Reviews

The English Experience by Julie Schumacher

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carlynclark's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

booksrockcal's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was an antidote to the heaviness of There There. It is a light hearted and funny novel about an aging English professor at a small mid western college who is the only available faculty member to accompany a group of students on a three week study abroad mid term trip to England. Based in London, the group explores the city and southern England with their reluctant professor, who attempts to impose rules of grammar and diction on their daily writing assignments while also trying to understand and connect with 19 years olds. Meanwhile this motley group of students, including undifferentiated twins, a young man who thought he was going to the Caribbean, a love struck basketball player trying to persuade his ex girlfriend to return to him, and a young woman who has never been away from her cat, complete writing assignments that are at once hilarious and disturbing, giving the professor and the reader a view of England unseen before.

angelaac's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

vidotson's review

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funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

hayleybeale's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars rounded up

Sadly, I liked the idea of this novel way more than I liked the novel itself.

A crusty old English professor takes a group of students to London to “Experience: England” and, despite none of them appearing to have a particularly good time, it turns out to be a life-changing experience for many of them.

The professor, Jay Fitger, is coerced into leading the trip and is pretty miserable the whole time he’s there. We get to know the students, too many of them for any to make much of a mark in my memory, through their applications and the 500-word papers they write every day about their experiences. By and large, the students are a dopey bunch and can’t string a coherent essay together which is maybe meant to be satirical or is maybe just a sad reflection of the sort of students that go to minor New England liberal arts colleges.

Jay himself does little to augment the students’ experiences but, by happy accident, many of them find their own way about and are able to seek out what interests them rather than the planned trips. As we discover from their essays, this is the first time abroad for many of them and what they want from the trip has little to do with the contents of the British museum. Such is the way of youth.

Jay’s unlikely relationship with Janet, his ex-wife, is of much more interest to him than either London or his students and their phone calls and emails provide the narrative spine for his trip abroad.

After some pretty disastrous outings, the party return to college and an epilogue from three years later reveals the inadvertent lessons they all learned. It’s honestly quite a nifty idea but I just thought the novel underdelivered - maybe because it’s the third novel about Fitger and I haven’t read either of the other two. You might find this funnier and more charming than I did if you're in the Fitger groove.

Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for the digital review copy.