A review by soinavoice
England, England by Julian Barnes
4.0
I have to agree with several other reviewers that I found the introductory segment, which recounted the childhood of Martha Cochrane, who is the closest thing the book has to a protagonist, to be the strongest part. Vivid and insightful character portrait.
As for the rest of the book, it is frequently an extremely witty satire. As an American transplant to the UK, the list of quintessentially English qualities as compiled by tourists especially delighted me with its accuracy (30. Double-decker buses, 31. Hypocrisy, 32. Gardening, 33. Perfidy/untrustworthiness, 34. Half-timbering, 35. Homosexuality). I found it most successful on this lightest of levels, and then possibly the next most successful on a philosophical one. It seemed to me that Barnes was championing the idea that humanity thrives on a kind of willful disingenuousness. Martha, who is hired as a professional cynic, ultimately suffers from that cynicism--which the book seems to strongly equate with realism. She is perhaps the only character unable to really embrace delusion, and thus markedly the most adrift. It's an interesting take on humanity, if rather melancholy (I found the book overall to be rather melancholy). What I found least successful was the reflection on national identity. Maybe it'd be more apparent to someone who'd grown up in the UK, but while the book dwelt gleefully on its Britishness in all its details, its greater points overall seemed to be more universal. Maybe the point is simply that Britain had reached the tipping point of cynicism that allowed something like "England, England" to occur. And maybe, in the wake of Brexit, I was expecting too much from this book as an insight into the complexities of English/British national identity. But there remained for me something distinctly under-realized here.
So, if you're looking for delightfully witty satire mixed with more profound speculation about the human condition and don't mind being made a little melancholy, check this book out. But if you're hoping for non-superficial insight into anything particularly English/British, you might want to look elsewhere.
As for the rest of the book, it is frequently an extremely witty satire. As an American transplant to the UK, the list of quintessentially English qualities as compiled by tourists especially delighted me with its accuracy (30. Double-decker buses, 31. Hypocrisy, 32. Gardening, 33. Perfidy/untrustworthiness, 34. Half-timbering, 35. Homosexuality). I found it most successful on this lightest of levels, and then possibly the next most successful on a philosophical one. It seemed to me that Barnes was championing the idea that humanity thrives on a kind of willful disingenuousness. Martha, who is hired as a professional cynic, ultimately suffers from that cynicism--which the book seems to strongly equate with realism. She is perhaps the only character unable to really embrace delusion, and thus markedly the most adrift. It's an interesting take on humanity, if rather melancholy (I found the book overall to be rather melancholy). What I found least successful was the reflection on national identity. Maybe it'd be more apparent to someone who'd grown up in the UK, but while the book dwelt gleefully on its Britishness in all its details, its greater points overall seemed to be more universal. Maybe the point is simply that Britain had reached the tipping point of cynicism that allowed something like "England, England" to occur. And maybe, in the wake of Brexit, I was expecting too much from this book as an insight into the complexities of English/British national identity. But there remained for me something distinctly under-realized here.
So, if you're looking for delightfully witty satire mixed with more profound speculation about the human condition and don't mind being made a little melancholy, check this book out. But if you're hoping for non-superficial insight into anything particularly English/British, you might want to look elsewhere.