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radomu's review against another edition
5.0
Informative, entertaining, and difficult to put down. Doesn't really account for regional differences that well, but a minor blemish in a comprehensive, well-written account of Englishness.
frithf's review against another edition
4.0
How British are YOU? ANd what makes a Briton? As entertaining, readable and thought-provoking anthropology on a first-world culture, this book is as necessary as it is unusual - examining the unacknowledged makeup of culture usually taken for granted. If you, English-speaking person of the 'mainstream' or 'global culture', have ever stated "I don't really have a culture", read this book and change your mind.
glitterbox's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
froggo's review against another edition
когда-то у нас вела замечательная женщина чернова и мы читали вот такие замечательные вещи и я горела социологией и думала я буду такая крутая, а она кидала снюсик на паре
была наша любимая жанночка снюсоедка
она ещё так смешно смотрела на всех с выпученными глазами и молчала и ты никогда не знал ты правильно ответил или полную хуйню сморозил
потом всех уволили, точнее не продлили контракт и я пишу свою ебаную вкр надеясь на бога и даже примерно не представляя как и с чем я выпущусь из этого богоспасаемого заведения
была наша любимая жанночка снюсоедка
она ещё так смешно смотрела на всех с выпученными глазами и молчала и ты никогда не знал ты правильно ответил или полную хуйню сморозил
потом всех уволили, точнее не продлили контракт и я пишу свою ебаную вкр надеясь на бога и даже примерно не представляя как и с чем я выпущусь из этого богоспасаемого заведения
jason_pym's review against another edition
3.0
After living away from England for so many years, it seems now like a very strange, idiosyncratic country. Nice to have this book as an anthropological back up - it really is that odd a place. The whole thing could have been cut to maybe a third of the length.
seclement's review against another edition
2.0
I am the type of person that likes to learn everything about whatever new endeavour I've taken up, so the intended purpose of reading this book was to learn more about my new country. Although the book had its moments - discussions of queuing, pub etiquette, social dis-ease food, and the weather were among the highlights - I found the obsession with class deeply off-putting. Fox is clearly from the upper-middle or upper class, and most of her discussions of 'distinctive' English characteristics are broken down by class. She tries to play the role of participant and objective observer, but clearly shows her own biases across the book (and a disdain for the working classes). Honestly...if English people pay as much attention to class as she says they do (still), then I find it incredibly depressing. I've walked away from this book feeling very fortunate that I've never given a thought to my class, and frustrated that this sort of nonsense lives on.
While the book is over 400 pages of an anthropologists observations on Englishness, and begins with a rather good discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of participant observation, I am highly skeptical of most of Fox's conclusions. There are many problems, but the chief one is that you cannot define what it is that makes the English *distinct* without comparing it to other cultures. She makes a half-hearted attempt in some places, but mainly she just resorts to the lazy approach of comparing the English to Americans. Most of what she said about American culture didn't ring true to me either, and I am not sure how living there for 4 years as a child can make her an expert. Surely there was more scientific research she could have used to really tease out what characteristics were just human or maybe just Western - and which were truly, quintessentially English. The other problem is that she simply tries to cover too much, without any evidence to back it up. There's little information on her methods, other than the introduction on participant observation, and very few references. It's hard to believe this is anything more than a summation of her view of the country in which she's grown up. Sure she's commissioned to do this sort of research, but would it be so difficult to give a bit more information about how you know your observations are accurate, reliable, and - perhaps most importantly - meaningful?
I would like to throw a tea party for Fox, complete with coasters, napkin rings, and chip butties...just so she can judge me and tell me what my class is. As for the rest of her countrymen and women, I suspect they are not nearly as class-obsessed as she is, and I've walked away still feeling like she got lost in the 'ethnographic dazzle' (her own term) of class distinctions, while failing to capture what it really means to be English. I felt Notes from a Small Island did a much better job than this book, and I would much sooner recommend that, which has no illusions of being an academic study of the English yet more successfully summarises the essence of Englishness.
I'd also have liked an exploration of regional differences. Her observations seem to be squarely centred on the south (with a few snobbish references to the North). Working class northerners are a friendly bunch, and not nearly as socially awkward as the portrait of the English she paints.
While the book is over 400 pages of an anthropologists observations on Englishness, and begins with a rather good discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of participant observation, I am highly skeptical of most of Fox's conclusions. There are many problems, but the chief one is that you cannot define what it is that makes the English *distinct* without comparing it to other cultures. She makes a half-hearted attempt in some places, but mainly she just resorts to the lazy approach of comparing the English to Americans. Most of what she said about American culture didn't ring true to me either, and I am not sure how living there for 4 years as a child can make her an expert. Surely there was more scientific research she could have used to really tease out what characteristics were just human or maybe just Western - and which were truly, quintessentially English. The other problem is that she simply tries to cover too much, without any evidence to back it up. There's little information on her methods, other than the introduction on participant observation, and very few references. It's hard to believe this is anything more than a summation of her view of the country in which she's grown up. Sure she's commissioned to do this sort of research, but would it be so difficult to give a bit more information about how you know your observations are accurate, reliable, and - perhaps most importantly - meaningful?
I would like to throw a tea party for Fox, complete with coasters, napkin rings, and chip butties...just so she can judge me and tell me what my class is. As for the rest of her countrymen and women, I suspect they are not nearly as class-obsessed as she is, and I've walked away still feeling like she got lost in the 'ethnographic dazzle' (her own term) of class distinctions, while failing to capture what it really means to be English. I felt Notes from a Small Island did a much better job than this book, and I would much sooner recommend that, which has no illusions of being an academic study of the English yet more successfully summarises the essence of Englishness.
I'd also have liked an exploration of regional differences. Her observations seem to be squarely centred on the south (with a few snobbish references to the North). Working class northerners are a friendly bunch, and not nearly as socially awkward as the portrait of the English she paints.
curlypip's review
4.0
I loved the chapters on grooming, humor and food, and reading this book reminded me how ever so English I am.