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Anthem
Anglefield Road is a novel fearless in the scale of its ambition, as the lives of four families are changed and in some cases overturned by a dispute over a group of small, barren islands at the bottom of the world. It is a heartrending, also at times surprisingly amusing, story of the horrors of war-at home and abroad-and, finally, of a long delayed reunion that takes place in the most surprising of circumstances.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Tim Binding
24 books10 followersNovelist Tim Binding was born in Germany in 1947. A former editor at Penguin Books in London, he is a part-time commissioning editor at London publishers Simon & Schuster. He is the author of the novels, In the Kingdom of Air (1993), A Perfect Execution (1996) (shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize), Island Madness (1998), set on Guernsey during the Second World War, and Man Overboard (2005).
He co-wrote a comedy drama series for BBC television in 1998, entitled The Last Salute, working with Simon Nye, creator of the Men Behaving Badly comedy series. On Ilkley Moor: The Story of an English Town (2001), is a memoir and history of the area where he grew up. Anthem, a moving and entertaining story of the horror of war and its consequences, was published in 2003. His latest novel is Sylvie and the Songman (2008) and is illustrated by Angela Barrett.
Tim Binding lives in Kent with his wife and daughter.
He co-wrote a comedy drama series for BBC television in 1998, entitled The Last Salute, working with Simon Nye, creator of the Men Behaving Badly comedy series. On Ilkley Moor: The Story of an English Town (2001), is a memoir and history of the area where he grew up. Anthem, a moving and entertaining story of the horror of war and its consequences, was published in 2003. His latest novel is Sylvie and the Songman (2008) and is illustrated by Angela Barrett.
Tim Binding lives in Kent with his wife and daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 11, 2019
This is an odd one. It's basically the interwoven stories of four families who live on the same road in an English town, told against the backdrop of the Falklands War in the 1990s. One couple, in particular, are employed on a cruise ship that gets conscripted for military duty in the war. Each family is going through its own crisis, some comical, most very serious. What kept me from rating this higher is that I couldn't work up much empathy for most of the characters. They aren't directly unlikable, but they didn't engage me either. The most sympathetic one is the wife who goes off on the ship, but even she wore thin me after a while. A very interesting tale bookends the novel, but what comes in between was something of a slog.
April 29, 2023
Every now and then you come across a book which fills you with such delight you forget that you ever stopped reading books and you can't wait to snuggle up in bed or on the couch with a cup of tea and just indulge in good literature and plotlines which raise your spirits and inspire you.
This was not that kind of book, for me at least. This was the OPPOSITE of that kind of book.
I made a bad decision and tried to finish the book if only for the sake of the GoodReads challenge - so as to actually tick it off my list - which meant I put off reading the book as it either bored or upset me, so the whole ordeal took nearly 5 months. It was like the reading equivalent of climbing Mt Everest - one helluva hard slog. In reality, if a book has that effect on you, you should really give up when you're 2-3 chapters in so as to not waste your precious time!
I'll get the positives out of the way first: Tim Binding is a sophisticated, poetic writer. He uses all of the typical writers tools in any way that he can resulting in long, long, long, long, long sentences comprising a mishmash of metaphors and similes which you may need to read again to ensure you're following properly. E.g.
"Of all the pets and creatures that inhabit Anglefield Road this tortoise is the most widely travelled, inching his way day on day through the secrets of their gardens, taking winter refuge in any number of comfortable hideaways, the Armstrongs' rotting compost, the upended sheet-stuffed cardboard box inside the Plimsoll's garage, and last season under the Millens' long and heavily padlocked shed, from which seeped an imperceptible flow of engine oil which dripped upon his shell and thus accounts for its brilliant gloss and his peculiarly mechanical smell."
If you thought that above sentence was wonderfully evocative and it makes you want to read more then perhaps this book is for you. But, if you're like me and you were so overwhelmed or bored by the information that you forgot the subject was a f**king tortoise (!!) when you reached the end of the sentence, then save yourself a huge hassle. Avoid this book.
It is also good to have a kind of recent-history-event period drama. Not a lot of people in my generation remember or care about the Falklands War so it's notable to remind us of what was happening in England.
My issues with this book are: writing style which is a subjective one (see above), thinly-veiled misogyny, pornographic-level misery and imploring the reader to care about something.
Every female character in this book is a kind of nymphomaniac. Hyper-sexualised at least at one point in their lives (as this is a book which goes over the history of one generation of the character's families) and their femininity very much defines them. The background female characters are ditsy, pretty girls who are more than willing to have intercourse with men who they just met. As a woman, I found this aspect of the novel fairly disturbing for a book written only 20 years ago. The female character that he gives the most attention and depth to - Suzanne - appears to be plagued with visions of a priest all the time due to her Catholic guilt about constant lustful feelings and feelings about running away on the Canberra and not settling down, or at least that's the message I read into it. It all got a bit vague and pretentious when her thoughts were being written about. The only two women who are not hyper sexualised by this book are a dowdy housewife with twins and a teenager whose asexuality defines part of her character... which is disappointing.
To be perfectly clear, I am not accusing the author of being a misogynist, as I don't know him or his life, but the way he's written female characters in this book uses several sexist tropes. I'm not sure a book like this would fly in the literary world today. I guess a lot can happen to culture in a couple of decades.
And then there's the misery. Almost everything in this book is sad, depressing, violent, shocking. Perhaps this is a subjective one too as it is a kitchen-sink drama novel after all which might just not be my kind of bag. But do awful things happen to EVERYONE in all kitchen-sink dramas? I don't remember feeling this way when I watched one kitchen-sink drama in the theatre recently. At least most have a feeling of elation or inspiration at some points. To be fair, the character Henry loves music and when he plays the violin - that's inspiring. But overall this novel gave me a sense of despair and revulsion. Soldiers forced to masturbate while facing each other at sea, for example. Why? Why do we need to see this in our minds eye? The Ultimate Sad-Sack character Richard Roach - he might as well be a cartoon character with the way he thinks and the fates that befall him. I would feel abhorrently voyeuristic if I were to keep watching the drama that befalls him, rather than learning anything or feeling any relief. For me, it was just too much. There wasn't enough joy and inspiration to balance it all out.
And then there was the obvious imploring: Anglefield Road this and Anglefield Road that. Dude, you can't make me care about a street that much just because all the main characters happen to be living on it! To make a reader or viewer care about something, you need to lay down the groundwork in the plotline and progression. And he does do this though the plotline alone: Henry's book says that he lives in Anglefield Road and it's there waiting for him all through his life. But asking us explicitly to care about Anglefield Road several times in the book rather that just letting the story have that effect on us itself ruins the effect and comes across pretty pretentious. Like someone explaining a metaphor after stating the metaphor. Not ideal.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is: this book was not for me. Sorry Mr. Binding. Good effort though.
This was not that kind of book, for me at least. This was the OPPOSITE of that kind of book.
I made a bad decision and tried to finish the book if only for the sake of the GoodReads challenge - so as to actually tick it off my list - which meant I put off reading the book as it either bored or upset me, so the whole ordeal took nearly 5 months. It was like the reading equivalent of climbing Mt Everest - one helluva hard slog. In reality, if a book has that effect on you, you should really give up when you're 2-3 chapters in so as to not waste your precious time!
I'll get the positives out of the way first: Tim Binding is a sophisticated, poetic writer. He uses all of the typical writers tools in any way that he can resulting in long, long, long, long, long sentences comprising a mishmash of metaphors and similes which you may need to read again to ensure you're following properly. E.g.
"Of all the pets and creatures that inhabit Anglefield Road this tortoise is the most widely travelled, inching his way day on day through the secrets of their gardens, taking winter refuge in any number of comfortable hideaways, the Armstrongs' rotting compost, the upended sheet-stuffed cardboard box inside the Plimsoll's garage, and last season under the Millens' long and heavily padlocked shed, from which seeped an imperceptible flow of engine oil which dripped upon his shell and thus accounts for its brilliant gloss and his peculiarly mechanical smell."
If you thought that above sentence was wonderfully evocative and it makes you want to read more then perhaps this book is for you. But, if you're like me and you were so overwhelmed or bored by the information that you forgot the subject was a f**king tortoise (!!) when you reached the end of the sentence, then save yourself a huge hassle. Avoid this book.
It is also good to have a kind of recent-history-event period drama. Not a lot of people in my generation remember or care about the Falklands War so it's notable to remind us of what was happening in England.
My issues with this book are: writing style which is a subjective one (see above), thinly-veiled misogyny, pornographic-level misery and imploring the reader to care about something.
Every female character in this book is a kind of nymphomaniac. Hyper-sexualised at least at one point in their lives (as this is a book which goes over the history of one generation of the character's families) and their femininity very much defines them. The background female characters are ditsy, pretty girls who are more than willing to have intercourse with men who they just met. As a woman, I found this aspect of the novel fairly disturbing for a book written only 20 years ago. The female character that he gives the most attention and depth to - Suzanne - appears to be plagued with visions of a priest all the time due to her Catholic guilt about constant lustful feelings and feelings about running away on the Canberra and not settling down, or at least that's the message I read into it. It all got a bit vague and pretentious when her thoughts were being written about. The only two women who are not hyper sexualised by this book are a dowdy housewife with twins and a teenager whose asexuality defines part of her character... which is disappointing.
To be perfectly clear, I am not accusing the author of being a misogynist, as I don't know him or his life, but the way he's written female characters in this book uses several sexist tropes. I'm not sure a book like this would fly in the literary world today. I guess a lot can happen to culture in a couple of decades.
And then there's the misery. Almost everything in this book is sad, depressing, violent, shocking. Perhaps this is a subjective one too as it is a kitchen-sink drama novel after all which might just not be my kind of bag. But do awful things happen to EVERYONE in all kitchen-sink dramas? I don't remember feeling this way when I watched one kitchen-sink drama in the theatre recently. At least most have a feeling of elation or inspiration at some points. To be fair, the character Henry loves music and when he plays the violin - that's inspiring. But overall this novel gave me a sense of despair and revulsion. Soldiers forced to masturbate while facing each other at sea, for example. Why? Why do we need to see this in our minds eye? The Ultimate Sad-Sack character Richard Roach - he might as well be a cartoon character with the way he thinks and the fates that befall him. I would feel abhorrently voyeuristic if I were to keep watching the drama that befalls him, rather than learning anything or feeling any relief. For me, it was just too much. There wasn't enough joy and inspiration to balance it all out.
And then there was the obvious imploring: Anglefield Road this and Anglefield Road that. Dude, you can't make me care about a street that much just because all the main characters happen to be living on it! To make a reader or viewer care about something, you need to lay down the groundwork in the plotline and progression. And he does do this though the plotline alone: Henry's book says that he lives in Anglefield Road and it's there waiting for him all through his life. But asking us explicitly to care about Anglefield Road several times in the book rather that just letting the story have that effect on us itself ruins the effect and comes across pretty pretentious. Like someone explaining a metaphor after stating the metaphor. Not ideal.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is: this book was not for me. Sorry Mr. Binding. Good effort though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2025
Checking my bookshelves, I discovered that I've read three Tim Binding books: Island Madness in 2001, The Champion in 2012, and now Anthem. The fact that I keep coming back to him indicates that he can tell a good story, but the long intervals in between are down to something that I would call his cruelty: he is cruel to his characters, and his characters are cruel to each other.
In Anthem, the story rests on the various cruelties inflicted on Henry, the nearest thing the book has to a hero, but other key characters are cruel to each other within their various relationships. There is viciousness too, both in the Falklands War story that is the centrepiece of the novel, and in the supposedly more genteel world of the characters back in suburban England.
There is humour too, particular in the minor characters, like the lawnmower-obsessed Freddie and the camp bar stewards on the Canberra. But reading Anthem does feel like a slog at times, partly because Binding writes long paragraphs that sometimes span whole pages. This is effective at times; the chapter where Henry goes into battle in the Falklands is a real tour de force that demands to be read in one go. At other times, though, it's hard to keep track of what's going on, particularly when the narrative slips back and forth between time periods.
Your enjoyment of the novel may ultimately depend on how you feel about the author's use of coincidence. The mechanism of the plot revolves around a couple of enormous ones, and relies on key characters not asking the right questions of their neighbours and travelling companions.
Overall, I did enjoy Anthem, which has an original premise (and I've never read one set around the Falklands War before), and I did care about the characters. I'll come back to Tim Binding - but it may not be for another few years.
