Review: Fierce, Fast-Paced, and Merciless Story of an Investment Bank's Double Life
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 9, 2014
“RomperSuit” is a novel set in a cutthroat world—investment banker—that takes the savagery of boardroom deals and stock markets and translates it into actual brutality. When contrasted against the everyday suburban life of its main character, Charlie Campbell-Fuller, it makes for an unsettling but also unforgettable read.The novel mixes the violence of frequent skirmishes—complete with riot police, horses, and merciless fighting—with scenes of Charlie with his wife and his best friends; you see him struggle with fertility problems, do prosaic things like take his friends’ children to the zoo, and share tender moments with his wife. At the same time, you see him act ruthlessly in ways that harms other and causes his own friendships to disintegrate. He admits he is an alcoholic—he drinks only to excess, for instance—and all in all he’s not an entirely likeable character, falling into the ranks of Bret Easton Ellis’ Patrick Bateman and Anthony Burgess’ Alex.However, being unlikeable doesn’t keep Charlie from being fascinating—the story manages to be fast-paced between Charlie’s social and work tensions, and while I found the slang to be a little hard to understand at first, the book is well-written and I soon caught on to the world of the Babbage Broons, the Charring-scum, and the others. Lane was a redeeming character for me, and I often wondered what was going on in her head about her husband’s second life—but part of Charlie’s character is that he namely cares about himself. I would recommend “RomperSuit” to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction with a twist of fierce satire.