Julian Barnes

Jerry Batson, qui se définit comme un " accoucheur d'idées ", va en vendre une assez sensationnelle à sir Jack Pitman, un excentrique milliardaire : créer sur l'île de Wight une sorte de gigantesque parc d'attractions rassemblant tout ce qu'il y a de plus typique, de plus connu en Angleterre. Cela va des blanches falaises de Douvres à Manchester United, de Buckingham Palace à Stonehenge, du mausolée de la princesse Diana au théâtre de Shakespeare. Le projet est monstrueux, hautement risqué, et voilà qu'il se révèle être un énorme succès. La copie va-t-elle surpasser l'original ? Et qu'adviendra-t-il si c'est elle que les touristes préfèrent visiter ? Férocement drôle, drôlement impitoyable, impitoyablement au vitriol, voilà un portrait de l'Angleterre comme on n'en avait encore jamais vu.

England, England

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction As every schoolboy knows, you can fit the whole of England on the Isle of Wight. Grotesque, visionary tycoon Sir Jack Pitman takes the saying literally and does exactly that. He constructs on the island 'The Project', a vast heritage centre containing everything 'English', from Big Ben to Stonehenge, from Manchester United to the white cliffs of Dover. The project is monstrous, risky, and vastly successful. In fact, it gradually begins to rival 'Old' England and even threatens to supersede it... One of Barnes's finest and funniest novels, England, Englandcalls into question the idea of replicas, truth vs fiction, reality vs art, nationhood, myth-making, and self-exploration. 'A brilliant, Swiftian fantasy'The Economist

Sarah Escorsa

I've tried to read books by Julian Barnes many times and although most readers find him hilarious I just fail see what is so funny in his writing. The book didn't even make me smile and I simply found it boring.

Follows the efforts of Sir Jack Pitman to realize his vision of England as a "theme park," in which all of the nation's principal treasures are grouped together on the Isle of Wight

Eugenia Andino

I have only started this book and it doesn't sound too promising. I like the characters, as they are very complex and active and do interesting things, but I'm not enjoying the slow pace of the narration. 

*

It took me forever to finish the book. It's OK, it picks up a little bit after the first half. It's more an excuser to reflect on the nature of "reality vs. copies" and how people tend to prefer "improved" copies of stuff to the real thing.

Helen Bright

Booker Prize Finalist "Wickedly funny." --The New York Times Imagine an England where all the pubs are quaint, where the Windsors behave themselves (mostly), where the cliffs of Dover are actually white, and where Robin Hood and his merry men really are merry. This is precisely what visionary tycoon, Sir Jack Pitman, seeks to accomplish on the Isle of Wight, a "destination" where tourists can find replicas of Big Ben (half size), Princess Di's grave, and even Harrod's (conveniently located inside the tower of London). Martha Cochrane, hired as one of Sir Jack's resident "no-people," ably assists him in realizing his dream. But when this land of make-believe gradually gets horribly and hilariously out of hand, Martha develops her own vision of the perfect England. Julian Barnes delights us with a novel that is at once a philosophical inquiry, a burst of mischief, and a moving elegy about authenticity and nationality.

Luna Kurdish

Emmett

Lauri

As every schoolboy knows, you can fit the whole of England on the Isle of Wight. The grotesque, visionary tycoon, Sir Jack Pitman, takes the saying literally and constructs on the island, The Project, a vast heritage centre.

Caitlin F

Clara 

Follows the efforts of Sir Jack Pitman to realize his vision of England as a "theme park," in which all of the nation's principal treasures are grouped together on the Isle of Wight.

England, England

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