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A review by roshnara
England, England by Julian Barnes
3.0
As an Anglophile from a former colony now living in England, I found this book to be quite the laugh. The concepts that Julian Barnes explores in the book are absolutely spot on - the preference for convenience, the theatricality of English history and the corporate greed running as an undercurrent through it all.
The story is told in three parts. Part 1 introduces us to Martha Cochrane, a little girl who loves her England and its counties whose names roll off her tongue. She has an idyllic childhood until her father leaves her and her mother to fend for themselves.
Forward a couple of decades or so, and we meet young Martha in part 2, now a sort of academic England expert hired onto eccentric rich man Jack Pitman's team as the in-house cynic. The project - to create, on a nearby island, a replica of England with only all its cash generating touristy bits - the Big Ben, Stonehenge and yes, the royal family. Tourists can see Robin Hood beat the Sheriff and then go have a pint at the stadium while watching Manchester United win football. The new island is all the best parts of England that can be consumed in a day.
The island becomes so successful that tourists stop visiting old England at all. After all, the country is a testament to its history and nothing else (according to Barnes). And so, the original languishes into near collapse while the new and abridged version becomes a country with its own politics and power plays and workers unions.
Part 3 sees Martha, having climbed the corporate ladder and been tipped off of it, retire back in Old England to live a quiet life, having seen it all and being done with it.
Barnes uses sarcasm and satire to poke fun at his country and its place in the world, and the farce couldn't be more timely than now, in the age of the prolonged Brexit, Scottish referendum and dying Commonwealth. What does England stand for anymore? And if an uppity old gentleman decided to make a shiny copy, would the original stand the test of time?
Interesting book, a bit stodgy at times, but definitely worth plodding through for the subtle laughs.
The story is told in three parts. Part 1 introduces us to Martha Cochrane, a little girl who loves her England and its counties whose names roll off her tongue. She has an idyllic childhood until her father leaves her and her mother to fend for themselves.
Forward a couple of decades or so, and we meet young Martha in part 2, now a sort of academic England expert hired onto eccentric rich man Jack Pitman's team as the in-house cynic. The project - to create, on a nearby island, a replica of England with only all its cash generating touristy bits - the Big Ben, Stonehenge and yes, the royal family. Tourists can see Robin Hood beat the Sheriff and then go have a pint at the stadium while watching Manchester United win football. The new island is all the best parts of England that can be consumed in a day.
The island becomes so successful that tourists stop visiting old England at all. After all, the country is a testament to its history and nothing else (according to Barnes). And so, the original languishes into near collapse while the new and abridged version becomes a country with its own politics and power plays and workers unions.
Part 3 sees Martha, having climbed the corporate ladder and been tipped off of it, retire back in Old England to live a quiet life, having seen it all and being done with it.
Barnes uses sarcasm and satire to poke fun at his country and its place in the world, and the farce couldn't be more timely than now, in the age of the prolonged Brexit, Scottish referendum and dying Commonwealth. What does England stand for anymore? And if an uppity old gentleman decided to make a shiny copy, would the original stand the test of time?
Interesting book, a bit stodgy at times, but definitely worth plodding through for the subtle laughs.