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oceandream's review against another edition
3.0
This took me ages to read and I had to read it between other books as it was just too much on one chunk.
Even then I resorted to skim reading 50%.
I found lots of interesting parts, particularly about our driving rules, homes, obsessions with please and thank you, attitude to work and humour.
I found there was way too much devotion to discussing the classes. This was interesting to a point, I liked this in relation to homes and clothing. But it felt a bit repetitive. All in all I think this book could have been shortened by about 25% and I'd have given it more stars.
I'm relieved to have finished it, but will probably continue to quote it, indirectly, to friends and family.
Even then I resorted to skim reading 50%.
I found lots of interesting parts, particularly about our driving rules, homes, obsessions with please and thank you, attitude to work and humour.
I found there was way too much devotion to discussing the classes. This was interesting to a point, I liked this in relation to homes and clothing. But it felt a bit repetitive. All in all I think this book could have been shortened by about 25% and I'd have given it more stars.
I'm relieved to have finished it, but will probably continue to quote it, indirectly, to friends and family.
mamanewtnewt's review against another edition
Bit boring and I found the author really smug and irritating with too many humble brags.
maffa303's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely brilliant! A hilarious look at the the English that is superbly written. It is hard to describe or explain this book in a way that does it justice but I would recommend it to anyone. Kate Fox approaches the task of understanding the English from a very academic angle but presents the data and writes in a brilliantly funny and approachable way.
If you are English then this book provides fantastically entertaining look at ourselves and you'll spend a lot of time thinking "oh yeah, I do that all the time" or "that is scarily accurate". And if you're not English, then I can see it being a useful tool for understanding some of our weird behaviours and tendencies as well as just being a great read.
If you are English then this book provides fantastically entertaining look at ourselves and you'll spend a lot of time thinking "oh yeah, I do that all the time" or "that is scarily accurate". And if you're not English, then I can see it being a useful tool for understanding some of our weird behaviours and tendencies as well as just being a great read.
linds_a_latte's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Overall this book was informative and contained some interesting insights I wasn't fully aware of, but it did lack some contextual nuance and is fairly outdated. Despite Fox being a professional observer and attempting to cover ways in which various classes express themselves, she seems to become trapped in her own middle class echo chamber more often than not. Though anxiety is a key feature of the middle class, this book leaves the reader with the impression that members of it have fairly severe diagnosable anxiety disorders -- the real truth lies somewhere in the middle (ironically). It would have been great to have featured more viewpoints from across the class spectrum.
I feel that it would also have been useful to distinguish how most of the rules around interactions she describes are between acquaintances/strangers, not close friends/family. If the English were always as guarded and anxiety-ridden as she depicts even in close friendships/relationships, people would actually go insane. Yes, at its core, the book is largely accurate and insightful, but people reading it thinking it's a guide for closer relationships with English people will be sorely mislead.
The outdated references in the book are a bit cringey and should just be glossed over since they're almost entirely irrelevant to how people actually behave today (i.e., any time culture around "the internet" or "mobile phones" is mentioned). It was also somewhat off-putting how Fox also felt the need to call out "weird, icky wacky tribal cultures" (I am paraphrasing) multiple times throughout the book. I realise she more than likely meant for these descriptors to be tongue-in-cheek, but it comes off strangely immature and disrespectful.
I feel that it would also have been useful to distinguish how most of the rules around interactions she describes are between acquaintances/strangers, not close friends/family. If the English were always as guarded and anxiety-ridden as she depicts even in close friendships/relationships, people would actually go insane. Yes, at its core, the book is largely accurate and insightful, but people reading it thinking it's a guide for closer relationships with English people will be sorely mislead.
The outdated references in the book are a bit cringey and should just be glossed over since they're almost entirely irrelevant to how people actually behave today (i.e., any time culture around "the internet" or "mobile phones" is mentioned). It was also somewhat off-putting how Fox also felt the need to call out "weird, icky wacky tribal cultures" (I am paraphrasing) multiple times throughout the book. I realise she more than likely meant for these descriptors to be tongue-in-cheek, but it comes off strangely immature and disrespectful.
gemmascott's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
I read this book not long after it came out, back in the 2000s and it was a seminal work for me in terms of understanding British culture and society as a young teen trying to make her way in the adult world.
Reading back now, it’s certainly outdated (particularly given changes in technology, COVID etc.), but I still found myself cringing while realising “I do that!”
I’m not sure I agree entirely with the argument that the defining characteristic of our national identity is “social dis-ease” or that our recent shift towards the right and racism is just a blip (if so, it’s been happening since at least 2016), so I think I’d love to see an update to the book.
I also think you can tell that the author is rooted in her own middle class, Southern perspective so it would be interesting if she could collaborate with someone from a different background, or if another anthropologist could take on the mantle.
I gave this book an extra half a point for the narrator, who was fab!
Reading back now, it’s certainly outdated (particularly given changes in technology, COVID etc.), but I still found myself cringing while realising “I do that!”
I’m not sure I agree entirely with the argument that the defining characteristic of our national identity is “social dis-ease” or that our recent shift towards the right and racism is just a blip (if so, it’s been happening since at least 2016), so I think I’d love to see an update to the book.
I also think you can tell that the author is rooted in her own middle class, Southern perspective so it would be interesting if she could collaborate with someone from a different background, or if another anthropologist could take on the mantle.
I gave this book an extra half a point for the narrator, who was fab!
qwu's review against another edition
2.0
It was okay I think? Mm, I do find some of the quirks of English people cute, for example, the awkward, turtle-like character, but the class consciousness honestly can be rather frustrating. I normally try not to generalize, but a book like this seems doomed to generalize to some extent, which I suppose is also what makes it hard for readers to see it as something more serious, and academic maybe. To be fair though, like Kate Fox said in the book herself, it'd be hard to pin down a national character. Nonetheless, she's provided some very interesting points for non-English people to think about!