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A Field Guide To The English (2008)

by Sarah Lyall(Favorite Author)

3.47 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1847247938 (ISBN13: 9781847247933)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Quercus

review 1: Horrible, absolutely horrible. Here's my Amazon review I wrote a couple of years ago.My American Wife bought me this for Christmas, and I was quite looking forward to reading it. As other reviewers pointed out, the dust jacket implied funny, hilarious even, observations of the British in the style of Bill Bryson. It could not have been further from the truth, or more disappointing. As a Brit I've enjoyed Bryson's witty observations and commentary on life in Britain, sometimes complimentary, sometimes not. Lyall's book however is merely a mean spirited rant on the usual stereo types by a loud, ugly American (The irony of calling her a loud, ugly American whilst complaining about her stereo typing is not lost on me).It was a struggle to get through paragraph after paragraph,... more chapter after chapter of negative, condescending, ridiculing, and in some cases plain spiteful commentary on the British and their way of life. In every chapter you wait for the insightful, or at least funny, section and in each chapter you're left wondering if its worth continuing on.She appears to believe that the entire country are Eton educated, homosexual or at least should be, sad repressed little people who still have not recovered from WWII. Her rants on snobbery, the dying out breed of aristocrats, and how ingrained it is to the English would be much more relevant if she wasn't constantly name dropping and banging on about how well connected her family is.There are a few small sections of the book that are mildly entertaining, the Hedgehog cull/rescue in the Hebrides is probably the hi-light of the book. The absurdity of the House of Lords, although again the personal mean spiritedness of her writing detracts from the humorousness of her subject matter. The low spots are sections ridiculing the WWII, and post WWII, generations, an entire chapter on the British and their teeth, and the constant belittling of everything British in comparison to everything American (the press, the food, the service, the weather, the houses, and obviously the people, even the damned saran wrap).Save the $15, buy Bryson or another talented witty author, and leave this 'Gossip Column' publication on the shelf where it should remain.
review 2: This book was best when Lyall described her own experiences and they were also those of typical American visitors. Thus, I enjoyed the chapters on food, transportation , customer service, and the weather. The less compelling chapters were on topics where she had less personal experience and thus were leavened with much research from secondary sources. Examples here were the chapters on The House of Lords or the stories about English boarding schools. less

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