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mariesreads's review against another edition
3.0
Extremely dense, but immensely rewarding. I enjoyed some chapters more than others, and by a third of the way in I realized it's better to treat this as a collection of essays rather than looking for a throughline or chronology. As a cultural and literary study it makes connections between works and creators that I'd never considered before.
ilseoo's review against another edition
2.0
2,5 stars.
This book is marketed explicitly a covering English cultural history from Anglo-Saxon times to the present, including literary movements but also other areas such as music and architecture. This is what I expected going into it. It does start in the Anglo-Saxon times, which was nice, however it does not really go much further than the 19th century, with the 20th century only getting a few mentions and, finally, a more prominent role in the final chapter of eight pages. Moreover, although music and architecture were definitely featured, the main focus was on the familiar literary canon with Milton, Donne, Shakespeare, Dickens and so on.
Although this book has a nice sense of continuity because several general tendencies among the English are followed from the Anglo-Saxon times to the 19th century, the lay-out of the book itself felt a bit scattered, with short chapters on certain specific topics which were sometimes loosely bound together by these general tendencies. Within the chapters themselves I also sometimes got lost in the examples he gives without quite getting the overall topic, or simply found the topic a bit self-indulgent. Some chapters were really interesting and it was definitely well researched, but all in all this wasn’t what I expected or hoped for and so I was left a bit disappointed.
This book is marketed explicitly a covering English cultural history from Anglo-Saxon times to the present, including literary movements but also other areas such as music and architecture. This is what I expected going into it. It does start in the Anglo-Saxon times, which was nice, however it does not really go much further than the 19th century, with the 20th century only getting a few mentions and, finally, a more prominent role in the final chapter of eight pages. Moreover, although music and architecture were definitely featured, the main focus was on the familiar literary canon with Milton, Donne, Shakespeare, Dickens and so on.
Although this book has a nice sense of continuity because several general tendencies among the English are followed from the Anglo-Saxon times to the 19th century, the lay-out of the book itself felt a bit scattered, with short chapters on certain specific topics which were sometimes loosely bound together by these general tendencies. Within the chapters themselves I also sometimes got lost in the examples he gives without quite getting the overall topic, or simply found the topic a bit self-indulgent. Some chapters were really interesting and it was definitely well researched, but all in all this wasn’t what I expected or hoped for and so I was left a bit disappointed.
bibliothecarivs's review against another edition
5.0
Albion traces ideas, images and patterns across the centuries to consider what it means to be English. Any Anglophile will enjoy the many and varied cultural references linked within Ackroyd's dense but fascinating text. Beginning and ending with Englishmen I admire (historian the Venerable Bede (d. 735) and composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958)), these two disparate personalities were brought together in one memorable statement:
To me, reading this book was like examining the contents of an ancient attic trunk, ruminating on the people, places, and things that made you who you are. When you come to the end of your literary pilgrimage, you're better for having experienced it.
"The embrace of present and past time, in which English antiquarianism becomes a form of alchemy, engenders a strange timelessness. It is as if the little bird which flew through the Anglo-Saxon banqueting hall, in Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, gained the outer air and became the lark ascending in Vaughan Williams's orchestral setting. The unbroken chain is that of English music itself."
To me, reading this book was like examining the contents of an ancient attic trunk, ruminating on the people, places, and things that made you who you are. When you come to the end of your literary pilgrimage, you're better for having experienced it.
ezrafinch's review against another edition
4.0
Although I was initially unsure of whether I would enjoy reading this book or not, I think it was a very intriguing and thought-provoking read. I can see how some people may not like the text - I myself would not have picked this up if it hadn't been required for my British Studies minor - but I'd recommend this to anyone genuinely interested in English culture, including the literature, architecture, art, language, and history of the country.
What I liked:
Ackroyd identified numerous qualities of England and it's history that apply to various aspects of the country's culture, including: a sense of melancholy, a taste for blood and gore in drama and literature (as well as ghost stories), a mix of high and low culture, the durability of Catholicism, a sentimental attachment to the past, the role of geography and environment, and the art of assimilation, to name just a few. The author provides multiple examples, from the medieval ages to today. His descriptions of physical places (gardens, the ocean, crumbling ruins, forests, and foggy moors) are illustrated beautifully by his writing style and are especially memorable.
What I didn't:
Unfortunately, Ackroyd tends to mention more examples than are necessary, often distracting from the point he is intending to make in the chapter and giving readers the feel of an info-dump. If the reader is unfamiliar with some of the works or figures he is referencing, it can be frustrating and lead to a tendency to skim through some paragraphs. Another issue I noticed was that some aspects of his argument for the English Imagination are easier to see and understand (such as those listed above), but others are less understandable and are lacking in evidence (the use of alliteration, for instance).
Overall, however, I did enjoy reading this book and will most likely reread it sometime in the future.
What I liked:
Ackroyd identified numerous qualities of England and it's history that apply to various aspects of the country's culture, including: a sense of melancholy, a taste for blood and gore in drama and literature (as well as ghost stories), a mix of high and low culture, the durability of Catholicism, a sentimental attachment to the past, the role of geography and environment, and the art of assimilation, to name just a few. The author provides multiple examples, from the medieval ages to today. His descriptions of physical places (gardens, the ocean, crumbling ruins, forests, and foggy moors) are illustrated beautifully by his writing style and are especially memorable.
What I didn't:
Unfortunately, Ackroyd tends to mention more examples than are necessary, often distracting from the point he is intending to make in the chapter and giving readers the feel of an info-dump. If the reader is unfamiliar with some of the works or figures he is referencing, it can be frustrating and lead to a tendency to skim through some paragraphs. Another issue I noticed was that some aspects of his argument for the English Imagination are easier to see and understand (such as those listed above), but others are less understandable and are lacking in evidence (the use of alliteration, for instance).
Overall, however, I did enjoy reading this book and will most likely reread it sometime in the future.
canadianbookworm's review
3.0
Very badly edited.
Prolixity of author somewhat much.
Found it a bit tough going in spots.
Definitely not what I expected.
Prolixity of author somewhat much.
Found it a bit tough going in spots.
Definitely not what I expected.
williamd's review
2.0
So, are you English? Or are you very interested in being English? This is a book about what Englishness is all about, so anyone who really wants to dig down into being English will probably find it interesting. It's a book primarily for English people to indulge in self-reflection. Unfortunately, for any outsider listening to insiders discuss with each other what makes themselves unique and wonderful can seem very boring and self-indulgent. Not to say anything against the English in particular for doing so - I'm sure it's just as bad when done by Americans or Canadians or Chinese or anyone else. This book just happens to be for and about the English in particular. It's basically Ackroyd's own opinions and reflections, presented as kind of dreamy essays rather than cold hard facts, so you get connections drawn between TS Eliot and Chaucer and older sources for example as a kind of intangible, spiritual inheritance. A lot of the ideas and information are interesting in themselves, but it is Very Long and many more pages about its one core theme (which again, to a non-English person is not all that interesting) than I really cared to read. Some people will undoubtedly find every bit of it fascinating, and I wish them all the best enjoyment. I just hope I don't have to hear too much more about it.
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