England, Their England

This book was a huge success in the 1930's but in recent years has rather fallen into neglect - a great pity, as it deserves to stand with "Three Men in a Boat" as a humorous classic. In fact it has more than just humour in common with Jerome K. Jerome's book, as it is essentially a series of set-pieces including a village cricket match (widely regarded as the book's high point), a game of golf, a country house weekend and a fox hunt. The tone doesn't vary as much as in Jerome's book (although there are occasional purple patches, they don't descend into sentimentality as much). The central character, Donald Cameron, is a Scot, and the essential point of the whole novel is that he is trying to write a book about the English, which leads show more him to participate in the various activities, but somehow he never seems to be able to form a coherent picture. The ending is a bit arbitrary, and structurally the book is weak (though no more so than, say, "The Pickwick Papers"), but if you can find a copy it is well worth your while. show less

I picked this up because it was carried by a character in Uprooted by Lynne Reid Banks. It is quite funny in parts. Some of it is more difficult for an American to understand (like the chapter on cricket). But the general idea comes across. There is not much of a plot. It is a fond look at the foibles of the English written by a Scot. A fun read.

I refuse to tag this as a novel. Evelyn Waugh made excellent novels out of this material. but Macdonnell isn't really trying. Very funny however.

I had never heard of this book before I started reading from the Guardian's list of 1000 novels. It was so funny! I started chuckling on the very first page.

I had never heard of this book before I started reading from the Guardian's list of 1000 novels. It was so funny! I started chuckling on the very first page.

this is looking to be a good hoot, a novel of high satire from times gone by but still relevant is this bland day and age.

the cricket match isn't the funniest bit- go more for biting satire on the UN etc.