History Literature / Capital

-->''I wanted the book to begin with the reader knowing something that the characters don't: that this moment in 2007 to 2008 is the peak of a bubble. It's a curious thing to say about a book set in such a recent past, but ''Capital'' was intended to be a historical novel.''
--->'''John Lanchester in the ''Guardian'', March 2013'''

''Capital'' is a 2012 novel by British author and journalist John Lanchester, set in 2007 and 2008, just as the world is teetering over the edge of economic boom into financial crisis. It follows the people who live and work on a single street in Clapham (an expensive upper-middle-class area of London), [[ShoutOut Pepys Road]], taking as its starting point a mysterious harassment campaign in which all of the residents begin receiving postcards, photos of their houses, and eventually much nastier items bearing the message 'We Want What You Have'. However, it follows its LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters through a myriad spiralling subplots, some linked and some independent. Lanchester has referred to it as his 'Big Fat London Novel', citing Creator/CharlesDickens as his primary influence, but almost every review it received at some point used the phrase 'state-of-the-nation novel', reflecting its expansive and varied portrait of a society straining at the seams.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: ''De rigueur'' in this kind of Big Fat London Novel. Writing about the sub-genre in the ''Observer'', Alex Preston identified it as a key feature:
-->''Anthony Trollope's ''The Way We Live Now'' remains the supreme example of the state of the nation novel, a sprawling tour de force with a huge cast of characters and a labyrinthine plot. The shifting viewpoints, keen engagement with contemporary themes, and use of London as a microcosm: this is the model upon which a number of important recent novels have drawn.''

* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Shahid's friend Iqbal, who invites himself to stay, is an incredibly annoying house guest, stays for seven months, and to add insult to injury [[spoiler:leaves incriminating evidence of his interest in jihadism which gets Shahid arreted for terrorim]].

''Capital'' is a 2012 novel by British author and journalist John Lanchester, set in 2007 and 2008, just as the world is teetering over the edge of economic boom into financial crisis. It follows the people who live and work on a single street in Clapham (an expensive upper-middle-class area of London), [[ShoutOut Pepys Road]], taking as its starting point a mysterious harassment campaign in which all of the residents begin receiving postcards, photos of their houses, and eventually much nastier items bearing the message 'We Want What You Have'. However, it follows its LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters through a myriad spiralling subplots, some linked and some independent. Lanchester has referred to it as his 'Big Fat London Novel', citing CharlesDickens as his primary influence, but almost every review it received at some point used the phrase 'state-of-the-nation novel', reflecting its expansive and varied portrait of a society straining at the seams.

* HellholePrison: [[spoiler: Shahid and Quentina]] both end up in them, [[spoiler: Quentina]] indefinitely.

* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Zbigniew agonises over whether to [[spoiler: give Mary the money he found in her house]]. When he confesses all to Matya, she takes it utterly for granted that he will.
* SelectiveObliviousness: Arabella reacts to hers and Roger's [[spoiler: financial ruin]] this way, to the extent that she comforts herself by going shopping.
* SexlessMarriage: Roger and Arabella don't quite have one, but their marriage is so passionless that they might as well. When they [[spoiler: sell their house after Roger loses his job]], Roger goes into their bedroom and thinks that they must have had sex in there sixty times: once a month for five years.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Shahid's friend Iqbal, who invites himself to stay, is an incredibly annoying house guest, stays for seven month, and to add insult to injury [[spoiler: leaves incriminating evidence of his interest in jihadism which gets Shahid arreted for terrorim]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Some of the subplots have very open endings. This is to some extent a result of the novel's realistically cynical attitude; a storyline about [[spoiler: an illegal immigrant being caught and refused asylum]] was never going to get a neat resolution, let alone a happy ending.

Not to be confused with the [[Literature/TheWorthingSaga collection of science fiction short stories]] by Creator/OrsonScottCard.

-->''I wanted the book to begin with the reader knowing something that the characters don't: that this moment in 2007 to 2008 is the peak of a bubble. It's a curious thing to say about a book set in such a recent past, but Capital was intended to be a historical novel.''

* Smitty (real name Graham), a thinly-veiled {{Expy}} of {{Banksy}} who is also Mary's son and Petunia's grandson

* Quentina Mkesi, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker working illegally as a traffic warden