to remind myself who everyone was. How... READ MORE
Capital
Readable, but could have been better...
When I started reading Capital, I loved it. It was so easy to read and Lanchester introduced me to a variety of interesting characters inhabiting a wealthy... READ MORE
Slice of London life
This book shows a slice of life in one of London’s streets where the increase in house prices has made everybody who’s lived there for a long time incredib... READ MORE