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 Dystopia, for the government and the monarchy, which in theory should look out for the rights of its citizens, has been replaced by a corporation, which in theory looks out for no other interests but its own ("[the Island is] a locus of uncluttered supply and demand...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.
Rating: 
Summary: awful
Review: This is one of the worst books I¡¦ve ever read. I could hardly wait to finish it. I thought the beginning especially had the hallmarks of ineptitude. I certainly wouldn¡¦t look forward to reading any of the author¡¦s other works. I have no regrets about giving this 1 star.
Rating:
Summary: Cynical AND fun AND thought-provoking
Review: This novel puts more than a few interesting ideas on the table (not just the obvious central ones mind you) and then investigates one persons reaction to history and ageing. I found it an increasingly poignant book which spoke to me in a few ways - the downshifter in me anyway... Some of the twists are a little far-fetched or hypereal at best but although there are admittedly a lot of English references the key themes will be totally accessible to any internationally minded citizen.
An intriguing post-modern tale.
TNP...
Rating: 
Summary: Funny, quirky, twisting and turning
Review: This was only my second Julian Barnes book, the first being the (quite good) "History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters". I'd have to agree with some of the other reviewers that this novel wasn't quite as good as the idea, and that the ending was something of an anticlimax. There were enough twists and turns in the plot to keep me interested, and possibly the best thing I can say about it is that there are nuggets of hilarity embedded throughout.
Rating: 
Summary: HIGHLY ENTERTAINING READING
Review: Unfailingly entertaining British novelist Julian Barnes presents a hilarious premise in his eighth novel - what would happen if a mega rich prankster were to turn England into a theme park? This mischievous satire presents an England on the brink of economic disaster, thus willing to go along with the splendiferous plot of Sir Jack Pitman who wants to recreate familiar historical places and scenes. The achievement of this goal may leave one wondering what is real and what is not.
Rating:
Summary: HIGHLY ENTERTAINING READING
Review: Unfailingly entertaining British novelist Julian Barnes presents a hilarious premise in his eighth novel - what would happen if a mega rich prankster were to turn England into a theme park? This mischievous satire presents an England on the brink of economic disaster, thus willing to go along with the splendiferous plot of Sir Jack Pitman who wants to recreate familiar historical places and scenes. The achievement of this goal may leave one wondering what is real and what is not.
Rating:
Summary: Margarine v. Butter
Review: While some may take this to be a one-joke book (wooing an international tourist economy by recreating all of England's most famous, market-tested landmarks into a more manageable, mini-England on the Isle of Wight), I find it to be a clever lens through which the reader can observe and consider the foibles of modern Western (not just British) society. On the way it raises many interesting questions: What is the role of memory in personal and national identities? Why and how do we seek to exercise control over others? How are we shaped by the roles we assume (regardless of our motives for accepting these roles)? When is what we choose to believe about reality more powerful than reality itself? And let's not forget, What is the role of sex in history? While this book by Julian Barnes does not have any of the understated poignancy that I enjoyed and expected to find after reading FLAUBERT'S PARROT, it is clever and engaging in its own way. A fun read if you can handle the artifice.
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