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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book. The characters all felt very real and I imagine lots of people across Britain can find themselves in someone in this book. It's both a funny and sad commentary of our times - apt in the sense that our times are indeed both funny and sad so often these days.
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
read this for book club. found it extremely frustrating, longer review to come
Middle England is Jonathan Coe's new novel, a satirical and meandering look at the past eight years. It follows a cast of characters around Birmingham and London predominantly, looking at their interconnected lives and how they're affected by politics, Brexit, and British society. Around this, there is also a lot about family, relationships, and finding and changing what you want to do in life.
Many of the characters have already appeared in Coe's earlier books The Rotters' Club and The Closed Circle, but there is no need to have read either to read this one (I didn't realise until the closing pages it might be a sequel). The way it is weaved around the events of the past eight years is sometimes great (it is amusing to see how all the characters react to the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, and their reactions are very real) and sometimes less so (Coe places so much focus on Brexit that it can't help but be depressing, for starters). He seems to aim to depict a confused Britain, though being so timely (it runs up to 2018) does make it quite stressful.
Coe brings together a cast of characters, balancing their stories well, in a novel that seems aimed at the people it is often gently mocking: the left wing middle class. At times a strange mix between funny escapism and a harsh reminder of how recent years have unfolded, this is a British satirical novel for the present day.
Many of the characters have already appeared in Coe's earlier books The Rotters' Club and The Closed Circle, but there is no need to have read either to read this one (I didn't realise until the closing pages it might be a sequel). The way it is weaved around the events of the past eight years is sometimes great (it is amusing to see how all the characters react to the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, and their reactions are very real) and sometimes less so (Coe places so much focus on Brexit that it can't help but be depressing, for starters). He seems to aim to depict a confused Britain, though being so timely (it runs up to 2018) does make it quite stressful.
Coe brings together a cast of characters, balancing their stories well, in a novel that seems aimed at the people it is often gently mocking: the left wing middle class. At times a strange mix between funny escapism and a harsh reminder of how recent years have unfolded, this is a British satirical novel for the present day.
funny
reflective
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia