N° 3060
Julian Barnes's England, England is
a sharp-edged satire of Englishness at the end of the 20th century.
The real England is failing--her empire lost, her aspirations to
greatness subsiding, her history fading. Megalomaniacal
entrepreneur Sir Jack Pitman hits upon the idea of creating an
altogether superior, theme-park version of the original on the Isle
of Wight (renamed simply the Island). His creative team includes
Martha Cochraine, whose own childhood disappointments and
unfulfilled dreams Barnes unfolds to the reader in the opening
chapters. For a brief moment it looks as if able Martha will
outsmart the ruthless Sir Jack, assisted by her grateful,
bespectacled lover Paul Harrison (the operation's "ideas catcher").
But this is fantasy, so humble Paul betrays Martha (it would never
do for the feisty woman to win after all). She retreats to the real
England of faded glory, nostalgic folklore and regret.
In one section of this short novel the theme-park Dr Johnson talks
entirely in direct quotations from his distinguished 18th-century
counterpart, before being judged insufficiently convincing. The
real, we understand, is less compelling than the fake. There are so
many cultural allusions per page that the head of even the most
enthusiastic English culture snob will spin. --Lisa Jardine
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