Bournville

by Jonathan Coe

In Bournville, a placid suburb of Birmingham, sits a famous chocolate factory. For eleven-year-old Mary and her family in 1945, it's the centre of the world. The reason their streets smell faintly of chocolate, the place where most of their friends and neighbours have worked for decades. Mary will go on to live through the Coronation and the World Cup final, royal weddings and royal funerals, Brexit and Covid-19. She'll have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Parts of the chocolate factory will be transformed into a theme park, as modern life and the city crowd in on their peaceful enclave.

As we travel through seventy-five years of social change, from James Bond to Princess Diana, and from wartime nostalgia to the World Wide Web, one pressing question starts to will these changing times bring Mary's family - and their country - closer together, or leave them more adrift and divided than ever before?

Bournville is a rich and poignant new novel from the bestselling, Costa award-winning author of Middle England. It is the story of a woman, of a nation's love affair with chocolate, of Britain itself.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, British Literature, Family, Contemporary, Novels

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 26, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Jonathan Coe, born 19 August 1961 in Birmingham, is a British novelist and writer. His work usually has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name, in the light of the 'carve up' of the UK's resources which some felt was carried out by Margaret Thatcher's right wing Conservative governments of the 1980s. Coe studied at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Trinity College, Cambridge, before teaching at the University of Warwick where he completed a PhD in English Literature. In July 2006 he was given an honorary degree by The University of Birmingham.

-
Retrieved 10:55, February 2, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan...

Reviews

[Andy Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as he did in his Middle England trilogy, Coe here has given so much space to describing events of the period in question that it often reads as much like a short history of modern Britain as a novel. It's a frustrating habit of Coe's, but I nevertheless adore his books. His writing is wonderful, his stories are clever and deep, and his left-wing politics are always spot on. Although this was by no means my favourite of his novels - The Rotters Club and What A Carve Up! share that particular crown - it was a consistently good one, and it wins bonus points for ridiculing that awful, awful arserag, Boris Johnson.

[Berengaria · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

short review for busy readers: Definitely not one of Coe's best. Good concept and well-written, but muddled and tedious in plot, overly biased/blatant in approach, and lazy in the characterisation. Too many characters only a few shades different from each other with very few exceptions. Slow read. Not recommended, esp not as a place to start with Coe's work.

In detail:
It sounds really interesting. Take 7 milestone British broadcasts from between 1945 and 2020 and use them as a backbone for the story of one family whose lives mirror the phases England went through during that time period. Macro and micro English history.

Should be fascinating.

Isn't.

This is due mainly to two factors.

1. The choice of broadcasts mostly relate to the royal family. Secondarily, some type of war, be it a hot one (WW2) or a supposedly friendly one (international football).

This is fine, except Coe clearly hates the monarchy - or at least thinks it's utter nonsense - so all he does is have his characters snark and gripe about it in response...except the insensitive, racist Tory piglets who just love the royals. Oink, oink. Aren't they repulsive! 🙄

You get the feeling Coe even disliked Princess Diana, given the sex scene he places during Tony Blair's speech at her funeral. The sex scene itself is great...but the timing is utterly disturbing. Repugnant, too, when you think how many thousands of people were genuinely hurting that day. Talk about deliberately pissing on a national memory!

2. Worse still, none of the broadcasts have any real effect on the lives of the characters. They make no difference to the plot and seem to be nothing but background noise (in most cases). They could be removed entirely and it wouldn't change anything.

So why were they chosen as the glue that holds the entire narrative together if they have no impact?

I can only guess, but it seems like Coe chose a topic and plot structure he couldn't bring himself to work seriously with in the end.

There are a few good chapters, especially those talking about Cadbury's, but I was dismayed to read in the author notes that the death of Mary Lamb in the novel was an accurate account of the passing of Coe's own mother during the Covid pandemic.

In fact, a good bit of what takes place in the pandemic chapters are not the experiences of the fictional Lamb family, but of the Coe family.

Dude, no. That's an essay for a magazine, not an entire section of a novel.

There are other problems, like too many similar characters, but the ones I've listed above are the main ones. There's nothing new to be learned or experienced in Bournville because the early chapters are far too on-the-nose with historic events we all already know about, the middle is dull and non-eventful and the beginning/end bookends are far too personal.

Just a bunch of odds and ends hashed together with silicon to fill in the gaps.

Disappointing.

Not recommended except for huge Coe fans or completionists.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...

I've only read one other Coe novel - Middle England - and from that limited experience it seems that Coe has a tried-and-tested formula: state of the nation novels focusing on a specific (or a number of specific) events in recent(ish) history, and a tight cast of characters who spend a fair chunk of the narrative ruminating on politics and current affairs in said moment in history.

Coe's latest offering heads back to an area he knows well: the West Midlands. Educated in Edgbaston, one gathers from the epilogue that many of the locales featured in Bournville are/were familiar to him in his younger years. Currently living in the West Midlands myself I was interested in a novel which featured the area so prominently, but I think the book was a bit of a letdown in that regard - the sections on the history of Bournville were interesting though.

Now the author was not to know that since his epilogue was written a mere 5 months ago in April 2022 that a) the Queen would have passed away and, b) Boris Johnson would no longer be in power and the UK would be in an even worse state of affairs. The news in the UK is totally saturated by these topics right now - understandably - so perhaps for me personally this was not a good moment to read a novel that featured these two themes so prominently when I am reading a novel to relax and escape from constant discussion and rumination on such topics. If you're a fan of zeitgeist-y reads then maybe this will all work better for you.

