Class

by Jilly Cooper

Hardcover. Signed and dedicated by author on title page. With drawings by Timothy Jaques. Jacket is worn and lightly scored, with minor nick on rear lower edge. A few minor marks on boards. Hardcover leading corners, edges and spine ends are lightly sunned, bumped and worn. Page block is marked. Penned dedication on title page (separate from author's). Pages are clean. HCW

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Chick Lit, Romance, British Literature, Class, Society

Hardcover

First published May 28, 1981

About the author

Dame Jilly Cooper, OBE (born February 21, 1937) was an English author. She started her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She was most famous for writing the six blockbuster novels the Rutshire Chronicles.

Reviews

[Lorna]

I giggled constantly through the whole thing... nodding my head the whole time, agreeing with Jilly's deliciously wicked insights. If you ever want to know about the English class system, this book is a must! OK... it might be a bit of a warped view and things may have changed a little since it was first written in 1979. But through hilarious characters like Harry Stow-Crat, Mr and Mrs Nouveau-Richards, Samantha and Gideon Upward, and Jen Teale and her husband Brian you get to see how British people never really lose that snobby persona for which they are so famous.

[Danielle]

One of my all time favourites and comfort re-reads.

[Shu cortesi]

i have read and reread this book so many times, hilarious and educating.

[Nat Wolfenden woods]

This book started my love of sociology... Pure heaven & funny too...

[Curlemagne]

Startlingly racist while also accusing the lower classes of being the racist ones. Cooper can be very witty, but her social analysis is most apt (and funny) for her own class, the upper-middle class twits Gideon and Samantha Upwards. Tacitly admires the aristocracy while regularly condemning working-class circumstances as personality traits, this is nevertheless a very useful lens into the cultural conflicts and trends of England in the 1970s and thus is a valuable historical artifact. In particular the status of the miners and unionized trades before Thatcher!

Perhaps the most surprising part is that Cooper says in the 20-year anniversary forward that she edited some offensive things out for the new edition. Good god! If this is what was left, then I shudder to imagine what she removed. As it is, I learned new slurs from Cooper that I wish I hadn't...

Best line: "Samantha has a second in history and a fourth in life."

[Terrie Lobina]

Definitely to be read again. Great fun

[Melanie]

Fun! Each of the classes is equally made fun of, which made for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Julie]

This is a very funny book, still as relevant today as when it was written in 1981.

[Elizabeth]

As an American, I loved this discussion of British class. I did think she betrays herself a bit, though -- her depiction of the lower middle and upper middle classes were much more vicious than anything else she wrote. Funny, though.

[Elisa]

Perhaps a bit dated but a funny look at the British class system, something that as a foreigner i always find fascinating

[Claire]

Brilliant!

[Jennifer]

Bit dated (one would hope) but still absolutely hilarious.

[Ben Preston]

Funny and insightful. As much as a window into the 1970s as the British Class system

[Cassandra]

Not only was I amused, but I think it did shed some light on the British novels of the 50s and 60s I occasionally read, as well as upon the early 90s television shows such as Keeping Up Appearances (which is obsessed with class & class-markers, all the humour is in that) I sometimes watch. It is not a serious book, nor a scholarly one, but then, I did not expect it to be.

[cloudyskye]

This was a very amusing non-fiction (re)read indeed. Jilly Cooper obviously knows what she writes about, and I wish she had written an update, say, 10-15 years later. I'd love her take on Sloane Rangerdom, Lady Diana and all that ...

[Jamie Rose]

very funny look at the British class system, probably somewhat out dated now.

[Þóra Gylfadóttir]

Stéttaskiptingin í Bretlandi gerð gegnsæ og JC svoooo fyndin.

[Gill McKinlay]

Interesting!

[Hailstones]

I was advised to read this in the 80s when I was considered a country bumpkin but also a snob (!). I couldn't understand how that could be as I was too young and unworldly to see what that meant. A lot of houses in the village were being bought by, my grandmother's phrase, 'The Nouveaus darling". As soon as I read this book realised I knew all about the Nouveau-Richards exactly as the book said and everything began to fit into place.
Even the fact that the 'poor' wore jumpers with holes in the elbows but so did the upper-class. Mending is poverty, holes are an accident.
It may be dated but it really did reveal the stages of class in the days of Sloanes etc. You can take the man from the bog, but you can't take the bog out of the man seems to be about it.
For those wanting to know what it was like in the days when money bought anything but good breeding, this is for you.

[Wil]

First published in 1979, non-fictional Class is in many respects still as relevant in the 21st century as it was in the late seventies. The hilarious, but painfully perceptive perspective on the unique social stratification of the United Kingdom, dissects every aspect of daily life with laser-guided precision. Every layer of British society gets a thorough check-up, and no one is spared Jilly Cooper's opinion which she delivers with a lightning wit. Obligatory reading for Brits who aren't afraid of some self-deprecatory insights, as well as non-Brits who want to make some sense of a modern western society, shrouded in mystic social conventions that date back to the dark middle ages.

[Eva Hnizdo]

It was very interesting, and rather exotic. It was given to me by my English then pen friend who, when we emigrated, flew to Germany to check if we needed some help. Reading Class taught me a lot about English society, and yes, of course it is subjective, middle class urban view, but still.I often remembered this book when dealing with patients.
I re-read it recently,some aged, Britain has changed, But not THAT much.

[Liz]

Funny, illuminating, patronising

Cooper can barely contain her contempt for the working class. Pretty meta if you ask me, “Jen Teale”!
A fascinating look into late 70s social politics

[Maddie Margioni]

ok so this was pretty funny and an interesting style of writing to have the characters be archetypes for entire classes. but honestly she came off a bit haughty (probably the point but still i didn’t love it) and i think some of the sections were unnecessary sorry

[Lois]

I read this book many years ago and it still stands out as one of the best on the topic. Cooper’s observations are witty and accurate.

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

Great to dip into for a quick paragraph.....Twas witty.

[Chantal]

Bit dated but quite funny.

[Rose]

Jilly Cooper, I was promised, is incredibly funny, charming, and incisively clever. This is just. Ugh. Dated and vile.

[Franziska Self Fisken]

Entertaining, light and witty. Was meant to be an update on Nancy Mitford's "U and Non-U" but is very 1970's and out of date now.

[Sarah Hearn]

I’ve read this a number of times and always a enjoyed it but this time, I found it dated and only slightly amusing.

[Janet Bird]

I loved this book, an entertaining and informative read. Must read it again at some point.