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England, England

3.35 of 5 stars 3.35 · rating details · 2,060 ratings · 146 reviews

Booker Prize Finalist

"Wickedly funny." --The New York Times

Imagine an England where all the pubs are quaint,where the Windsors behave themselves (mostly), where the cliffs of Dover are actually white, and where Robin Hood and his merry men really are merry.This is precisely what visionary tycoon, Sir Jack Pitman, seeks to accomplish on the Isle of Wight, a "destination" wh...more

Paperback, 288 pages

Published April 11th 2000 by Vintage (first published August 27th 1998)

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Dec 28, 2008 Jordan Catapano rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Julian Barnes presents a witty yet tantalizingly frightening vision of te commodifying of culture and the jump into the chasm of hyperreality. Ripe is Baudrillardian examples of "the substitution becoming the reality," England, England provides an enjoyable excursion into the future. The story employs an artfully balanced cast of characters, provocative discourse on history, memory, culture, and the implications of each for our future. I enjoyed Barnes's witty dialogue as well as his depiction o...more

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Aug 03, 2007 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

My first taste of Julian Barnes. I very good writer, with a real gift for satire and edgy social commentary. I'm not sure the book knocked its theme out of the park, but it was dead-on in its lampooning of greey businessmen and the worst of tourism. In the book, a Donald Trump style English tycoon sets out to create a theme park that will feature the best of English history and historical characters -- a place so appealing that tourists will prefer it to the real thing. Barnes uses this pretense...more

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Sep 01, 2007 Nina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anglophiles looking for a reality check

Shelves: comic-satirical

Satirical novel on reality vs artifice, history vs the commercial, and what it means to be English; with overtones of science fiction. Some really beautiful parts, some hysterically funny parts, and some overly schematic parts - not sure it all hung together, and does hit you over the head a bit with its themes.

Words/ideas I have learned from this book:
Hansard
eau-de-nil
Brancusi
Murano chandelier
MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club); Garrick Club
Sir Francis Drake was a pirate (privateer)
Mitteleuropäische
e...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Srfletcher rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humour, fiction, travel

England, England is the 3 act story of the life and times of a cynical woman named Martha. Roughly. It is also the story of the greatest business triumph of the capitalist king, Sir Jack; occasionally the story of a variety of side cast, and arguably the story of pop culture, using a whole country as a rather scary look into the idea of how we value a genuine piece versus a recreation. Most importantly, this is the story of England, as seen through the eyes of one woman, satirized to the extreme...more

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Dec 17, 2011 Mara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-class, fiction, postmodernism

And perhaps it was also the case that, for all a lifetime’s internal struggling, you were finally no more than what others saw you as. That was your nature, whether you liked it or not.

A very interesting premise: What would happen if someone created a replica of a country in the version of an Amusement park, sort of like Disneyland, only a lot more expensive and serious?

Barnes attempts to answer this question, and makes some interesting conclusions along the way. Memories are often lies. If we lose our national identity, our personal identities will suffer. When we have to, we scrounge up some random bits of history, glue them together and voila! Presto tradition-o. After a while no one really questions it, since they get the feeling of authenticity.

Authenticity!!! (Excuse my exclamation points, this is a big issue in the book.)

A large part of the story is, in my opinion, a backlash against replicating the authentic evidence (pieces?) of history, like Buckingham Palace, or Michelangelo's David, for mass consumption. Yes, it is inconvenient to travel the world and see all the monuments etc. that you wish to see, but it is my belief that most of these treasures lose some part of their meaning when viewed out of context (like in an amusement park or Louvre, I hate Louvre, and now I feel a rant coming on, so I better change directions).

The good: even though I was forced to read this book for a class, and I just wrote a paper on it, it was still interesting, and I would probably read it again (well, some parts of it). I feel like it made me smarter in a way (probably not, though).

The bad: the relationship stuff. I didn't care, and don't care. This is usually where serious Lit writers lose me. I'd rather read about the Island, or the gay historian, or the dirty old man Sir Jack, or the migration of birds, than I would read some crap about Martha's love life and Paul's sexual history. Blech.

I liked this one a lot better than Flaubert's Parrot, but four stars may be too much. Eh, I guess I'm feeling generous.

Some quotes:

And there was another reason for mistrust. If a memory wasn’t a thing but a memory of a memory of a memory, mirrors set in parallel, then what the brain told you now about what it claimed had happened then would be coloured by what had happened in between. It was like a country remembering its history: the past was never just the past, it was what made the present able to live with itself.

- - -

‘No, we are talking of something profoundly modern. It is well established – and indeed it has been incontrovertibly proven by many of those I have earlier cited – that nowadays we prefer the replica to the original. We prefer the reproduction of the work of art to the work of art itself, the perfect sound and solitude of the compact disc to the symphony concert in the company of a thousand victims of throat complaints, the book on tape to the book on the lap. If you are to visit the Bayeux Tapestry in my country, you will find that in order to reach the original work of the eleventh century, you must first pass by a full-length replica produced by modern techniques; here there is a documentary exposition which situates the work of art for the visitor, the pilgrim as it were. Now, I have it on authority that the number of visitor minutes spent in front of the replica exceeds by any manner of calculation the number of visitor minutes spent in front of the original.

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Dec 01, 2011 Anmiryam rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is very different Barnes from his Booker winning "The Sense of an Ending." "England, England" is an erudite and biting satire that challenges the reader ultimately, to question of identity and formation of self. Which is more "real", England as we know it or the faux tourist destination of "England, England" founded by Sir Jack Pitman and the corporate designers of Pitco? You have to think Barnes had a blast thinking up the details of his imagined tourist heaven/hell. I certainly laughed at...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Gwilym rated it 3 of 5 stars

Having read the reviews on here and other sources, along with this being compulsory reading for my studies perhaps did not bode well. I was pleasantly surprised with the opening then - constructing the questions of memory for Martha echoed a lot of my own feelings about agricultural shows and the sights, sounds and smells that accompany them. The character of Sir Jack, as we move to the project, was also at first entertaining and enjoyable to read. Barnes seems determined to uproot what good gro...more Having read the reviews on here and other sources, along with this being compulsory reading for my studies perhaps did not bode well. I was pleasantly surprised with the opening then - constructing the questions of memory for Martha echoed a lot of my own feelings about agricultural shows and the sights, sounds and smells that accompany them. The character of Sir Jack, as we move to the project, was also at first entertaining and enjoyable to read. Barnes seems determined to uproot what good ground is laid, however, and continues with often overly dense prose and becoming sidetracked with the awkward and vulgar sex life of Martha asides. Obviously there is a purpose to this in the development of character but it feels seedy and in the greater scheme of the plot, misplaced and of little value.

This is a problem that seems to plague the novel as a whole - the tedium and incoherence of interspersing the relationship story managed to leave me feeling somewhat fatigued and indirectly creates antipathy toward the England, England project. When Barnes finally moves back to the Project the opportunity for deeper satire is lost by a rush through to fill details and in the end falls a little flat. There are some interesting ideas in here but it is an inescapable irony that in working cliches of English culture into England, England makes the text itself feel like a cliche - a stand up comedian quoting the obvious aphorism with no extra insight to extend the joke. This confused identity of the book puts the pressure on the closing pages - the scenario of Albion is so poorly developed there is a rush to explain the situation in a dull, incredulous and irritatingly lazy aside. Obvious plot holes in the "rural backwater" theme abound leaving us feel short changed and annoyed that Barnes made us trudge through ill advised waffling to reach an extremely disappointing conclusion.

My tone is quite clearly critical - the concept that Barnes set out to discover is a wonderful one. That we are so eager for sanitised, bowdlerised and simplfied truths is a cutting satire on the shallow tastes of modern entertainment. The concept of memory is also entertaining and thought provoking. It is such a shame then that such promise is steadily eroded by the author's flawed techique. In trying to elaborate two related - but badly connected - plot lines, both suffer as a result. The personal development of Martha becomes an exercise in irritation rendering her one dimensional and without reader empathy, where the skill in developing Sir Jack is an achievement. The moral decline idea does not adapt to its sister plot of England, England and Albion - the space to explore bowdlerisation of history is chewed up by the competition of the concurrent storyline. The final marriage has the same fate and Albion is left at the end as a readable piece ringing hollow as a cop out.

I hear this is one of his worst books - there is obvious talent as a writer, clearly - the fixations on matters unnecessary and trying to kill three birds with one stone means that we never hit the target on any. My lowest score so far - great idea, poor execution.

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Jun 02, 2011 Daniel Solera rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I ran out of books to read at home, so I went to my college stack in hopes of finding something interesting. This book was given to me by a professor during office hours - I don't remember who it was, or why she decided that I would enjoy it, but I ended up not reading it and apparently not returning it. My bad.

The premise of this novel is strange. It centers around a powerful businessman's idea to create an "ideal" England on an island as a tourist attraction, showcasing all the hallmarks of "t...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Christina Bell rated it 2 of 5 stars

Okay, let me start by saying that Julian Barnes is obviously very intelligent. He is witty and intelligent and well-read. BUT this book is obnoxious. It's not the worst book I've ever read by any means....it is smart and funny in parts and he has a point but the language is pretentious and showy. You have to have an English degree to get through this book (which I am in the process of obtaining). Overall, it is inaccessible. So if his point is that we prefer simulacra over the original and socie...more

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Nov 04, 2010 Eva rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sir Jack Pitman is a man who wants to make a lot more money and to be recognized, nay elevated, by his peers. His plan for his last great endeavor: To create an England that is more England than England. An ultimate tourist destination where you can experience all the culture and history of England in a single location. A place where you can watch Robin Hood and the merrie men disporting themselves in Sherwood Forest after breakfast, watch the Battle of Britian, complete with real Spitfires, aft...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Frank rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-british

It's been a very long time since I read a full novel in one sitting, and this almost qualifies. I'd started it on the bus ride home Tuesday afternoon, but spent my Independence Day in glorious languor: reading, sunning, swimming, reading, napping, reading...and late into the night.

I very much enjoyed Julian Barnes' Booker-winning novel The Sense of an Ending last year so when I noticed this on the self I picked it up with no preconceptions as to plot or character, etc. What a delightful discover...more

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Mar 11, 2009 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Julian Barnes makes perhaps the ultimate leap in claiming culture for entertainment in this novel where a small island off the coast of the United Kingdom is purchased simply for the sake of turning it into an amusement park--a miniature version of England, nonetheless--named England, England. There, any tourist can experience all that typifies English culture without having to deal with any of its flaws or unknowns. The place will be real to those who visit, as real to them as if they visited a...more

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Jun 07, 2011 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british

This book is in three parts.

In Part I, England, a young girl absorbs the leaving of her father. She had a puzzle of the map of England. Her father would hide one piece: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Carmarthen, Pembrokeshire. And when her puzzle was done except for that one piece, HE would magically find it. Nottinghamshire was missing when HE went missing too. All of Julian Barnes' brilliance is here. And this brief opening will break your heart.

In Part II, England, England, Martha Cochrane, that...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Caroline Donaldson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this hilarious satire on Englishness and the manufactured leisure industry.

It is a satirical science fiction novel by Julian Barnes which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. The novel is set in the Britain of the not-too-distant future, and chronicles the creation of a giant England themed amusement park, called "England, England", on the Isle of Wight, which also operates as an independent state. However, because the actors sooner or later over-identify with their roles, some of the...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Jason Edwards rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

England, England is a book about an island created to capture the essence of England, ostensibly to attract tourists and make its founders a lot of money. This “fake” England, we are assured, is more “real” that the country it’s based on, as it distills Englishness down to its recognizable parts and puts them all in the same, convenient place. England, we are told, is its history, artifacts, and iconography. This is pop-culture for those who thought Any Warhol wasn’t being in the least ironic.

A...more England, England is a book about an island created to capture the essence of England, ostensibly to attract tourists and make its founders a lot of money. This “fake” England, we are assured, is more “real” that the country it’s based on, as it distills Englishness down to its recognizable parts and puts them all in the same, convenient place. England, we are told, is its history, artifacts, and iconography. This is pop-culture for those who thought Any Warhol wasn’t being in the least ironic.

A book like this, then, is itself about England, via its characters: a self made man and an almost-but-not-quite-bitterly cynical woman. The former is the visionary who builds England, England, the latter his assistant who keeps his vision grounded in reality. Sir Jack Pitman, not content with having it all, decides he wants to be in charge of it all as well, and thanks to Miss Cochrane, he only earns that right after having been defeated by his own hubris.

So then there’s the fake England, and the stereotypical English, and that’s all well and good. But a thing becomes calcified as soon as it gets a label, and that’s what happened to England itself, thanks to the non-English. Anyone and everyone who’s ever had this Englishness foisted on them has an idea of what England is, and they’re all most certainly wrong. England isn’t English anymore than China is merely Chinese. According to Barnes, Derrida was wrong.

And while, I, personally, got bored reading this after a while, thanks to long passages of introspection about love and the meaning of life, I did like how the book’s coda sums up what it means for a place to have a fabric and texture—once the real England has its history, artifacts, and iconography drained from it, it ceases to be part of the world-context that defines it, and ironically, once again becomes utterly English.

My apologies for prattling on like a sophomore struggling to write a book report. I desperately want to enjoy Julian Barnes’ books. I thought A Sense of an Ending<.i> was excellent, and I found Flaubert’s Parrot quite challenging—so my head is looking for ways to justify my having read England, England. It got me thinking, I suppose, so kudos for that. I just wish it was shorter—blame my American shallow attention span.
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May 30, 2010 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Going by the jacket copy, you'd think this was about nothing more than a megalomaniac's re-creation of England on the Isle of Wight. Hey, that could be plenty! But Julian Barnes delivers something much more complex and nuanced. The reinvention of the IoW as a leisure-time delivery system for quintessential England becomes the center of a thoughtful, viciously funny exploration of authenticity and reality.

(Caveat: It's viciously funny if you're an Anglophile. I'm not sure any reader who doesn't...more

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May 26, 2013 Carme Grimalt Álvaro rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An ingenious and tender satire of a country and human wishes

Born in somewhere of the English countryside, Martha’s childhood became grievous due to the abandonment of her father. Because of this fact, her future seek for happiness and love would be conditioned and lived with some pain. When Martha Crochane enrols the project of Sir Jack Pitman, she is not totally aware about what her decision implies, but knows that she needs an intense shift in her life.

No sooner is Martha used to work with the...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Teresa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first work by Barnes I've given less than 4 stars, though I thought the first section detailing Martha's childhood and formation of character was great. Then the book went downhill for me, as another character, Sir Jack, took center stage in the second, and longest, section.

I have no problem at all with unlikable characters (I don't need to like a character to enjoy a work), but so many times when readers say they dislike books because there are no "likable" characters, I wonder if...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Louize rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Same thoughts from The Page Walker

LIFE IS A THEME PARK

thoughts on England England by Julian Barnes

I seemed to be jumping from one satirical novel to another this month. Maybe because there is something in English humour that freshen up my taste buds or washes away my reading hangover. Not that all English novels are satirical, but almost all the good ones are in my opinion.

“Pounds being the real thing, and dollars the replica, but after a while the real thing becomes the replica?”

The book is div...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Anne-Marie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: europe, satire, literature, society, kindle, 2013, source-public-library

Not quite sure what to make of this. It was wickedly barbed in places; horrifyingly funny in places (reminded me of Carl Hiaasen) ; wincingly satiric in others. It's one of those books I suspect I am not sophisticated enough to embrace. I loved the whole premise of an "alternate England" theme park which becomes more popular than the real-life one. And lord, Barnes has a marvelous talent for words! But I found the last third of the novel weirdly dull compared to the first two sections. It's basi...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Andreea rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Now that I've read Flaubert's Parrot and A History of the World in 10 1 2 Chapters - both incredibly clever and wonderful books, I like this novel even less than I did when I read it as my first Julian Barnes a few years ago. Everything I remember about it is cringe-worthy, though I must admit I don't really remember that much - a lot of gratuitous badly written sex and something about Englishness, American tourists and culture as entertainment. It's just bizarre and somehow spiteful coming from...more

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Sep 02, 2010 Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: school-related-readings

This book is part of the curricula for a post-colonial literature class I'm currently enrolled in. While on the surface it appears to deal with strictly England (and England,England) it delves deep into themes of national identity, personal happiness, and what it means to be a nation in search of its history. I can't say the book is for everyone, as there is a pretty disturbing scene of a sexual encounter of one of the main characters (nothing non-consensual, just... gross. The scene is only 6 p...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Jeanette rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-brits

I wanted so much to love this book. The idea is brilliant: a mad businessman creates a compacted, replica England on the Isle of Wight. Unfortunately, I didn't find England, England enjoyable to read. I wasn't attached to any of the characters and found my mind wandering more often than not. Some of the themes explored are really interesting - such as reality vs. replica, truth vs. fiction. I just think they could have been verbalized in a better, more articulate and less pretentious way. As I n...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Marcelo rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the most fun books Barnes has even penned: there's a sense of play and enjoyment on the premise and the characters that makes this a joy to read. He takes the premise of a Disney theme park version of England to showcase the ever-rising current of valuing entertainment and convenience over the real thing, and lets it breathe and carry on to its natural conclusion instead of overtaxing it. Throughout it's vintage Barnes handiwork: the tonal changes, the language mastery, the eye for detail...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Dave rated it 2 of 5 stars

An interesting idea, but I'm not a huge fan of Barnes method of writing. I just felt like the Disneyification of England had a lot more potential than was exploited in this book. I think my largest issue was with the expectation that we were supposed to care about the main character while simultaneously accepting that she is a fairly worthless character, who is entirely consumed with self loathing. If there were more evidence of her not being an utter prat, it could have probably been pulled off...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Georgesear rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved The Sense of an Ending and yet I love this book more. Jack Pitman, a man who employs an "Idea Catcher" so that nothing he utters will not go down in history, decides on one last great idea to leave to the world. On a certain diamond-shaped, to remain unnamed, island off the Hampshire coast of England, Sir Jack recreates all of Olde England's greatest sights: Stonehenge, the Tower of London, the Sherwood Forest, Big Ben, even Wordsworth's daffodils. An absurd premise, but what follows is...more

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May 11, 2013 Shennety rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-writer

Когда название книги настраивает тебя на прочтение чего-то такого, как минимум исторический трактат со всеми датами и подробными описаниями военных баталий, а вместо этого находишь ответы на извечные вопросы бытия, а порой просто подтверждаешь слова что целую вечность крутились у тебя в языке, да ты никак не мог подобрать нужных слов и нанизать бисер мыслей на единую логическую нить, то это по меньшей мере вызывает желание дочитать книгу до конца. Сюжет, правда, довольно странный, какой-то остро...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Stela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: postmodernism, reviews

Imaginati-va ca istoria isi pierde dimensiunea temporala si ramine exclusiv spatiala, in sensul ca epoci, evenimente, personaje pot fi vazute simultan intr-un spatiu relativ restrins, mica insula Wight, care reuneste chintesenta Angliei... turistice. Robin Hood, parlamentul, regele, pirati, tarani etc. apar in fata turistului, nu ca intr-o parada de costume ci ca si cind ar trai firesc acolo. aceasta e lumea construita de Sir Jack Pitman, a carui ambitie este sa creeze o Anglie mai interesanta d...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: england, read-in-2012

"Picture an England where all the pubs are quaint, the Royals behave themselves (more or less), and the cliffs of Dover are actually white. Now imagine that the principal national treasures -- from Stonehenge to Buckingham Palace -- are grouped together on the Isle of Wight.

"This is precisely the vision that Sir Jack Pitman seeks to realize: a 'destination' where tourists can find replicas of Big Ben, Wembley Stadium, the National Gallery, Princess Di's grave, and even Harrods (conveniently loca...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Aerin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia

The hardest books for me to review are the ones that I objectively think are quite good, but that, for whatever reason, I didn't actually like very much. This is one of those.

On the one hand, I want to tell people: don't bother with this one, it left me feeling very meh. On the other, I think back on it and it was all very well put-together, filled with fleshed-out characters and unique ideas, and with some parts that bordered on magnificent. Maybe if I'd been in a different mood, maybe if I'd p...more

15 likes · like · see review

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About Julian Barnes

Julian Patrick Barnes is a contemporary English writer of postmodernism in literature. He has been shortlisted three times for the Man Booker Prize--- Flaubert's Parrot (1984), England, England (1998), and Arthur & George (2005), and won the prize for The Sense of an Ending (2011). He has written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh.

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“Memories of childhood were the dreams that stayed with you after you woke.” — 17 people liked it

“And perhaps it was also the case that, for all a lifetime's internal struggling, you were finally no more than what others saw you as. That was your nature, whether you liked it or not.” — 7 people liked it

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