Don't get me wrong: these are important topics, and there are many thought-provoking and interesting things that could be said about them/ways they could be included in a novel, but here they felt almost ancillary to the story the author was trying to tell and like they had been shoehorned in. Several big milestone events for the monarchy in the 20th century - the Queen's coronation, Charles and Diana's wedding, Diana's death - are titles of sections of the book and feature quite heavily, and I get that Coe was trying to say that whilst the lives of the characters moved on and these big events happened things didn't really change that much for the lives of ordinary people of the UK... but somehow it didn't make for an engaging or particularly entertaining read for me. I didn't care about anything that happened to any of the characters. It felt like a checklist of topics one would associate with the mid to late-20th century arbitrarily cobbled together.

Disappointing stuff. I think this novel was trying to do way too much and as a result didn't end up achieving any of it.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin UK for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

[Neale · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy sweeping family sagas, populated by wonderful characters, balanced narratives with stellar endings, then like me, you will love this novel.
“Everything changes, and everything stays the same.”

My review is published in the November issue of Goodreading magazine.

[Three · Rating 3 out of 5]

si saranno messi d'accordo?
qualche rivista avrà lanciato una sfida per un libro sul tema?
sarà una pura combinazione ?

Ci deve comunque essere un motivo per cui i due autori inglesi che preferisco hanno deciso, pressoché contemporaneamente, di scrivere un libro su una famiglia inglese più o meno negli ultimi settant'anni*, con ragazzi e ragazze che diventano adulti, poi genitori, poi maturi, poi vecchi e intanto i loro figli sono arrivati a loro volta ad essere maturi ed i nipoti sono già in rampa di lancio, mentre l'Inghilterra passa attraverso l'energia del dopoguerra, l'entusiasmo dei sixties, la folle corsa all'edonismo degli anni ottanta fino alla poco dignitosa epopea di un primo ministro con una capigliatura biondissima perennemente spettinata (ad ognuno il suo: a noi ne toccò uno con i capelli malamente trapiantati).
Dal canto mio, nel corso della mia presenza su questo sito ho già avuto modo di dire che considero Coe un genio per i quattro libri che ha scritto in gioventù (lo so che li conoscete, ma li cito lo stesso: La banda dei brocchi, La famiglia Winshaw, La casa del sonno ed Il Circolo chiuso), e, siccome si tratta di libri che io non sarei stata in grado di scrivere neanche campando trecento anni, non posso certo rimangiarmi il giudizio. Però, per quanto mi dispiaccia dirlo, questo Bournville (e con lui Middle England che ho letto qualche tempo fa) è molto lontano da quel livello di inventiva che mi aveva entusiasmata in gioventù (di Coe e anche mia), ammesso che di inventiva questo libro ne abbia almeno un po'.
Gli anni passano, Jonathan, non ci si può fare niente.

*quello di McEwan, che pure non mi ha fatta impazzire, è migliore di questo

[Ari Levine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Jonathan Coe's comic novels for two decades, but white this was perfectly readable, it is not one of my favorites. Coe revisits multiple generations of a Birmingham family at crucial moments in postwar British history: V-E Day, Queen Elizabeth's coronation, the 1966 World Cup, Prince Charles' investiture, Charles & Diana's royal wedding, Diana's funeral, the Covid lockdowns.

Instead of the clever wit and irony that leavened his previous State-of-the-Nation novels like The Rotters' Club, Coe's satirical vision here is motivated here by anger and preachiness, and his sociological observations felt obvious and on-the-nose. I share Coe's utter antipathy for Boris Johnson's mendacious clownishness, and horrified disbelief about the self-destructiveness of Brexit, but these elements didn't add up to an emotionally satisfying novel.

Thanks to Europa Editions and Netgalley for an advance copy, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

What should it be called, this special place? You might have thought, for the people who named it, that with its almshouses and playing fields, its miniature boating lake and white-flannelled cricketers, the village was built as an archetype - a parody, almost - of a certain notion of Englishness. The little stream which wound through its very centre was called the Bourn, and many expected that Bournbrook would be the chosen name. But this was a village founded on enterprise, and that enterprise was to sell chocolate, and even in the hearts of the Cadburys, these pioneers of British chocolate manufacture, there lurked a residual sense of the inferiority of the native product, compared to its Continental rivals. Was there not something quintessentially, intrinsically European about the finest chocolate? The beans themselves had always come from the far corners of the Empire, of course - nothing unBritish about that - but the means of turning them into edible chocolate had been invented by a Dutchman, and it was a truth universally acknowledged - if for ever unspoken - that it was the French, and the Belgians, and the Swiss, who had since brought the making of chocolate to a pitch of near-perfection. If Cadbury's chocolate was ever truly to compete on this field, it would have to be branded in such a way that it trailed in its wake an overtone of European refine-ment, Continental sophistication.
So Bournbrook, they decided, would not quite do. A variation was chosen. Bournville. The name of a village not just founded upon, and devoted to, but actually dreamed into being by chocolate.

I read this book due to its longlisting for the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.

I have previously read two of Jonathan Coe’s novels – his 1994 “What A Carve Up” and 2015 part-sequel “Number 11” – both very readable and enjoyable (if rather didactic and over-preaching to the converted) social satires drawing on English farce and (more oddly) spoof horror movies – the first novel in particular also surprisingly formally inventive.

This novel is perhaps even more explicitly a social examination of the state of the nation but is more straightforward read and without the farcical or spoof elements which made those novels more striking.

The set up is simple but effective – a single family (based around the eponymous Cadbury’s built workers village), and part German descended is followed across seven nation-defining: VE Day; The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth; The World Cup Final; The Investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales; The Wedding of Charles and Lady Diana; the Funeral of Diana; the 75th Anniversary of VE Day (which takes place in the early days of lockdown – a prologue being set in March 2020 as the virus spreads across Europe in real time).

