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Cream Teas, Traffic Jams And Sunburn: The Great British Holiday
The British on holiday: how can four simple words evoke so many vivid images, images of raw sunburn and relentless rain, of John Bull's Pub (in Lanzarote) and Antonio's Tapas Bar (in Torquay), of endless queues to get through security at Manchester Airport, or Gatwick, or Glasgow, or Luton, and endless tailbacks on the M5, or M6, or M25, but also images of carefree sploshing in Portuguese swimming-pools and lazy lunches in the Provencal sun? In this funny, acutely observed and engaging social history, Brian Viner celebrates the holidaying British, with their quirks and their quinine tablets, and their blithe assumption that the elderly man selling oranges at the roadside in Corfu, so photogenic with his walnut face and three teeth, must surely understand just a few, uncomplicated English sentences. He examines the fortnight-long cruise at one end of the holiday spectrum, and a day's rambling in the Lake District at the other. He looks at how the holidaying British evolved into the big-spending, many-headed beast we know today, by recalling not only the holidays that we took as children, but the holidays our grandparents, and their grandparents, took. It is a story that connects Blackpool with Barcelona, Mauritius with Margate. It is a story, indeed, that connects us all.
- GenresTravelNonfictionHumor
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 10, 2016
Very entertaining read, probably all the more so because I read it on holiday in France. I always enjoy reading Brian Viner's columns in the newspapers and I've also read a couple of his other books.
I love his sense of humour and his wit. He seems to have a never ending supply of very amusing anecdotes and he tells a great story.
Needless to say I did recognise myself in some of his portrayals of the English on their holidays. I love French food but I admit I did pack baked beans, marmalade and of course Yorkshire teabags. And we are definitely the family who photographs themselves next to 'silly signs'.
I would imagine anyone not British might well find some of this book puzzling!
I love his sense of humour and his wit. He seems to have a never ending supply of very amusing anecdotes and he tells a great story.
Needless to say I did recognise myself in some of his portrayals of the English on their holidays. I love French food but I admit I did pack baked beans, marmalade and of course Yorkshire teabags. And we are definitely the family who photographs themselves next to 'silly signs'.
I would imagine anyone not British might well find some of this book puzzling!
October 26, 2012
A book about the Great British Holiday and the Great British on holiday.
For all those who have battled with putting a tent up in a howling gales and rain in August or have been stuck behind caravans, or moaned about the towels left behind by Germans, this is the book for you.
Viner touches on lots of different subjects, not always in depth, but enough to get a flavour. It is very, very funny in parts, so much so that I did laugh out loud at some parts.
Very good, well worth a read.
For all those who have battled with putting a tent up in a howling gales and rain in August or have been stuck behind caravans, or moaned about the towels left behind by Germans, this is the book for you.
Viner touches on lots of different subjects, not always in depth, but enough to get a flavour. It is very, very funny in parts, so much so that I did laugh out loud at some parts.
Very good, well worth a read.
July 9, 2019
An agreeable and funny fluffy read, the perfect choice for my book group's 'Summer Words' theme. It's merely a hook for journalist Viner to engage in a little light research and mix it in with anecdote and near stream of consciousness on the theme of the British on holiday. It's just him waffling on... I suspect he could easily throw in a few things which would be offputting to those of us who won't ever be reading anything he may have in the Daily Mail but either he just takes their money and doesn't subscribe to their world view, or he is savvy enough to leave them out.
There are a few serious reflections... he mentions Madeleine McCann relevantly and sensitively in a general and personal way (perhaps he only can because of that personal incident) and that helps to avoid total marshmallow.
There is one point where he pads out the narrative with something doing the rounds that a mate shared with him via email and, granted that it is very funny, I see that as a low point and stretching his borrowing too far.
There are a few serious reflections... he mentions Madeleine McCann relevantly and sensitively in a general and personal way (perhaps he only can because of that personal incident) and that helps to avoid total marshmallow.
There is one point where he pads out the narrative with something doing the rounds that a mate shared with him via email and, granted that it is very funny, I see that as a low point and stretching his borrowing too far.
April 25, 2020
Cover says “Winner of the narrative travel book of the year award” below author’s name. Presumably not for this.
Tired anecdotes of Brian’s friends’ friends, bits nicked from better books & chain email “funnies” are cut & pasted into a book, that you have to keep checking isn’t self published.
The gear box grinding as he moves from one subject to the next is genuinely painful.
Worth reading one chapter to see how bad it is. For extra fun read with an Alan Partridge voice.
Tired anecdotes of Brian’s friends’ friends, bits nicked from better books & chain email “funnies” are cut & pasted into a book, that you have to keep checking isn’t self published.
The gear box grinding as he moves from one subject to the next is genuinely painful.
Worth reading one chapter to see how bad it is. For extra fun read with an Alan Partridge voice.
August 6, 2024
The art of feature-writing in book form: 27 short chapters, each on a theme, taking us on a journey from the British seaside to the ski slopes to the cruise ship. Plenty of memoir, anecdote, peril and R&R; all human life is here, and only some of it repugnant. A complement to the author's book on setting up a holiday home in the British countryside.
April 29, 2019
Great fun!
May 25, 2013
The great and not so great British holiday.
Brian Viner has approached the subject with humour and insight that brought back many memories of summers past while answering questions of why we put ourselves through all the hard ship for a few hours of sunlight, an ice cream on the beach or a traditional English breakfast on the Costa Del Sol.
Brian Viner has approached the subject with humour and insight that brought back many memories of summers past while answering questions of why we put ourselves through all the hard ship for a few hours of sunlight, an ice cream on the beach or a traditional English breakfast on the Costa Del Sol.
March 29, 2014
Reading this could be compared to watching a documentary about the royal family; there's not much scintillating new information but it's nevertheless enjoyable. So, a fairly predictable book about the history and eccentricities of our British holiday habits, written in a witty yet perceptive manner which makes it an entertaining and engaging read.Can I go on holiday now please?
October 23, 2016
A fun read on the British and their holidays.
If you are a Brit you will recognise many of your friends and family in these pages, indeed probably even yourself.
Highly entertaining and a perfect book to take away on holiday with you, to read on the beach as you look at all the Brits, burning in the sun!
If you are a Brit you will recognise many of your friends and family in these pages, indeed probably even yourself.
Highly entertaining and a perfect book to take away on holiday with you, to read on the beach as you look at all the Brits, burning in the sun!
August 29, 2012
Very funny account of the British on holiday at home and away.
January 1, 2013
An amusing trip with the British abroad and at home.
From the 60's to the present.Will leave you chuckling and enlightened.
Easy to see why Brian Viner is an award winning travel writer.
From the 60's to the present.Will leave you chuckling and enlightened.
Easy to see why Brian Viner is an award winning travel writer.
could-not-finish-it-was-that-bad
August 15, 2016Just couldn't get into it...kind of like a reminiscing book about vacations of yore.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews