Middle England

Set in the Midlands and London over the last eight years, Jonathan Coe follows a brilliantly vivid cast of characters through a time of immense change and disruption in Britain There are the early married years of Sophie and Ian who disagree about the future of Britain and, possibly, the future of their relationship Sophie s grandfather whose final act is to send a postal vote for the European referendum Doug, the political commentator, whose young daughter despairs of his lack of political nous and Doug s Remaining Tory politician partner who is savaged by the crazed trolls of Twitter And within all these lives is the story of England itself a story of nostalgia and irony of friendship and rage, humour and intense bewilderment.As acutely alert to the absurdity of the political classes as he is compassionate about those who have been left behind, this is a novel Jonathan Coe was born to write. Read Middle England – kino-fada.fr Jonathan Coe continues on themes that have been his natural areas of interest, this time he acutely observes the painfully divisive and depressing state of the nation since 2010 and Brexit through previous characters he once again resurrects along with the creation of new ones Cameron as Prime Minister breaks Britain apart with his partner in crime, Osborne, inflicting an austerity on the poor and middle class whilst those who created the economic crisis, the bankers, walk away with impunity Jonathan Coe continues on themes that have been his natural areas of interest, this time he acutely observes the painfully divisive and depressing state of the nation since 2010 and Brexit through previous characters he once again resurrects along with the creation of new ones Cameron as Prime Minister breaks Britain apart with his partner in crime, Osborne, inflicting an austerity on the poor and middle class whilst those who created the economic crisis, the bankers, walk ...Middle England revisits characters from Coe s earlier novels The Rotters Club and The Closed Circle I suppose the three books could be said to form a loose trilogy and follows them from 2010 to the present day Their experiences are juxtaposed with a wealth of political developments and newsworthy events the Conservative Lib Dem coalition, Amy Winehouse s death, the London riots, the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, the run up to the EU referendum, Victoria Wood s...For me, Jonathan Coe s novels feel like a form of literary comfort food or guilty pleasure You know they will be funny at times, sentimental at others and topical This state of the nation return to the characters created in The Rotters Club still my favourite of his books is almost as good, and from my perspective seems both perceptive and at times poignant.On the downside, some of the characters, particularly the minor ones, seem to be constructed purely to make a political point, and For me, Jonathan Coe s novels feel like a form of literary comfort food or guilty pleasure You know they will be funny at times, sentim...Set between the general election of 2010 that ushered in the coalition government and September 2018, this is a state of the nation novel that tells the story of our times Anyone who voted Leave may want to approach this with caution and have the blood pressure tablets handy the rest of us can relive the tumultuous events of the last 8 years from the riots to Jo Cox, from the Olympics to the emergence of Jeremy Corbyn, and all the hideous hatred and vitriolic rhetoric that Brexit has Set between the general election of 2010 that ushered in the coalition government and September 2018, this is a state of the nation novel that tells the story of our times Anyone who voted Leave may want to approach this with caution and have the blood pressure tablets handy the rest of us can relive the tumultuous events of the last 8 years from the riots to Jo Cox, from the Olympics to the emergence of Jeremy Corbyn, and all the hideous hatred and vitriolic rhetoric that Brexit has legitimised Coe isn t really saying anything new here as his characters line up on both sides of the debate those who think there s nothing wrong in poking fun at lezzers vegetarian, at that , or quoting Enoch Powell s rivers of blood speech with a patronising told you so air or those with ainclusive, compassionate, complex and layered sense of what it means to be English...There are only a few books which I ve readthan once Pride and Prejudice is one of them Brave New World another And in this rare group you ll also find Jonathan Coe s What a Carve Up Sadly, his latest book, Middle England, will not be joining my fiction hall of fame It seems Coe was asked to write a book about Brexit and that s what he did He resurrected his characters from The Rotters Club another great novel and put them into Britain s turbulent 21st C political landscape And There are only a few books which I ve readthan once Pride and Prejudice is one of them Brave New World another And in this rare group you ll also find Jonathan Coe s What a Carve Up Sadly, his latest book, Middle England, will not be joining my fiction hall of fame It seems Coe was...Jonathan Coe has been one of our foremost British exponents of the state of the nation genre, with a series of novels following a group of friends throughout their formative years, starting from their schooldays in 2001 with The Rotters Club His current novel covers eight years from 2010 and includes many memorable news references Gordon Brown s faux pas ab...Penguin Books UK Description Set in the Midlands and London over the last eight years, Jonathan Coe follows a brilliantly vivid cast of characters through a time of immense change and disruption in Britain There are the early married years of Sophie and Ian who disagree about the future of Britain and, possibly, the future of their relationship Sophie s grandfather whose final act is to send a postal vote for the European referendum Doug, the political commentator, whose young daughter Penguin Books UK Description Set in the Midlands and London over the last eight years, Jonathan Coe follows a brilliantly vivid cast of characters through a time of immense change and disruption in Britain There are the early married years of Sophie and Ian who disagree about the futur...Just before I opened this book, which my wife recently read and passed to me, I discovered that it is the third in a series of books by this author I briefly wondered whether I should read the other parts first, but decided to press on I don t think it matters There are very few things in this novel that make you think you have missed something I assume that characters are consistent across the three books, but the indications are that that is all that links them I guess this being just a Just before I opened this book, which my wife recently read and passed to me, I discovered that it is the third in a series of books by this author I briefly wondered whether I should read the other parts first, but decided to press on I don t think it matters There are very few things ...I gather that this is the third part of a series of books written by Jonathan Coe, over several years The same characters populate the stories Does this matter I don t think so If you had not told me that there were prequels, I would not have guessed it.I read Middle England during the week in which the UK parliamentary vote for the Brexit agreement scheduled to come into force on 29 March 2019 it was postponed at the eleventh hour.The Brexit ruminations in Middle England were I gather that this is the third part of a series of books written by Jonathan Coe, over several years The same characters populate the stories Does this matter I don t think so If you had not told me that there were prequels, I would not have guessed it.I read Middle England during the week in which the UK parliamentary vote for the Brexit agreement scheduled to come into force on 29 March 2019 it was postponed at the eleventh hour.The Brexit ruminations in Middle England were thought provoking, and some were quite insightful That accounts for my three stars The characterisations of the individuals and their relationships towards one another were terrible By and large each life, each family, had conve...Since I ve spent the last four years as a welcomed guest in the Netherlands, this distillation of the major events of the decade in the UK just England really as the title suggests came along at just the right time for me and I would guess many others of us living across the channel, looking on aghast at the chaos at home and considering our future Interesting that the upbeat ending should lean so heavily towards Europe I have enjoyed Jona...

• English
• 23 November 2018
Jonathan Coe
• Hardcover
• 424 pages
• 0241309468
• Jonathan Coe
• Middle England