The author has said in an interview that he his “heart sank” when he initially heard of Ian McEwen’s “Lessons” published just ahead of his own and covering a similar timespan and the interaction between national and personal events – before reading it and realising how different the two books are in style and approach.

For me a closer comparison would be to Francis Spufford’s Booker longlisted/RSL Encore Prize winning “Light Perpetual” although without the oddly redundant meta-fictional conceit, the welcome exploration of faith and the almost transcendent ending (although see below).

Perhaps the weakest point of the novel is that at times it can feel a little predictable – as in fact can be seen in the choice of epochal events which rather inevitably leads to fairly predictable discussions around UK/EU and German relations (which anyway are even more strongly emphasised by having a German branch to the family), and about the changing attitudes to the monarchy. The book is written very deliberately from a left-of-centre (but still close to centre viewpoint) – the novel riffs frequently on James Bond movies (movies seemingly a pre-occupation of the author given his previous borrowing of spoof-horror film plots) and there is a clear villain in the family who supports the monarchy, conservatism (in its literal and political form) and rather inevitably Brexit. Another character – when challenged as to whether he has ever done anything daring – proudly proclaims that he has joined the nascent SDP and criticism of the lurch to the left of Labour under Foot and then Corbyn is also explicitly expressed by the characters (and implicitly endorsed by the authorial voice).

The James Bond reference reflects one of the books key premises - that the British are patriotic in a way which is simultaneously backward looking and jingoistic and yet also self-deprecating. The book makes much also of the assertion - not I think entirely correct - that in 1997 both versions of God Save The Queen (the official and the Sex Pistols one) were simultaneously on the nation’s lips.

Perhaps the least predictable choice of event (in fact only unpredictable one) was Charles’s investiture and this did lead to some of the more interesting scenes – a childhood realisation of English-Welsh tensions and even a little twist relating to undercover attempts to dissuade Welsh nationalist activists from direct action.

One of the better choices in the book is to have one candidate as a lobbyist for Cadbury in the long-running Chocolate Wars as some other European countries refuse for years to allow English chocolate (with its fat content) to be sold as chocolate – the character’s wife ultimately becoming an MEP based on the strong working knowledge of Brussels they gain. The book’s assertion is that the fat was first added due to wartime shortages and that the British love of UK-style milk-chocolate is effectively a form of post war nostalgia (as an aside there is also the small fact that it tastes delicious). While in Brussels and around the lobby and press group, the character first encounters the tousle haired Boris – and cleverly he re-appears later as a part is set in Cllywd South in Boris’s unsuccessful 1997 general election candidacy (the switch of that very red seat to Conservatives in 2019 when Boris is now party leader also being featured). The treatment of Boris is I felt nuanced – in both Brussels and Wales there is a sneaking admiration for his ability to get people onside through not acting seriously. Later though the Brussels lobbyist despairs that such a character is in charge during COVID times. The author’s note amusingly after the usual disclaimers about resemblances to real people says of his Boris character: “he might, of course, seem familiar to some readers, whether he’s a fictional character or not remains hard to determine with any certainty”

The last part of the novel, featuring the death of the family matriarch during lockdown, isolated from those who love her, is the most personal (for the author) and pointed – although I was slightly unsure where the anger is directed as while the author’s note finished with a reference to following the rules “unlike the occupiers of number 10 Downing Street” the 2020 sections seems to feature numerous examples of rule breaching including by characters to who we are sympathetic.

And the novel has a surprisingly strong ending also with a passage which echoes one from the start and shows the continuity of societal issues – which is a fundamental theme of the novel (and of course proven by the events since the novel was written - the overdue defenestration of Boris, another Royal death and another Royal coronation … and probably another James Bond film but I do not follow movies).

Coe himself has said in a recent interview that “the prose I write is very rarely poetic” and that he “regards it as a positive” that his books are easy to read – and without the inventiveness of “What A Carve Up” that straightforwardness is starker here and perhaps a little in contrast to much of the literary fiction I normally enjoy. The writing though does remain engaging and enjoyable.

Standing on the front doorstep with her broom in hand, listening to the distant sound of children's voices, [Doll/Shoreh] felt that she was at once inhabiting the past, present and future: it reminded her of her own childhood, her own schooldays, more than twenty years ago, the little school in [Wellington Shropshire/Hamedan], an ancient but vivid memory, but it also reminded her that these shouting and singing children would be the ones carrying the next few years on their shoulders [rebuilding the country after its six year battering, laying the memory of war to rest]. Past, present and future: that was what she heard, in the sound of the children's voices from the playground at mid-morning break. Like a murmurous river, like the incoming wash of the tide, a distant counterpoint to the swish, swish, swish of her broom on the step, a disembodied voice whispering in her ear, over and over, the mantra: Everything changes, and everything stays the same.

[Alexander Theofanidis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Μια αναδρομή σε στιγμές μιας οικογένειας, από το μακρινό 1945 και την ημέρα της νίκης, τη λήξη του δεύτερου παγκόσμιου πολέμου, μέχρι τις μέρες του Covid και του Brexit, περνώντας από την ενθρόνιση της Ελισσάβετ, το Μουντιάλ της Αγγλίας του 1966, το χρίσμα του Καρόλου ως πρίγκιπα της Ουαλίας (κάποιοι διαμαρτυρήθηκαν ότι ο πρίγκιπας της Ουαλίας θα έπρεπε να είναι Ουαλός), ο γάμος Καρόλου-Νταίάνας, το θάνατο της πριγκίπισσας Νταιϊάνα και "τη μάχη της σοκολάτας" στο ευρωκοινοβούλιο και με αρκετό τρυφερό σαρκασμό για τον Μπόρις Τζόνσον.

Λίγο άνευρο και μερικές φορές προβλέψιμο, αλλά συνολικά ευχάριστο στο διάβασμα, με αναφορές σε ταινίες του Τζέιμς Μποντ που η θέασή τους έγινε μια μικρή παράδοση για την οικογένεια και κάπου εκεί, εμβόλιμη… μια σταδιακή αλλαγή στάσης απέναντι στη μοναρχία, από την λατρεμένη αποδοχή, στο σκεπτικισμό και την κριτική (κάποιοι στέκονται ιδίως στις άσκοπες υπερβολικές σπατάλες των τελετών).

Οι χαρακτήρες είναι ενδιαφέροντες και… 2,5διάστατοι, ένας "κακός" να υποστηρίζει τη μοναρχία και το συντηρητισμό σε κάθε του μορφή, αλλά και το Brexit (για το οποίο είναι σαφές ότι οι Βρετανοί δεν έχουν ακόμα συλλογικά κατασταλαγμένη άποψη), ενώ ένας άλλος, πολύ χαριτωμένα ερωτώμενος αν έχει κάνει ποτέ του κάτι τολμηρό αναφέρει την ένταξή του στο SDP (μετριοπαθέστερο των εργατικών της εποχής κόμμα). Βέβαια, η επιλογή των χρονικών στιγμών που "τραβάει φωτογραφίες" ο Coe, δίνει μάλλον προβλέψιμες συζητήσεις (και τους εξίσου δεδομένα προβλέψιμους προβληματισμούς που τις δημιουργούν), αλλά ίσως είναι και «δίχτυ ασφαλείας» στη γραφή του. Ωστόσο, μια από τις στιγμές που αποκαλύπτεται a posteriori με τους Ουαλλούς εθνικιστές-ακτιβιστές-επαναστάτες και την αποτρεπτική δράση ενός μέλους της οικογένειας, ξεφεύγει από το μοτίβο της προβλεψιμότητας.

Φυσικά, από το βιβλίο δε λείπει η σοκολάτα (καθώς η Bournville έχει φτιαχτεί για να στεγάσει τους εργάτες της Cadbury), με νοσταλγικές και πραγματιστικές νότες παράλληλα, την προσθήκη φυτικού λίπους στις βρετανικές σοκολάτες εν καιρώ πολέμου λόγω ελλείψεων και την μάχη στην Ευρώπη για το αν οι εγγλέζικες σοκολάτες μπορούν να θεωρηθούν «σοκολάτες» ή αν πρέπει να τους αποδοθεί άλλο όνομα (και πώς γράφεται το όνομα "Παπασταθόπουλος"). Μέσα σε αυτό το χαμό, μαθαίνουμε και για την πρώτη αποτυχημένη υποψηφιότητα (καταδικασμένη a priori, στην πραγματικότητα) του Μπόρις, σε έναν παραδοσιακά "εργατικό" δήμο, όπου δε θα είχε καμία τύχη (κι όμως, το τόλμησε). Εδώ διαφαίνεται ένας θαυμασμός ή έστω μια εκτίμηση του συγγραφέα για τον πολιτικό, που όμως σε άλλα σημεία του βιβλίου αντικαθίσταται από σαρκασμό και την αίσθηση ότι είναι τραγικό ένας τέτοιος χαρακτήρας να είναι υπεύθυνος την εποχή του covid. Φυσικά, υπάρχει μια (μη) αποποίηση ευθύνης του συγγραφέα, όταν δηλώνει για τον Μπόρις ότι «Μπορεί, φυσικά, να φαίνεται οικείος σε ορισμένους αναγνώστες…». Ναι, μας φάνηκε!

Το χιούμορ είναι φυσικά πανταχού παρόν, άλλοτε διακριτικό, άλλοτε πιο έντονο και στα όρια του σαρκασμού (βλέπε περιπτώσεις Μπόρις, για παράδειγμα), αλλά το βιβλίο αποτυγχάνει να πιάσει επιδόσεις ποιότητας παλιότερων έργων του Coe. Σε τελική ανάλυση, τι ακριβώς είναι σαν βιβλίο; Είναι μια σχετικά ευχάριστη μίνι οικογενειακή σάγκα, με επίκεντρο την αξέχαστη Μαίρη -εμπνευσμένη από την ίδια τη μητέρα του Jonathan Coe- η οποία κάνει την πρώτη της εμφάνιση τη μέρα της νίκης στο μικρό της χωριό και αντέχει μέχρι… σχεδόν το τέλος του βιβλίου. Τη βλέπουμε σαν 11χρονη, στο τέλος του 2ου Παγκοσμίο Πολέμο, την ακολουθούμε καθώς μεγαλώνει, βρίσκει φλερτ αγάπη και δουλειά, κάνει επιλογή συζύγου (αν και αργότερα της ξεφεύγει πως ίσως ήταν λάθος) και έχει μια… βρετανικά φυσιολογική ζωή. Οι φάσεις της ζωής της που επιλέγει να φωτίσει ο συγγραφέας είναι κάθε περίπου 10 χρόνια, σε ξεχωριστές βρετανικές στιγμές που έχουμε ήδη αναφέρει), δίνοντας χρόνο στην οικογένεια και στη βρετανική κοινωνία κάθε φορά να έχουν αλλάξει τόσο ώστε να αξίζει να επανεκτεθούν στο φακό του Coe.

