Rating: 
Summary: A novel idea, but not a great novel.
Review: A character in a Graham Swift novel complains that England is degenerating into a "high-class" Disneyland. In "England, England," Julian Barnes takes that none-too-original idea as the germ for his satire on modern-day Blighty. The problem is that a novel idea does not always add up to a great novel. I was actually reminded more of H. G. Wells' "Tono-Bungay" than of anything by Swift when I read this novel, and the potential is there for a pointed satire on "Cool" Britannia. However, the satire in "England, England" never really develops. I had the feeling, when I got to the end, that the middle third of the novel was missing. I am a great fan of Julian Barnes and have never before felt that any of his novels were underwritten. This time, however, I was left wanting more. Sir Jack Pitman, the book's most interesting character, is caught in flagrante about halfway into the book and practically disappears from its pages, leaving Barnes to focus on the near-colorless Martha Cochrane, who, as the little girl that grew beans competitively and worked jigsaw-puzzle maps of Britain, is meant to represent the salt of her native earth. Unfortunately for Barnes' readers, she lacks piquancy altogether. There are lots of laughs along the way, including a set piece involving a latter-day Dr. Johnson, who takes his role as the Great Cham in Sir Jack's theme park to heart and develops a commercially unhealthy fatalism, but the whole of "England, England" is much less than the sum of its parts.
Rating: 
Summary: Orlando, A Sovereign Nation¿
Review: A stretch perhaps, but as it approaches Rhode Island in size, Statehood may be the viable alternative. Imagine for a moment that all the international pavilions at EPCOT decided they were on soil as sovereign as an embassy. That the area in question is landlocked presents difficulties, but certainly nothing an ambitious developer could not resolve. The Panama Canal is ancient from a technological standpoint, so just add the personality of Mr. "Art of the Deal", the drive of Attila, and presto, Orlando the Island. Or perhaps the peninsula, just hack off the bottom of Florida, they cause so much trouble when voting anyway.In The Booker Prize finalist, "England England", the megalomaniac that is the developer is Sir Jack, a sort of Demented Disney. This Nation Builder thinks at a speed so swift an idea catcher is present to record and date stamp every inspiration. Sir Jack feels that England is old, dusty, and requires far too much time to view. So The Isle Of Wight is designated to be remade into a one-stop Nation tour, complete with people playing the appropriate historical roles. Nothing is to stand in the way. An assistant raises the issue of the Puffin population, and Sir Jack leads a chorus of, " the Puffins". A sort of total immersion for the actors is required for authenticity, that brings with it the ingredients for a human version of Jurassic park. Humans are never feasted upon, but when Robin and his merry men/women/politically correct cast get cranky with their designated food, well the original England had food on the hoof, so they become self-sustaining. The SAS are brought over from the Iranian Embassy they raid on a regularly scheduled basis, and once the Centuries and their actors are made into an amalgam performance, all gets rather complicated. Nothing is left off the list of Julian Barnes for skewering. The European Union, Monarchies past and present, The Hague, International Banks, the list is limited only by the book's length. The closer Jolly Old' England is to your heart, the farther away from the book you should stay. Now the folks that hand out The Booker Prize decided this was the volume that deserved the recognition of finalist, and although I have only read 6 or 7 of this man's books, I must dissent as follows, Martha Cochrane, why is this woman in the book, how does she vault from adolescent Pee grower to CEO of this menagerie. And why must the Achilles heal of Sir Jack be as deviant and repellent as it is, without one whit of originality or wit? Mr. Julian Barnes still is a brilliant writer, he wields an insightful, and at times razor sharp pen. The result is that even when a book is less than this reader has come to expect, the man still writes so well, nit picking is about all there is to do. Sir Jack could have been brought down several notches without the tastelessness that was his weakness, so if this is your first foray into the worlds that Mr. Julian Barnes examines, dissects, and either rebuilds or lays waste to, do not be put off. The man is a great writer, an original thinker, and a gift to readers.
Rating:
Summary: clever, clever
Review: a welcome return to form for barnes after the somewhat throwaway "porcupine" and the disappointing, not-fun-to-read "cross channel." this one has been well-received in the UK and for good reason. second in ambition only to "parrot" and "10 1/2 chapters." in part, contemporary sociopolitical satire aimed at england; in part, an ambitious attempt to trace the arc of a woman's life from cradle to grave, with all the shifts in narrative voice that evolution entails. if you have even a passing interest in or familiarity with england, the satire component that constitutes the bulk of the book is laugh-out-loud funny -- consistently better than the good bits in "porcupine." the biographical storyline is not as uniformly successful/convincing but has more emotional weight and does have its great moments of emotional truth (shades of "metroland" and the sad meaning of <<je t'aimes bien>>), particularly in its exploration of the possibility, and then the reality, of a life without lasting love or attachment. no hollywood ending here. but far too good to pass up.
Rating:
Summary: The role of memory
Review: As a confirmed Anglophile and fan of anything relating to England, the concept of this book caught my attention. An entrepenuer wants to locate all of England's tourist attractions onto the Isle of Wight in an attempt to create an idealized England. Why should tourists have to travel all around the nation when they can visit every attraction and quintessential moment of history in one location? (Even if those attractions aren't necessarily the originals.) Barnes' narrative begins with the memories of its main character Martha as she tries to figure out the truth and the lies of one's memory. This introductory chapter is a well-written examination into how we construct the memories of our youth. The novel then tries to examine how we construct the memories of our history and national identity. Martha works for Sir Jack Pitman and helps him develop his idea of the perfect England. They renovate the Isle of Wight to include attractions such as Big Ben, the Tower of London and a scaled down Buckingham Palace, complete with King and Queen. There are, of course, cream teas and various pubs, along with a crew of actors who re-enact the Battle of Britain, Robin Hood and his Merrie Men and other famous acts of history that are essential to one's notion of what makes England, England. Yet things are not perfect on this idealized island that becomes known as England, England. While tourism booms on the island, Old England falls apart with its main industry gone. Barnes examines what happens to memory when it is molded to fit expectations instead of historical accurracy. While at times uneven, and with a few storylines that seem unnecessary, "England, England" succeeds in its examination of the role memory plays in each of our lives, and in the shaping of our past and present.
Rating:
Summary: The role of memory
Review: As a confirmed Anglophile and fan of anything relating to England, the concept of this book caught my attention. An entrepenuer wants to locate all of England's tourist attractions onto the Isle of Wight in an attempt to create an idealized England. Why should tourists have to travel all around the nation when they can visit every attraction and quintessential moment of history in one location? (Even if those attractions aren't necessarily the originals.) Barnes' narrative begins with the memories of its main character Martha as she tries to figure out the truth and the lies of one's memory. This introductory chapter is a well-written examination into how we construct the memories of our youth. The novel then tries to examine how we construct the memories of our history and national identity. Martha works for Sir Jack Pitman and helps him develop his idea of the perfect England. They renovate the Isle of Wight to include attractions such as Big Ben, the Tower of London and a scaled down Buckingham Palace, complete with King and Queen. There are, of course, cream teas and various pubs, along with a crew of actors who re-enact the Battle of Britain, Robin Hood and his Merrie Men and other famous acts of history that are essential to one's notion of what makes England, England. Yet things are not perfect on this idealized island that becomes known as England, England. While tourism booms on the island, Old England falls apart with its main industry gone. Barnes examines what happens to memory when it is molded to fit expectations instead of historical accurracy. While at times uneven, and with a few storylines that seem unnecessary, "England, England" succeeds in its examination of the role memory plays in each of our lives, and in the shaping of our past and present.
Rating:
Summary: Pieces of the puzzle are missing
Review: As another reviewer points out, there seems to be something lacking in this otherwise very interesting story. It seems to me that halfway through the book Barnes became more concerned with making sociological observations than finishing the story. We start out with the beginnings of understanding about the three main characters: Sir Jack, Martha and Paul but Barnes never completes the picture for Sir Jack and Paul. Certain scenes almost beg to be told but aren't there. And that is a shame because what is there is quite good but like Martha's puzzle of England there isn't enough to make the story whole.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreadful, Dreadful
Review: Barnes is cute, totally lacking in substance. The characters are thin, the plot silly and the writing pretentious. The only good part of this time-wasting novel is that in which Barnes has Samuel Johnson say a number of lines in his own words. Now if we had had much more Johnson and much less Barnes, we'd have had something worthwhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Why can't Americans learn to write this well?
Review: Barnes is still one of the best writers living today, in company with a mostly British crowd. Why can't American authors learn to love character development, plot construction and language as the Brits do?
Rating:
Summary: Really Very Good
Review: Barnes's strengths pop up all over this book. Narrative depth and aplomb, lexical brilliance, purling poetic prose, funny characterizations. The last section of the book,"Anglia," is a straight- up, anthology-destined, literary masterpiece. As advertised above, this novel treats the dichotomy between illusion and reality, authenticity and pap; this is the issue that Martha, the heroine, must sort out by the end of the book. The reader likewise faces this dilemma: is Barnes's account real or a dream? Less than halfway through the novel I knew the account could be nothing other than a dream, and I found this modernist bias the novel's only major disappointing feature. The author might have more faithfully mirrored the story's balanced thematic treatment of the reality / irreality ambiguity; think about how Melville did this in "Moby Dick" -- the reader was surely PRESENT on that Whaler just as surely as EVIL also skulked on that bark. In England, England, however, Barnes chooses unreality as his expository mode: the physical world therein is unevenly, often sketchily, described (there are too few smells, tastes, and surfaces). Moreover, the plot lurches improbably (Martha's de-throning of Sir Jack -- who is the epitomic, self-made, wily survivor -- is just ludicrous, (albeit perhaps titilating for 70's-era feminists, withal)). Then, via the legerdemain of Sir Jack, Martha loses control of the island Project to her supposed ally and lover, who in turn mysteriously cedes power back to Sir Jack. Just Wild. Another modernist nod, I guess: Martha's character is a bit thin. We hear alot ABOUT her but not much FROM her. Then, as we begin to like her, from ages 40 to 70 she disappears from view. A toss-up question: Do women think she was adequately limned in this story? Plus, she seemed oddly un-lusty for such an audacious woman. For its part, Sir Jack's sex shenanigans with his "nursemaids" is a very funny burlesque. The book picks up narrative steam once Martha arrives in charge at the Island. Irreality becomes reality as the actors tend to take on the attributes of the characters they play. Martha is shown to deal with these problems deftly. One supposes the ascendancy of the Island over Old England is emblematic of the coming victory of an "imagineered," compressed packaging of life and history over authenticity. Martha wants no part of this onanistic happy meal and relocates to the authentic if simple life on offer at the continuously regressing backwater England has become.
Rating:
Summary: All for money
Review: England is in decline and rather than deal with reality, Sir Jack Pitman (who appears to me to be based on Robert Maxwell) decides to take over the Isle of Wight and create a Disney style England as an independent state. The state of course is for tourists and the pursuit of money, offering the complete England in a sanitised and scaled down version with first class accomodation and no need to travel around to see it.
During the course of the book Sir Jack has the upper hand, loses it through blackmail, is humiliated and then gains it again through bribery, all in hilarious fashion.
Barnes utilizes dry wit and satire most effectively to tell his tale, exposing powerful corporate heads as meglomaniacs, amoral and of course corrupt beings with no soul. Nothing much new in that of course, except for the exceptional skill that Barnes employs doing so.
However as you move through the book you begin to compare the modern high speed world with a now bygone simple age. I found the comparison compelling and while I am not prepared to give up my computer and flat screen tv I confess to being a little wistful about a slower and simpler life.
I have no hesitation in recommending Mr Barnes, give him a try and I don't think you will regret it.
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