Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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88 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice weather if you're a duck., 11 May 2004
When I heard there was a book coming out about English "quirks" I knew I had to get it. I love people-watching and love the idea that certain traits are inherent to the English tribe. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I wasn't disappointed. This is a hefty book, and I'm not a "read-the-book-in-a-night" person, preferring to dip in and out whenever I get a chance, but I have found myself preferring to pick up the book rather than watch the TV. I've even missed breakfast a few mornings this week, preferring to sit with a cuppa and read so it must be good! Have you ever wondered:
* Why we talk about the weather so much?
* Why we can't accept compliments without embarrassment?
* Why WE apologise when someone bumps into us?
* How we use humour/irony as a defence mechanism And did you know, men gossip as much as women? The proof is in here! The one that has made me laugh the loudest so far was the section on gossiping / bitching. This is low-brow anthropology but don't get me wrong, it's not for stupid people! There's a lot of academic terminology, which can at times be confusing, but Kate follows this up with clear examples and definitions to clarify her points. The characteristics covered thus far, I have to admit, ring too true. Getting off the phone to realise I have just fulfilled so many "English" stereotypes is shocking but amusing. Kate’s style of writing is conversational, but not patronising. It’s intricate but not complicated. Her accurate observations are alarming, entertaining, and really quite fascinating. I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in culture; tribalism; communications; sociology; or simply the English and our eccentricities.
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68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An amusing and acute book about the English, 10 Nov 2006
I started this book 3 days after returning from my first trip to America. Whilst in America I became aware of the huge cultural difference between the friendly people of the USA and traditional Brits amongst whom I've lived almost my whole life - I found much of American behaviour inexplicable and rather rude and personal towards someone they didn't know. I breathed a sigh of relief when returning to England, back amongst normal people who aren't continually nosy and telling you what they think about politics, religion and anything else the whole time.
I wish I'd read this book before I went. Not that I wouldn't have found a lot of American behaviour strange after reading it (I would still have done) but I would have been more aware of my cultural disabilities and how weird I must seem to them.
That's the power of this book - you can dip into almost any page, read a paragraph and say "that's me!" Kate Fox has studied the English for 10 years with remarkable acuity and she is able to identify behaviours that, to us, are entirely normal but are actually just part of our collective odd English behaviour patterns. When a man I had just been introduced to in America said "So, tell me all about yourself" I was left gaping at him in horror; `Watching The English' describes how people in the UK never share personal information unless they know someone particularly well - and in fact most people don't even introduce themselves to start with - my horror was expected and justified as I had never before been called upon to `blow my own trumpet' and it is completely counter to British reserve and our self-effacing nature. Her comments on ignoring other passengers on train journeys, on our national obsession with pets, on queuing, mobile phone use, class distinctions, dislike of fuss and bother and so many other areas rang completely true.
What I particularly liked about the book (and that I am English would of course confirm this) was that she wrote with a lot of humour and throw-away one-liners, she wasn't hugely pro-English or anti-English, she wasn't anti-American (despite them being so ODD!) and was able to illustrate her comments through the vast amount of research that she has done, including interviewing English people and foreigners and carrying out experiments herself (such as bumping into people in the street and seeing if they say `sorry' - the English generally do).
It's a surprisingly long book and not something you'd sit and read in one go. In fact I think it works best as something you dip into and that's how I've read it over a few days - opening it at random, reading a few pages, then flicking on. It's all subdivided into different headings and subheadings and doesn't really need to be read linearly to be understood. I found myself reading out vast tranches of it to anyone in earshot as it was so amusing and accurate. I read the introduction last of all, having read many comments by Amazon reviews that it was rather hard going - I found the introduction fine, but perhaps that was because by then I had enjoyed the book and found that I very much appreciated the author, her self-deprecating humour and her willingness to share her foibles and those of her family.
This book would make an ideal present for any English people out there who want to laugh at themselves (that's all of us), for anyone about to travel to a different culture (to avoid misunderstandings through others' behaviour) and particularly for those living in other countries who want to visit us without putting their foot in it at every conceivable opportunity.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very amusing, 26 Jul 2004
There's something in me which means that I'm marginally embarrassed to have bought this book. I removed the book's outer jacket so that people on the train wouldn't see what I was reading. Maybe I have the 'dis-ease' which the author refers to in the book -- so innately private, I didn't like the thought of other people seeing what I was reading.
The book is humorous because it looks at the many obvious characteristics of the English. Things like not speaking to people on the train because you're worried that striking up a conversation will lead to awkwardness later is quite natural, but it seems that this isn't something that afflicts other nations.
She refers to Jeremy Paxman's book 'The English' heavily throughout, which is sensible, as it is a much more comprehensive book.
This book is simple social commentary, which is easy and enjoyable to read.
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