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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Interesting depiction of the English (but non only) society. Every character is extremely realistic, people that you meet and know in your everyday life. Very contemporary. Slightly boring in the political parts if you’re not well updated on British politics.
I especially enjoyed how the author makes you sympathize more with the characters that have a “worse” (even if it’s always subjective) political view. They appear as more coherent than the “good viewed” hypocrites.
I especially enjoyed how the author makes you sympathize more with the characters that have a “worse” (even if it’s always subjective) political view. They appear as more coherent than the “good viewed” hypocrites.
I surely enjoyed this book. Jonathan Coe managed to find a good balance between fictious novel storytelling and political insights or rather documenting the "British situation" altogether.
This book is heavily based on Brexit, but it was really well done in my opinion. You see the country change over time and how the characters in this book deal with that. Really interesting!
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
After the break-up of his marriage Benjamin is living in the Midlands in a large house funded by the sale of his flat in London and trying to make it as a writer. His sister Lois is unfulfilled and working away from the family home and her daughter is trying to make it in academia. Over the next 8 years events around the work and close to home impact on them all.
This is both an ambitious and yet very insular novel. I read it as a stand alone, not have read the previous two books about the characters and yet I did not need to. Coe is a talented writer who can write about the most profound subjects in a gently humorous and always entertaining fashion. Of course the whole idea is that middle England is both a place (away from the Capital) and also a description of the 'ordinary' populace. Here the ordinary populace spreads from the very right wing to the very left wing with the expected consequences. The overt Nimby-ism and covert racism is juxtaposed against the extremes of the politically correct brigade and each is found wanting. There is so much to love here, the failed children's entertainer with the unspoken love for his partner's daughter, the thoroughly nice chap whose views are to the opposite of his wife, the political spin doctor who loses it completely, the financial wizz who decides to put something back into society and the fact that nowhere seems are alien to middle england as Hartlepool. Who can't fail to love a book which has Brexit as a main character!
This is both an ambitious and yet very insular novel. I read it as a stand alone, not have read the previous two books about the characters and yet I did not need to. Coe is a talented writer who can write about the most profound subjects in a gently humorous and always entertaining fashion. Of course the whole idea is that middle England is both a place (away from the Capital) and also a description of the 'ordinary' populace. Here the ordinary populace spreads from the very right wing to the very left wing with the expected consequences. The overt Nimby-ism and covert racism is juxtaposed against the extremes of the politically correct brigade and each is found wanting. There is so much to love here, the failed children's entertainer with the unspoken love for his partner's daughter, the thoroughly nice chap whose views are to the opposite of his wife, the political spin doctor who loses it completely, the financial wizz who decides to put something back into society and the fact that nowhere seems are alien to middle england as Hartlepool. Who can't fail to love a book which has Brexit as a main character!
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated