I found that Engleby haunted me long after I put it down. It is, at once, a murder mystery, an account of psychological disturbance, and a satire on the nineteen seventies and eighties. However, it is difficult to do it justice without giving away the plot.

The novel purports to be the diaries of Michael Engleby, who we first meet as a student. He never names the ancient university, but it is obviously Cambridge. From the first, he is a misfit, at once proud of his high intelligence and uncomfortable about his working class origins. He is far from being an admirable person, indulging in petty theft and taking both prescription and illegal drugs. Although he takes part in student societies, he seems oddly detached from other people and incapable of making friends. He hankers after a girl he meets, Jennifer, but is unable to approach her.

We learn about the beatings which he was given by his father, and the bullying to which he was subjected at the private school to which he won a scholarship. Yet there are strange gaps in his memory of events, which are only gradually filled in.

What I found disturbing about Engleby is the questions it asks about what it means to be normal and, conversely, abnormal. It is never certain whether Mike Engleby is mad or just one of life's losers. Yet, although the book is dark, Mike's caustic comments about university life and, later, about journalism, provide a vein of humour. An account of a disastrous dinner party which he attends is particularly funny.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in writing. It is a great example of how to make a character compelling without being exactly sympathetic.

minorvogonpoet

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