Τριάρι, αλλά τίμιο τριάρι, με καλές προθέσεις. Ίσως και 3,5.

[Ubik 2.0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Lamb e i Windsor

In passato ho seguito con piacere i libri di Jonathan Coe, ma da qualche anno (direi da “Disaccordi imperfetti” in poi, con la parziale eccezione di “Middle England”) mi sembra che l’autore accusi un deficit di ispirazione che lo porta ad eseguire il compito con il consueto mestiere ma senza i guizzi di estro ed inventiva che caratterizzavano soprattutto “La casa del sonno” o “La famiglia Winshaw”, ma anche le opere minori.

“Bournville” va ascritto a tutti gli effetti alla categoria “saga familiare”, accompagna le vicende dei Lamb per tre quarti di secolo, con la particolarità di scandirne le tappe tramite gli avvenimenti della recente storia inglese e della famiglia reale; il personaggio centrale, l’unico che seguiamo in tutto il percorso esistenziale da nipotina a bisnonna, è Mary Lamb, che nella postfazione l’autore afferma ispirata in parte alla propria figura materna. Attorno a lei ruotano tutti gli altri familiari, per lo più racchiusi nel distretto di Bournville, sobborgo di Birmingham noto per la fabbrica di cioccolato.

E con questo abbiamo pressoché esaurito gli argomenti perché uno dei limiti del romanzo è che in primo piano non accade granché di rilevante e i personaggi senza eccezione appaiono stereotipi del conservatore rampante, dell’artista con tendenze gay, dell’anziano padre incapace di accettare una nuora di colore e così via. Per contro assumono un rilievo considerevole i fatti della famiglia reale, dall’incoronazione di Elisabetta al matrimonio di Carlo al funerale di Diana, vere e proprie cerimonie nazionali che trascinano l’intera popolazione e creano dolorose fratture ed insanabili incomprensioni anche fra tranquilli consanguinei.

E’ curioso che quasi in contemporanea, ma con ben altro piglio e personaggi meno pallidi e più sfaccettati, anche Ian McEwan abbia pubblicato un romanzo fiume biografico che a sua volta interpreta in filigrana la recente storia d’Inghilterra, benché in quel caso il racconto sia meno corale e molto più incentrato sul protagonista e sulle figure femminili che ne condizionano l’esistenza.

Il romanzo di Coe invece si legge con interesse non tanto per un coinvolgimento nei destini dei componenti della famiglia Lamb che ci lasciano abbastanza indifferenti, quanto per l’intensa rappresentazione dell’impatto emotivo, viscerale e difficile da recepire pienamente per i non-inglesi, suscitato dagli eventi che riguardano i Windsor, una partecipazione, anche da parte di coloro che ne criticano il potere, che non mi pare trovi un corrispettivo in Italia o altrove, se non verso singoli individui e non certo nei confronti di una casata intera.

[Yves S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Comforting nostalgia all the way through, three hundred and fifty-five pages of well condensed clichés written in the most simplistic style.

No, this book was not for me I am afraid. For others, maybe, I hope.

Someone in a previous GR review of this book (Kay Dunham) described the style as similar to that of the Famous Five, this is exactly it. It does try your patience, though, to be treated like that as a reader: everything being spelled out for you, it makes you feel stupid at times.

There is only one advantage to this. It is that it makes it a quick read, so I did not waste too much time after all. And I did make it a point to get to the end before writing this review, just in case the novel could redeem itself before the end.
And per chance, the story does improve slightly towards the end, from the 1980s onwards. My guess is that this is the period Coe has lived first hand and therefore is more comfortable in relating it.

I had heard good things about Jonathan Coe, this is was the first of his books I read, it will take a fair bit of convincing to get me back to it anytime soon.

For now, moving on to something better. Over and out.

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Только перечитав недавно несколько старых, еще викторианских романов Херберта Уэллза, понял на этом Коу, до чего и он викторианск. И, конечно, мастер "ебаного кошмара" - набирающих обороты абсурдных ситуаций, вызывающих невольное содроганье, в которых неловко за всех, но ржешь тем не менее.

Но роман прекрасен и уютен снова, и как часть саги, и сам по себе, потому что в деле воспевания британских скреп (не без доли яда, конечно, что само по себе британская скрепа) Коу - прямо Голсуорзи нового и новейшего аремени.

И, как ни странно, это о нас нынешних, хотя, конечно, нихера мы не англичане. "Приходят времена, когда каждый должен выбрать сторону". Очень, гадство, созвучно. Это гениальный роман.

[theliterateleprechaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

This. Was. Not. What. I. Expected.

🙄

As I got deeper into this history lesson, I could see a GIF or someone in my mind’s eye frantically dumping out bedroom drawers into an empty suitcase. Over. And. Over. Again. That’s what it was like. No discerning. Just an info dump. Could it have appealed to me if it were pared down? Perhaps.

I persevered through the weird inclusion of Covid, the blaring disconnect of ideas/chapters, his swearing and his political rants, but the pages of reiterated addresses from history were the last straw.

I must have skimmed over the “tender and wickedly funny” parts.

I hope this book finds someone who can appreciate it for what it is. Sadly, that person is not me.

I was gifted this book by Europa Editions and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

[Catherine Vamianaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ενα υπέροχο βιβλίο γραμμένο απο τον Jonathan Coe. Είναι μια ιστορική ανδρομή μιας οικογένειας απο το Birmingham. Ξεκινά με την λήξη το Β Παγκ Πολέμου, την Στέψη της Ελισάβετ, τον θάνατο Τσώρτσιλ, το παγκοσμιο κυπελο ποδοσφαιρου αγγλιας γερμανιας, τον Κάρολο οταν έγινε Πρίγκηπας της Ουαλίας. Τον Βασιλικό Γάμο Καρόλου Νταιάνα, τον θάνατο Ντιάνα, αναφορά στον Μπόρις, στο Μπρέξιτ και τέλος στην πανδημία. Και φυσικά μεγάλη αναφορά στην Cadbury σοκολάτα που λατρεύω!!!!
Για όσους αγαπούν αυτή την περίοδο ζωντανεύει διαβάζοντας όλες τις σελίδες του.
Λάτρεψα την Μαίρη και τους τρεις γιους της καθώς και τις οικογένειες τους, τους φίλους τους κτλ. Σε μεταφέρει στο Νησί!
Απλά διαβάστε το!!!

[Laura Gotti]

Io ho mollato a metà. Ma la noia? Ma dov'è finito 'quel' Coe che decenni fa mi fece innamorare della banda dei brocchi o della casa del sonno? E anche recentemente avevo trovato Middle England capace di riappacificarmi un po' con questo autore ma qui, che gli è successo? Mi è davvero dispiaciuto, ma sembra scritto da un altro.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have to read this - I live there.
Well, bored. It had some interest certainly, some humour. But I'm not really one for having great gobbets of history in the form of the King's VE Day speech, the 1966 World Cup commentary, the TV commentary on Di & Charles' wedding etc. interwoven with a family history by numbers. To illustrate this latter, take the schematic three brothers here - one is left, one right and one SDP; one turns out to be gay (spoiler but I don't care) later in life, and another marries a black woman; one Brexit, one Remain - you get the picture. An easy read that goes down like a pint of Carling (generic lager) and doesn't touch the sides.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Coe που ζεστένει τις καρδιές μας και μας κάνει να ξεκαρδιζόμαστε στα γέλια

[Ionuț Anastasiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stele.
La finalul lecturii am aflat că acest roman este cel de-al patrulea volum dintr-o serie denumită Neliniște, ce include, nu neapărat în ordinea în care au fost scrise, următoarele cărți:
1. Expo '58;
2. Ploaia înainte să cadă;
3. Domnul Wilder și cu mine.
Din fericire, așa cum menționează scriitorul britanic, legăturile dintre cele patru cărți sunt vagi, astfel încât pot fi citite independent una de cealaltă.
Pe primele trei nu le-am citit, însă poate că a venit timpul să o fac, mai ales că singurul roman al lui Jonathan Coe pe care l-am citit până acum mi s-a părut a fi dinamită curată; este vorba despre senzaționalul Ce hăcuială!
Bournville nu este nici pe departe un roman senzațional, nici nu conține vreun element exploziv care să te facă să rămâi mut de uimire și de admirație; mai degrabă, este destul de cuminte și transmite o stare de tihnă și de satisfacție interioară, ceea ce este de admirat în ziua de astăzi, când o sumedenie de scriitori sunt măcinați de tot felul de dezarcorduri interioare și exterioare.
Acțiunea din Bournville se întinde de-a lungul a 75 de ani, din mai 1945, când se încheie Al Doilea Război Mondial, până în 2020, anul marcat de pandemia Covid-19. Însă narațiunea nu este liniară, autorul plonjează în trecut și în viitor cu o naturalețe dezarmantă, iar cititorul nu are ce să facă altceva decât să se țină după el asemeni unui cățel plin de devotament față de stăpânul său. Altfel spus, este vorba despre mai multe decupaje din diverse momente importante ale istoriei Marii Britanii din epoca postbelică la care participă, vrând-nevrând, și personajele acestei cărți, ce au în comun faptul că aparțin aceleiași familii extinse. Vom reveni imediat asupra lor, dar mai întâi să vedem care sunt aceste evenimente marcante (cel puțin în viziunea autorului). Sunt șapte asemenea episoade, primul și ultimul celebrează finalul războiului, patru dintre ele au legătură cu Familia Regală Britanică și unul cu Campionatul Mondial de Fotbal din 1966. Dacă mai adăugăm și pasiunea pentru filmele cu James Bond, ciocolata Cadbury ("prima prăvălie fusese deschisă în 1824, în Birmingham, de John Cadbury", iar ulterior fabrica se va muta în Bournville, un "sat care nu numai că depinsese de ciocolată și-i fusese devotat, ci chiar fusese transpus din vis în realitate cu ajutorul ciocolatei") și apariția televizorului, ce aproape întotdeauna are un rol de catalizator pentru membrii acesteia, precum și de punte de legătură între ei și momentele importante ale istoriei țării din timpul vieții lor, avem o imagine destul de fidelă asupra modului în care sunt surprinși eroii acestei cărți.
Să ne întoarcem asupra eroilor principali, ce pot fi grupați în jurul căsniciilor a două verișoare, ce sunt și foarte bune prietene: Mary și soțul ei, Geoffrey, ce au trei băieți - Jack , Martin și Peter - și Sylvia, împreună cu soțul, enigmaticul Thomas Foley, ce, la rândul lor au o fată și un băiat, Gill și David. Dat fiind faptul că familia Foley a ocupat prim planul în precedentele romane din serie, cu precădere Gill și tatăl ei, Thomas, era timpul ca Mary să își ia revanșa; în fond, ea este liantul de legătură între toți ceilalți, dar și un fel de patriarh nerecunoscut oficial al familiei. E cert însă că o decizie luată în tinerețe de Mary i-a influențat decisiv pe toți membrii familiei sale, fără ca aceștia să știe. Lectură plăcută!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything changes, and everything stays the same. That is the overriding mantra of John Coe’s latest book, which tells a nation’s story through generations of the same family. It’s ambitious, it’s clever, and it works!

Wet in the southwest side of Birmingham, Bourneville was designed to house chocolate factory workers. It focuses foremost on Mary, who is a child during VE day, and overwhelmed by the patriotism and the joyousness of triumphing over the Germans.

She will have three sons and two of them will have children and THOSE children will have children and, in the meantime, things will inexorably change. Even here in the former colonies, the seven events that shape this novel – VE Day, Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, the World Cup Final, the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales, the wedding of Charles and Diana, Diana’s funeral, and the 75th anniversary of VE Day – spark emotions.

Jonathan Coe never gives his characters short shrift. Despite the 75-year time span and the large cast of characters, the book is eminently readable and defines characters through the events they lived through. Particularly insightful is when one of the younger characters, with pretensions of becoming a world-famous author, slams into reality when his glossy portrayal of Wales collides with the truth of Britain’s treatment of it.

In addition to Wales nationalism, Bourneville touches on wartime nostalgia, the launch of the Austin Metro, the worshipping of James Bond, the so-called “chocolate wars” (named because Britain’s chocolate was made with too much vegetable oil), the rise of a journalistic buffoon known as “Boris”, the outpouring of love for the “people’s princess”, and more. Add to that some insightful glimpses into nationalism (especially when it goes awry), class mobility, and economic and social change.

Predictably, the family must confront interracial marriage and the coming out of a key family member. Jonathan Coe handles these delicate issues more adroitly than many other authors. Although there is – and should be – outrage associated with lack of inclusiveness, Coe wisely doesn’t make these elements the core of the novel. His focus is how a country shapes its people and how a people shape their country.

My interest never lagged through the 400 pages of Bournville. Once again, I’m happy to express my profound gratitude to Europa Editions for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review. This one’s 4.5 star, and I’m elevating to 5.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το 4 μπήκε λόγω συγγραφέα. 3.5 θα ήθελα κανονικά να βάλω. Ωραίο ήταν, είχε ενδιαφέρον αλλά έχουμε διαβάσει καλύτερα από τον Κόου.

[Katerina Koltsida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Το τελευταίο μυθιστόρημα του, ιδιαίτερα αγαπημένου στην Ελλάδα, Jonathan Coe, με τίτλο Bournville, είναι έργο της συγγραφικής του ωριμότητας, στο οποίο κινείται με χαρακτηριστική άνεση στο χρόνο, από το ξέσπασμα της πανδημίας στο τέλος του Β Παγκοσμίου πολέμου∙ στο τόπο, από το Mπέρμινχαμ στο Βερολίνο, την Ουαλία και τις Βρυξέλλες∙ και σε διαφορετικούς αφηγηματικούς τρόπους.
Έτσι, έχουμε ένα ζωντανό έργο που χωρίζεται σε 7 κεφάλαια, καθένα από τα οποία λαμβάνει χώρα γύρω από κάποιο σημαντικό γεγονός στη Βρετανία, με αρχή τους εορτασμους για την λήξη του Β Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Ιστορικές ομιλίες παρατίθενται τμηματικά με σχολασμό των ηρώων σε κάθε κομμάτι τους.
Μέσα, λοιπόν, από την ιστορία μιας οικογένειας ο Κόου σφυρηλατεί τη σύγχρονη ιστορία του έθνους. Η ματιά του πάντα καυστική, σαρκαστική αλλά και διεισδυτική, μας οδηγεί στην κατανόηση της ανθρώπινης κατάστασης στην Αγγλία σήμερα και τους λόγους για τους οποίους φτάσαμε εδώ. Παράλληλα συναντάμε κάποιους από τους παλιούς μας γνωστούς, από προηγούμενα έργα του, ένα χαρακτήρα που έχει εμπνευστεί από οικείο πρόσωπο του συγγραφέα και πολλούς νέους και ενδιαφέροντες μυθιστορηματικούς χαρακτήρες. «Όσο για τον ξεμαλιασμένο χαρακτήρα «Μπόρις» που πρωτοσυναντάμε στο κομμάτι των Βρυξελλών, μολονότι θα μπορούσε, φυσικά, να μοιάζει οικείος σε κάποιους αναγνώστες, παραμένει δύσκολο να οριστεί με βεβαιότητα αν είναι φανταστικός ή πραγματικός χαρακτήρας» (πρόχειρη μετάφραση από το σημείωμα του συγγραφέα).
Στο ίδιο αυτό σημείωμα μαθαίνουμε (με χαρά) οτι το έργο αυτό το τοποθετεί σε μια σειρά βιβλιων που τιτλοφορεί ΑΝΗΣΥΧΙΑ (Unrest), στην οποία επίσης ανήκουν τα Εxpo 58, Σαν τη βροχή πριν πέσει, Ο κύριος Γουάιλντερ κι εγώ∙ την σειρά ελπίζει να ολοκληρώσει με ένα τελευταίο, πέμπτο έργο (κι εμείς το ίδιο !).

[Tom Mooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Everything changes and everything stays the same...

Bournville is an enjoyable family saga, centred on the memorable Mary - inspired by Jonathan Coe's own mother - whom we first meet in her little village on VE Day.

Then an 11-year-old growing up in the literal shadow of the Cadbury's factory, and the metaphorical shadow of WW2, we follow Mary as she grows up, finds love and work and has a relatively normal British life. A life full of dreams connections, happiness, the odd regret.

We drop in on her every 10 years or so, at the big moments in the British century; The Queen's coronation, the '66 World Cup final, Diana's marriage and death. As well as Mary, we get to see her family and the country as a whole change. Or not. Concluding with the recent (current?) pandemic, Bournville paints a picture of a Britain surging with progress, leaning from optimism to pessimism, from acceptance to rejection.

The characters are believable and well drawn, the premise is tantalising and skillfully constructed. But it is a bit light and sentimental for my taste, and the politics is way too on the nose. Still, an enjoyable read and one I'm sure will do well.

[Jonathan Pool · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Coe is chronicler of contemporary events. It’s a style of writing from which he does not waver. If I was to be critical there’s a sense of his writing by numbers; If I'm being positive its apparent that the course of history is endlessly fascinating and so there is a pipeline of lived life for Coe to draw on.
Should the next novel be in the offing, Coe already has a ready made opening setting with the death and state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The political backdrop has also thrown up extraordinary events already, in the UK, with Johnson and Truss demonstrating how fertile this ground continues to be.

I read the book in December 2022 as the Qatar football World Cup took place. Would England win? Back in 1966, and one of Coe's pivotal national moments of reflection, England won the World Cup.
This was an immediate example of the main recurring theme :
“Everything changes, and everything stays the same”

As somebody of Coe’s age both the period covered (1945-2000) and therefore his perspective on events resonated throughout. My particular favourite memory jogs were firstly the (Austin) Metro car, launched with great fanfare as the saviour of the British motoring industry (and also a Diana Spencer favourite). Secondly a fishing trip is described in which twelve cans of “Double Diamond” are drunk. As a child I recall asking my mother if Double Diamond was the best (the power of advertising 'A Double Diamond works wonders' was already working on me!)

A reflective theme of the book, articulated by the thoroughly unpleasant Jack is that:
“You worry too much. Things that you can’t do anything about- and mostly things that have got nothing to do with you” “The world would be a better place if we all just tended to our own little patch, because trying to interfere with stuff like that always makes it worse” (344)

This was a satisfying read and my only negative observation is that the generational shift and the alternating time shift within sections made it difficult to reconcile how each character was related by birth to one another.

[La Libridinosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ma quanto è bello scoprire un autore di cui non si è mai letto nulla e rendersi conto di avere decine di libri da recuperare? Con questo romanzo la mia wishlist si è magicamente allungata!!

Bournville, ultimo romanzo di Jonathan Coe, è il racconto di un luogo di una famiglia legati a filo doppio. Una fabbrica di cioccolato, un piccolo borgo alle porte di Birmingham e quasi un secolo di storia inglese, questi sono gli ingredienti che fanno di questo romanzo una chicca imperdibile!

Immaginate un luogo nato per ospitare tutti i lavatori di una fabbrica; un piccolo borgo immerso nel verde, nel quale è vietata lavadita di alcolici e bambini sono liberi di scorrazzare per strada!
Questa è Bournville! E qui Mary e la sua famiglia assistono ai grandi eventi e ai cambiamenti che il Regno Unito affronterà in quasi un secolo di storia.

Una saga familiare atipica, ironica, divertente e commovente al tempo stesso!

#lamiafascetta Nuoce gravemente alla dieta

La recensione completa nel blog

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit slow for me, jumping from time line to time line- a multi generational tale explored through seven events from VE Day through to Covid. It’s hard to get behind the characters with this approach. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

[Anastasiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Коу (опять) написал великолепный роман про время. про то, как оно обходится с людьми и как люди обходятся с ним. равно уважительно и бездарно. роман о семье, где все разные и где любовь передаётся по наследству не всем. роман о стране, в которой гордость растёт из боли и ада, а потому не позволяет гражданам смотреть друг на друга открытыми глазами

[Kay Dunham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was born and grew up by the Lickey Hills and my father worked at Bournville until I was thirteen and for Cadbury’s all his working life. He was involved with politics and joined the SDP. Despite the similarities between the lives of the characters in this book and my own family, I felt no connection or resonances. The centring of this book around royal events possibly didn’t help as they did not stand out in my memory. This is probably unfair, but the style of writing kept reminding me of The Famous Five. Not helped by the jug of lemonade anachronism. And other small details such as Mary playing the piano at her WI every week (surely once a month only) annoyed me. My father had a very good experience of working life. Cadburys supported my own education and allowed my father to take time off for his political activity, they continued to be fantastic employers, not just when they started out at Bournville. I didn’t get that from the book.

[Grace J Reviewerlady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being aware of the homes built to support the workers, I was keen to read this one.

Bournville is the name of the town which sprung up around Cadbury's factory in Birmingham and this is the story of four generations of a family who lived there. Tied in, as you would expect, with the world of chocolate manufacturing it paints a picture of the social changes in Britain from the post-war era to the present day.

I expected to enjoy this novel as I was born in the late fifties and was familiar with the events covered. There are some amusing moments and it is enlightening to be reminded of how things have changed over the years. At times, I wasn't sure whether it counted as a novel as I often found the author's own opinions on the pages. This rather spoiled things for me and took away the 'fictional' part of the read. Not quite as good as I expected and, for me, a four star read.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps not as immersive as Coe’s other books but still a skilful state-of-the-nation novel and a kind of companion piece to Middle England. Nice to see Bournville and Aberystwyth represented on the page too.

[Jordan Iordanis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο από τον Coe, για τη ζωή μιας οικογένειας από το τέλος του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου μέχρι σήμερα. Ανθρώπινο, ρεαλιστικό, βαθιά αληθινό, με μία αφήγηση που σου κρατάει το ενδιαφέρον μέχρι τέλους. 5/5.

[Мария Бахарева · Rating 5 out of 5]

Хороший, теперь хочется весь цикл про срединную англию прочитать