In Anthem, the story rests on the various cruelties inflicted on Henry, the nearest thing the book has to a hero, but other key characters are cruel to each other within their various relationships. There is viciousness too, both in the Falklands War story that is the centrepiece of the novel, and in the supposedly more genteel world of the characters back in suburban England.
There is humour too, particular in the minor characters, like the lawnmower-obsessed Freddie and the camp bar stewards on the Canberra. But reading Anthem does feel like a slog at times, partly because Binding writes long paragraphs that sometimes span whole pages. This is effective at times; the chapter where Henry goes into battle in the Falklands is a real tour de force that demands to be read in one go. At other times, though, it's hard to keep track of what's going on, particularly when the narrative slips back and forth between time periods.
Your enjoyment of the novel may ultimately depend on how you feel about the author's use of coincidence. The mechanism of the plot revolves around a couple of enormous ones, and relies on key characters not asking the right questions of their neighbours and travelling companions.
Overall, I did enjoy Anthem, which has an original premise (and I've never read one set around the Falklands War before), and I did care about the characters. I'll come back to Tim Binding - but it may not be for another few years.
December 29, 2023
An entertaining novel of loss. Four suburban houses in Anglefield Road whose occupants are all suffering from some form of loss or dissatisfaction with their lot. One couple still mourning the disappearance of their seven-year-old son thirty years earlier, one unhappy couple trying unsuccessfully to manage their teenage son, one obsessed with lawnmowers and trying to turn this to their advantage and the final couple trying to patch up their relationship which was born on the Canberra ocean-going liner. The Falklands War impacts them all in different ways, and the ending ties many of the loose ends together convincingly.
August 2, 2016
It was interesting to read a book set during the Falklands War, an event I remember, but as a teenager at the time, only in a superficial way. In this novel, the author puts us right aboard the HMS Canberra as it heads for the conflict zone. It's not a book totally about war; rather, the events are used as a catalyst to change the lives of some of the residents of a North London street. I liked the way the book started out by setting up some really compelling situations to hook the reader. I also liked the Millens, who supplied most of the book's humour - we needed to see more of them!
There is a tendency towards very long paragraphs, and for this reason it can be a tough read at times. I didn't want to lose any of the text, I just needed the oxygen of blank space every now and again. Towards the end there are some paragraphs that go on for several pages without a break, and this was surely not a matter of the author's style, it was a deliberate act. Brave, because that type of thing makes for difficult reading, but when all's said and done this is a pretty bold, serious, intelligent book.
There is a tendency towards very long paragraphs, and for this reason it can be a tough read at times. I didn't want to lose any of the text, I just needed the oxygen of blank space every now and again. Towards the end there are some paragraphs that go on for several pages without a break, and this was surely not a matter of the author's style, it was a deliberate act. Brave, because that type of thing makes for difficult reading, but when all's said and done this is a pretty bold, serious, intelligent book.
January 17, 2014
This should be a four star book, a good story told by a good writer, but all those scene setting segues and time traveling traipses are just plain confusing to the plot. One minute you're sailing on the crest of an emotional wave and the next you're flicking back a page to see which time zone you're in or even which character he's referring to.
A couple of minor points to end on, first, too many typo's and second, he should know the difference between a Union Jack and a Union flag, bah. ;-)
A couple of minor points to end on, first, too many typo's and second, he should know the difference between a Union Jack and a Union flag, bah. ;-)
July 12, 2015
It needed a discerning editor to cut out the swathes of digression. I could skim a paragraph every two pages. There were some highlights and I got really engaged in the last chapter but aside from that a bit too slow. Having so many characters made me have to keep reminding myself who was who although towards the end all seemed to have their place in the book. Would not be rushing to read another of his books ...
September 9, 2008
Tim Binding uses the 1982 Falklands War as the backdrop in this engrossing novel that runs from daily suburban drama to the tension of the South Atlantic Ocean.
The entwined lives of the characters intrigue and overlap to an unexpected denouement.
The entwined lives of the characters intrigue and overlap to an unexpected denouement.
September 17, 2013
Tim Binding is such an accessible writer, and this story of ordinary people and the Faulklands War, is an exploration of the intertwined lives of 4 families on Anglefield Road. A story of coincidences, war, death, familial love and loss. A great read
February 28, 2011
A fabulous book. Everything this man writes is.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews