England, England (Vintage International): Amazon.de: Julian Barnes: Englische Bücher

Amazon.co.uk

Julian Barnes's England, England is a sharp-edged satire of Englishness at the end of the 20th century. The real England is failing--her empire lost, her aspirations to greatness subsiding, her history fading. Megalomaniacal entrepreneur Sir Jack Pitman hits upon the idea of creating an altogether superior, theme-park version of the original on the Isle of Wight (renamed simply the Island). His creative team includes Martha Cochraine, whose own childhood disappointments and unfulfilled dreams Barnes unfolds to the reader in the opening chapters. For a brief moment it looks as if able Martha will outsmart the ruthless Sir Jack, assisted by her grateful, bespectacled lover Paul Harrison (the operation's "ideas catcher"). But this is fantasy, so humble Paul betrays Martha (it would never do for the feisty woman to win after all). She retreats to the real England of faded glory, nostalgic folklore and regret.

In one section of this short novel the theme-park Dr Johnson talks entirely in direct quotations from his distinguished 18th-century counterpart, before being judged insufficiently convincing. The real, we understand, is less compelling than the fake. There are so many cultural allusions per page that the head of even the most enthusiastic English culture snob will spin. --Lisa Jardine -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verf�gbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Amazon.com

Imagine being able to visit England--all of England--in a single weekend. Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall, Harrods, Manchester United Football Club, the Tower of London, and even the Royal Family all within easy distance of the each other, accessible, and, best of all, each one living up to an idealized version of itself. This fantasy Britain is the very real (and some would say very cynical) vision of Sir Jack Pitman, a monumentally egomaniacal mogul with a more than passing resemblance to modern-day buccaneers Sir Rupert Murdoch or Robert Maxwell: "'We are not talking theme park,' he began. 'We are not talking heritage centre. We are not talking Disneyland, World's Fair, Festival of Britain, Legoland or Parc Asterix.'" No indeed; Sir Jack proposes nothing less than to offer "the thing itself," a re-creation of everything that adds up to England in the hearts and minds of tourists looking for an "authentic" experience. But where to locate such an enterprise? As Sir Jack points out,

England, as the mighty William and many others have observed, is an island. Therefore, if we are serious, if we are seeking to offer the thing itself, we in turn must go in search of a precious whatsit set in a silver doodah.

Soon the perfect whatsit is found: the Isle of Wight; and a small army of Sir Jack's forces are sent to lay siege to it. Swept up in the mayhem are Martha Cochrane, a thirtysomething consultant teetering on the verge of embittered middle age, and Paul Harrison, a younger man looking for an anchor in the world. The two first find each other, then trip over a skeleton in Sir Jack's closet that might prove useful to their careers but disastrous to their relationship. In the course of constructing this mad package-tour dystopia, Julian Barnes has a terrific time skewering postmodernism, the British, the press, the government, celebrity, and big business. At the same time his very funny novel offers a provocative meditation on the nature of identity, both individual and national, as the lines between the replica and the thing itself begin to blur. Readers of Barnes have learned to expect the unexpected, and once again he more than lives up to the promise in England, England. But then, that was only to be expected. --Alix Wilber -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .

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Disappointing! 5. November 2010

Von Selina Kohlhase

Format:Taschenbuch

I am not somebody who dislikes reading books in school, but ...

I was told by my teacher to read the novel 'England, England' written by Julian Barnes in class. He didn't told us what it's about and so I started reading. The only information he gave us was that it's the greatest work of the author and that he was shortlisted for the Booker Prize some years ago. The short description in the back of the book sounds interesting and the comments promise fun while reading.
So I did. The first chapter was about a little girl called Martha Cochrane. The second chapter was about the woman Martha Cochrane and how she works with the Pitman Company. The most interesting parts of the whole book are already described on his back and 'fun while reading it' is clearly something else. The vocabulary is not hard to understand but I felt like the words are just senseless. Every page annoyed me even more and I was totally disappointed of the whole project (the project described in the novel and the project in class to read the novel..) So it's hard to read and work with the book.
The idea behind the story, building a new England on an Isle with all its stereotypes is a really wonderful idea and offers potential for a great story. But the 266 pages are, at least in my eyes, a waste of time, money and trees.
All in all I would not read the book again and if anyone would ask me I would totally try to avoid him make a mistake.

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Langweilig... 7. Januar 2009

Von Austenfan

Nachdem mir dieses Buch wärmsten empfohlen worden war - es sei soooo witzig - habe ich mich sehr enttäuscht hindurch gequält.
Die Grundidee des Buches ist in der Tat lustig und auch sehr interessant; die Umsetzung und die Geschichte selbst sind jedoch nicht sonderlich spektakulär. Dabei würde ich nicht einmal sagen, dass ich sprachliche Probleme hatte und deshalb nicht lachen konnte... So überspitzte Satire liegt mir einfach nicht... und Spannung wurde keine aufgebaut... zumal, wie von einigen Vorrednern bereits angedeutet, die Geschichte der Charaktere mit Fortschreiten des Buches auf der Strecke bleibt.

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awful 30. August 1999

Von Ein Kunde

Format:Gebundene Ausgabe

This is one of the worst books I¡ve ever read. I could hardly wait to finish it. I thought the beginning especially had the hallmarks of ineptitude. I certainly wouldn¡t look forward to reading any of the author¡s other works. I have no regrets about giving this 1 star.