Rating: 
Summary: Serious, yet witty and humourous - a great read
Review: Julian Barnes didn't impress me much with his first book, "Metroland", so it was with some scepticism and doubt that I started on his 1998 Booker Prize nominated "England, England". The prognosis was good after reading the first short section entitled "England" and any reservations I had quickly lifted. Though this promising introduction proved relevant, it didn't quite point to the direction the novel was headed for. What ensues is an engaging mix of some pretty serious ideas, brilliantly executed. Barnes' craft, his razor sharp wit and sense of humour reminds me very much of Martin Amis, another luminous contemporary novelist with an uncompromising yet dazzling style. Here, in "England, England", Barnes uses satire to present, analyse and explore the modern day obsession with "replicas", the advantages of which over their sources have been touted without any genuine understanding of its implications. Sure, "originals" are a true slice of life and therefore, messy, smelly and unpredictable. Replicas, on the other hand, are neat, run like clockwork, and given to stage management for optimum commercial effect. But they're sterile and false and the antithesis of life itself. Notice how the actors in the Isle of Wight (England, England) grow unruly, break down, or start to invent human forms of activity after the loss of contact with the real world. Ironically, Martha, the damaged heroine, learns a few hard lessons from her real life interaction with the likes of Paul and Sir Jack. Barnes punctuates his tale with hilarious surprises along the way. These little flourishes only serves to whet your appetite. But he delivers each time and...how ! The last instalment is an absolute coup de grace, an elaborate painting (almost) of the future of old England. The effect is both poignant and ambivalent and to be relished by the reader. "England, England" is serious fiction of the first order. It is thematically rich, full of humour and wit, and a joy to read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Rating: 
Summary: sort of like having Baudrillard over for tea and wig-making
Review: Julian Barnes is one of the best literary stylists I've ever encountered. He has tremendous skill; and its been shown in most of his previous books, especially Flaubert's Parrot. This book, however, is not nearly as creative as 10 1/2 or Parrot. It's a weak soup of postmodernisms and soggy British pride. England is made again on the Isle of Wight; and during the course of this building it becomes chic to emigrate from the dying whale of the original island. Eventually, England returns to a kind of Eden like grace from which to rebuild itself anew.
Rating:
Summary: The future: England replicated on the Isle of Wight
Review: Julian Barnes literary Future Watch is a story about an attempt to replicate all the historical landmarks of England on the Isle of Wight. It deals with ultra modern issues like authenticity, cultural replication and Virtual Reality. A bit like 'The Truman Show', a bit like 'Sim City 3000', but never -alas- a great novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Barnes back to his best form
Review: Julian Barnes returns to top form in this witty tale which is satire on modern England and post modern ideas. An ambitious novel less than fully realised the start middle and end do not quite hang togther but theres lots of sport and invention on th eway Yes its his best thing since "Parrot" a very easy read
Rating:
Summary: What Happened?
Review: Like some other reviewers, I wonder if the middle of this novel got lost somewhere between writer and publisher. The idea itself was fascinating, especially since I just returned from Las Vegas where you can visit several European cities, Egypt, Rome, New York and probably other venues I missed. That part of the book was well done. But what happened to the people? All kinds of interesting characters were introduced and then completely dropped. None of their stories were developed, which was disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Literate, intelligent, laugh-out loud, constantly rewarding
Review: Prior to this I had just finished "Money: a suicide note" by Martin Amis. Since then Amis seems to have become increasingly bitter, self absorbed, and consequently his humor is often hidden so deeply as to be inperceptable, not so Barnes. "England, england's" only shortcoming is that it ends. Barnes writes an intelligent, hilarious page turner. His observations are spot-on and his characters brilliantly drawn. He sustains the plot while challenging us to consider reality and progress. Qualifying my comments as coming from an ex-patriot Englishman (some of the subtler touches may be lost on non-natives), this was by far the funniest book I have read this year, and probably for many years past. Watch out for the "Historian" - his flights of pseudo intellectual fancy fly high but never ever fail to come down to earth with superb punchlines. An absolute treat !
Rating: 
Summary: The opening is brilliant, the end disappointing.
Review: The opening essay on memory and perception is brilliant. The heroine? well realised and I found the first 2/3 of the book great satire. Unfortunately the last 1/3 fell apart. But what really burns me is that Barnes did not give any credit to a previous novel RULE BRITTANIA by Daphne DuMaurier published in 1973[ pretty sure].It is a very grouchy book , concerning turning the Duchy of Cornwall into a Disney-like theme park.How could the editors and publishers have missed this? Did anyone else notice the similarity between these books?
Rating:
Summary: OK OK
Review: This book should have been better. The realisation let down a terrific idea. Actually I think that The Idea is the problem....Barnes couldn't seem to decide whether this was a Big Picture story about the politics of globalisation, or a character-driven story. It started out as the latter, veered toward the former, and then just when he thought he might be getting too 'politically correct' (whatever that means - I mean , just as he was getting to the nitty gritty of the workings of mass culture) - he pulls back, and the final quarter of the book collapses rather limply. I reckon a solid BBC TV writer would make a better fist of it - someone like the late Dennis Potter would have been perfect! I could picture some magical Potter musical moments.
Rating:
Summary: A Scathing Farce
Review: This is a well-crafted novel that skewers the absurdappropriation of cultural forms (as reflected in history, popularculture, and politics) by the market-driven forces of global capitalism. Barnes describes a world in which a Disney-esque farce unfolds and eventually appropriates all that is "good and propah" about the English world, destroying the textured reality of life in the real England. Although Barnes' relatively inept description of personal relationships slows down the novel at times, his larger point about the inherent greed and unscrupulous avarice of global capitalism's marketing of hyper-reality comes across very forcefully. His sanguine conclusion, although disappointing to some, seems appropriate when situated in today's world of millennial madness. Overall, an excellent work. Fully recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A utopia/dystopia unto itself
Review: This is my first trip through Barnes' oeuvre. I arrived believing him to be a more focussed but less talented and bitter version of Martin Amis. For once, the advanced hype was right. Not that being a low-rent Amis clone is anything to be ashamed of (and he's not really that, but it makes for an easy analogy), for Amis sets the bar so high, that anyone falling just short is really doing something quite good. Barnes is at that. The book begins with a wonderful, almost tangential look at the childhood of our "heroine", Martha Cochrane. This section could have been set off by itself, and turned into a ripping good short story. We see her run-ins with a virtuoso bean grower at the county fair, a touching sequence where her Dad teases her by hiding one piece of a puzzle she's working on (it's a map of England, natch), and then an even more touching scene with her mother after said Dad has skipped town without a word. This section, while standing firmly on its own, also nicely sets up the themes of the rest of the book. And that rest of the book is dominated by one Sir Jack Pitman, deity of Multi-national Corporation Pitco, raving patriot, and mastermind behind the Island of the book's title. Jack is a wonderful creation, all brash ego and blowhard posturing. He is at once supremely self-aware, and easily manipulated by his underlings, whom all know how to subtly push his buttons to give him what he wants and to get what they want. Witness him question his right hand man, a yes-man to the core, on Sir Jack's distaste for yes-man. The right hand man knows better and answers all questions in the negative. Sir Jack, bless his heart, chuckles, for he knows he's being had and adores the effort. The middle section, and to a lesser degree the end, functions as a great piece of utopia/dystopia literature. Utopia, for the Island version of England Pitco has created is meant to be ideal; the perfect tourist locale, where all the tourist sights and attractions you want to see are within walking distance of each other. Dystopia, for the government and the monarchy, which in theory should look out for the rights of its citizens, has been replaced by a corporation, which in theory looks out for no other interests but its own ("[the Island is] a locus of uncluttered supply and demand... to gladden the heart of Adam Smith"). I am a sucker for utopias and dystopias (Orwell's "1984"; Huxley's "Brave New World"; Thomas More's "Utopia"; Samuel Butler's "Erewhon"), and Barnes doesn't disappoint with his creation of England's more efficient doppelganger. It's Old England crossed with Disneyland, wherein Anglo stuffiness is satired alongside North American intolerance. Capitalism, the monarchy, historical revisionism, and human all nature all take their turn through the ringer of this simulacrum. My one complaint, and this is not Barnes' fault but my own, is that the story was sometimes too Anglo-centric. I suppose someone with a greater knowledge of English customs and history will appreciate the jokes here more than I did. Still, Barnes' provided enough for even I to enjoy. On top of (or rather underneath) all this England bashing ("from now on, only those with an active love of discomfort and necrophiliac taste for the antique need venture there"), Barnes also throws in an effective little love story. Martha and Paul (who's employed as Sir Jack's "ideas catcher") meet, fall in love, and go through tumultuous times as they try to keep their professional and private lives separate. The questions each pose to the other, and to themselves, are frank, sincere, and provocative. Each is insecure for various reasons, and Barnes probes these problems effectively. The epilogue chapter, while wondrously biting, cynical, and skeptical about the fate of England if things keep going as they are, was not as effective. Basically, Barnes scraps the tone and style of the rest of the book, and presents us with a rambling, stream-of-conscience tour through England, England's aftermath. I could see what Barnes was trying to do; I just didn't enjoy it. In the preceding chapters I was with him all the way, marveling at his talent for prose and ideas, and enjoying the heck out of both.
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