Stiff upper lip (The English - Jeremy Paxman)

Member Name: Belgian999

Product:	The English - Jeremy Paxman
Date:	30/01/04 (1575 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting and well-written, a different look at all things English

Disadvantages: The maps aren't pink any more ;-)

How would you define being English? What is the essence of ?Englishness?? Seems an easy question to tackle, but the more you think about it, the clearer it becomes that England is no longer a nation of tea drinking, cucumber sandwich-eating shopkeepers and cricket enthusiasts, if it ever was! In this book, Jeremy Paxman digs deep beneath the surface of the English consciousness to try and discover just what it means to be English.

It?s very easy to regard a nation based on the popular stereotype, and I experience that whenever it rains here as colleagues at work take great pleasure in referring to rain as ?English weather?. And of course, the first resort of the frustrated expat when confronted with yet another example of German bureaucracy is to think of the antagonist across the desk clad in lederhosen and tucking into a bratwurst. Well, they all do, don?t they? Perhaps living abroad makes you think about the nature of belonging to a particular race or nation a bit more closely, I suppose it?s a natural reaction.

What was particularly interesting for me was the idea that Englishness as such can really be regarded as some sort of artificial historical construct, given credence over the years of global domination and colonialism that made up the golden age of empire for Great Britain. But if you go further back into the past, it?s clear that the British Isles were often subject to invasion from other peoples ? from Scandinavia, western and southern Europe, and then most famously of all, from Normandy. That particular conquest signalled a change throughout the country now known as England ? the official court language was French!

So even centuries ago, there was no pure breed, no race that could be categorised as 100% English ? and if anything, that is even more true today. It would probably make your average National Front member seethe with indignation, but Great Britain is one of the most racially diverse countries you can find, and has
been for many years. Of course there are still conflicts and problems, but by and large the intermingling of various cultures into the English way of life has progressed fairly harmoniously in comparison to, say, the United States or South Africa. The record has not been perfect, far from it, but there are still positives to be taken from the way that the perception of what is English has developed. After all, who would have thought 30 years ago that curry would challenge roast beef or fish and chips as England?s national dish?

I regard myself as English through and through, but take a look at my family tree and the picture becomes slightly more confused ? alongside the lines that can be traced back to Somerset and Manchester, I have German Jewish ancestry, and a large chunk of my family (on my father?s side) still lives in Belgium. England is my home - it?s where I was born and raised, and even though I studied in Scotland and then moved to Germany, it will remain my home.

Paxman examines all aspects of life in England, taking a searching yet humorous look at how people have regarded the English over the years, and it is a largely affectionate analysis of a nation. How has the role of church and state developed over the years? Why do the English spend so much time talking about the weather, and why did we put up with bad food in restaurants for so many years? How have the English people adapted to the decline of the nation on the world stage? How likely are we to accept further integration into Europe? And what does devolution of power within Great Britain to national and local assemblies mean for the future of England?

Despite the apparently weighty topics on offer, this book never adopts a condescending tone (as you might expect if you?ve seen Paxman tear into various interview victims on Newsnight), and he moves effortlessly onto subjects such as the English attitudes to sex, hooliganism (England?s modern-day gift to the world), the m
edia, and all those who aren?t English, a.k.a. Johnny Foreigner! All in all, this is a very well-written book that conveys not just the author?s opinions, but also gives you a glimpse into the observations of such luminaries as John Cleese, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Sir Roy Strong, so if you?re interested in different take on English history and want to find out what makes England and her people tick, this is the book for you... and I wonder how much the English will have changed by the time I read it again?

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