I spent a week in November reading (on and off, obviously) Sebastian Faulks’ excellent A Week in December. Faulks manages to take snapshots of characters and events that characterise something of the nineties and noughties in Britain.
A book to capture today's Britian
The tensions and comprehension gaps between a disillusioned young Muslim man – looking for some certainties and a place to belong – and his parents who have tried hard to assimilate and be accepted into British society is beautifully expressed. Even better is the lack of easy resolution: both end the book still not understanding the other and yet the need for human belonging has to find expression for both.
Many of the women in the book – wives of politicians, footballers and rich businessmen, for example – are depicted as casting around for love, identity and ‘place’. A literary critic shows up the superficial and personal nature of arts criticism: personal agendas and rivalries, jealousies and snobberies, all get exposed. There is a light shone on so many aspects of shallow culture that every page made me wince with both recognistion and embarrassment. Is this what we have really become?
The period covered is, however, epitomised by the character of John Veals, the high-finance money manipulator whose addictive lust is not for money itself (ironically, given his accumulation of the stuff) – and certainly not for his rather regretful wife and neglected children – but for the miserable pursuit of power and ‘winning’. Relationships mean nothing; the world is simply a playground for his exploitation; people are pawns in his trading games; rules are for breaking; laughter is for the sorts of people he despises. The final line of the book sends a chill through the soul as the sheer empty, vacuous, selfish and value-free monster of greed exposes what happens when you gain the whole world but lose your soul.
I guess Faulks could be accused of caricaturing the worst of contemporary Britain without depicting or exploring the best elements of a complicated multicultural society. But, you can’t do everything in a single book – and in this book he paints a picture which only the wilfully blind will fail to recognise. This picture begs many questions of what sort of society we really want Britain to develop in the next few years of the so-called ‘Big Society’… and that will form the subject of my next post.
November 27, 2010 at 4:01 pm
I really need some erudite analysis on the ‘Big Society’, I just don’t know what to make of it currently.
Everything I read on this subject conflicts, with some – including Christians – viewing it as some sort of heinous cynical plot, whilst others – including Christians – viewing it as a marvelous opportunity to engage in transforming Britain.
I’m totally lost with it all….
November 27, 2010 at 5:31 pm
I can’t help but notice that the initials of Big Society is BS
November 27, 2010 at 10:50 pm
I have my doubts about the ‘Big Society’ even although it is quite possible that David Cameron is sincerely promoting it because he believes it will enrich our lives, rather than as a cynical ploy to save money. Before the advent of the Welfare State, the poor and dispossessed had to rely on the charity of others because there was no alternative. While it is indisputable much good was done by volunteers and philanthropists their efforts were obviously inadequate, because if they had covered all bases we would never have needed a welfare state. In a large, complex 21st society like ours, welfare needs a degree of central control and planning because without it the dreaded ‘post-code lottery’ will come into play due of the patchy nature of services that are likely to be provided.
In areas of extreme deprivation, or in those areas where everyone is time poor because they are working excessivley long hours just to make ends meet, who is going to have the time and resources to volunteer for anything and where are the funds going to come from, if not from the taxpayer?
November 28, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Intrigued to see that my catholic counterparts steer aways from the Big Society favouring instead to focus on matters regarding the common good as well as the interplay between catholic social teaching on subsidiarity and solidarity.
November 28, 2010 at 6:56 pm
[...] about identity, who ‘belongs’ and which values are driving us as a society. In my last post I briefly described the book. The book is timely because it raises in ‘flesh and blood’ [...]
November 29, 2010 at 3:13 pm
It seems to me that the boundary between charities and government has increasingly become blurred. Charities and NGOs (what is the difference?) queue up to get government grants which in many cases are worth much more than their charitable income support. In order to get the grants they perhaps have to compromise their principles. (Look at Church schools and admission practices as an example.)The m,an who pays the piper calls the tune as st Paul said.
Of course it would make it financially more difficult for charities to work without government grants but maybe their independence would then enable them to speak ut and actually have more effect.
We need to think this through, but I am unhappy supporting charities who are just channels for government money with strings attached. That system also acts against smaller charities who are discriminated against in the rush for grants.
Discuss?