Speak for England

by James Hawes

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Genres: Fiction, Novels, Humor, British Literature, Satire

338 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Andy Howells · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Hawes' “Speak For England” presents an intriguing exploration of both traditional and contemporary human values. The narrative follows Brian Marley, a divorced English tutor grappling with a midlife crisis, who finds himself infatuated with one of his students while struggling to gather funds for a trip with his three-year-old son. In a bid for financial relief, Marley enters a reality television show set in the uncharted jungles of Papua New Guinea. Just as he is on the verge of winning a two-million-pound prize, a tragic accident propels him deep into the jungle, where he encounters a colony of English survivors and their descendants from a 1950s plane crash.

Rich with allusions to post-war England and sprinkled with references to popular culture, including the Eagle comic and Dan Dare, “Speak For England” caught my attention upon reading its synopsis. Hawes' premise of a reality TV show gone awry, leading to a contestant's memory loss and subsequent discovery of a lost colony, is entertaining. However, there are some drawbacks to the narrative.

I found that the story took a while to gain momentum after the initial chapter, where Brian believes he is facing death. The plot then backtracks several months to provide context for his journey and introduce various characters connected to the main narrative. The pace picks up again once we return to the jungle, where Brian appears eager to embrace a newfound paradise rooted in traditional values, all while the English government prepares for a referendum that intriguingly predates Brexit by 15 years.

The book tends to lose pace again towards the conclusion, as it delves into extensive detail about a single event before ultimately reaching an open-ended finale. “Speak For England” evokes memories of surreal films by Lindsay Anderson, such as "If…” or “Oh Lucky Man!” which challenge readers' perceptions of politics and class through often unlikable characters usually with extreme opinions on race and gender, however as the book displays, even with a gap in cultural standards of nearly half a century, people seemingly rarely change their inclinations inwardly. However, I found The Headmaster's character grew on me quite considerably towards the end, while I felt the protagonist Brian had much to owe to the late Ronnie Corbett’s mummy's boy character from the classic TV sitcom "Sorry"! I awarded the book five stars due to my appreciation for its concept and the authors clever observations and realistic characterisations.

[Alistair · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is not really a 5 star book but i enjoyed it and laughed like a drain most of the time
the anti hero brian marley is a 40 something average bloke who has not done much with his life and has blundered about with no direction . he goes on a reality tv show and is the last survivor in the jungle in Papua New Guinea . he thinks the end is nigh when he staggers into an english settlement , the last survivors of a plane that crashed there in the 1950's .they have continued to live an idealised 50's English life where the world was empire red , we beat everone at cricket and school boys called Devereaux minor were born and bred . the headmaster wears a tweed jacket and keeps " getting things done ".
To Marley bought up on Dan Dare and a nostalgia for the good old days and patently not quite fitting in to modern day life he thinks this is paradise .
Marley has to update the community on what has happened to England since then and there is some fine old satire at the expense of Blair's Britain and disbelief from the settlement at how England has gone to the dogs .
But the idealised 50's had a dark side . foreigners were treated appallingly , if you didn't go to the right school you were an outcast and snobbery was rampant as Brian Marley discovers .
Eventually he is rescued by the TV company and the headmaster and the settlement returned to England . All of this is accompanied by a media frenzy and many media sharks trying to enrichen themselves in the bunfight .
The headmaster becomes Prime Minister promising to get things done , the country is run on boarding school lines , and Brian Marley gets cheated out of his reality show winnings and still finds the world a complete mystery .
This is a fast paced novel with a brilliant mixture of satire , parody and sadness . read it with lashings of ginger beer !
Rather !

[LireauxWC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ce que j’ai aimé : A posteriori, ce livre est plutôt intéressant concernant l’histoire de l’empire britannique. J’ai bien aimé aussi la question sous-jacente qui est de savoir qui, finalement, est le sauvage dans l’histoire. C’est toujours sympa de voir les méandres de la pensée humaine.

Ce que je n’ai pas aimé : En revanche, je n’ai pas aimé le style de l’auteur: il m’aura fallu plus d’un an pour le lire tellement j’avais du mal à accrocher! Je n’ai pas aimé du tout les scènes un peu dégueux de bestioles dans la jungle (ça c’est mon côté bébètophobe). Surtout, je n’ai pas aimé la publicité mensongère de ma libraire, à qui j’avais demandé un livre léger et drôle… c’est sans aucun doute pour ça que j’ai eu tant de mal à le lire!

http://wc.pressepuree.fr/pour-le-meil...

[Michelle Hallett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading this one.

[Lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satire of Old English values involving a reality survival TV show, plane crash survivors from the 1950s, and underachieving. It’s very much told in the voice of a man born in the 1960s with high sentimental value given to boys annuals and military power. Much like "It Can’t Happen Here" the final chapter reveals how a country can’t let go of its empirical past and thirst for military control. 'Common sense' and 'doing your part' are slogans used to win elections, united the people, and ultimately place them under a police state.

[Alan Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever idea and points out flaws in both progressive and conservative thinking. I particularly liked the future history of leaving the EU in the early 2000s and the ramifications - not really a spoiler since that was only half a page.

[Deborah]

DNF. Not my cup of tea.

[Jo K Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly written and skips areas of explanation.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps another star would be added if I were a Brit and not a Yank and therefore appreciated the nuances of his jabs.

Great story line: Brian Marley received an upper-crust education but is stuck in a lower middle class job with the finances to match. He's an English as a second language teacher. Apparently England reveres and pays their teachers about the same as we Yanks. Brian is divorced with a three year-old son he gets every other weekend. He's in deep debt, which is why he agrees to become a contestant in a British reality show, one similar but more brutal and risky than our "Survivor."

Brian wins and will be a millionaire when he returns from the south seas. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for we readers, his flight home crashes in the most remote part of New Guinea. He is the sole survivor. Delirious and almost dead he is found with great coincidence by the descendants of the survivors of a 1958 flight of school children on their way from England to summer camp in Australia. Brian is taken to their compound and nursed back to health by George (a female)the seductive camp nurse, for a time he has almost total amnesia.

This is the vehicle that author James Hawes uses to poke fun at British life and morality past and present. These crash survivors and their ancient headmaster believe they were shot down by a Russian MIG at the beginning of World War III. They do not know who won the war or if there is anything left of England. Therefore they have built and preserved a mini-England carved out of the jungle, complete with rugby, cricket, the objectification of women and a segmented class society. There are a few notable and ironic exceptions to their preservation of 1958 England that shall go nameless here in fear of spoiling some of the books juicier surprises.

America and England have always held a curious bond. In many ways England still thinks of us as the colonies, or as the son who made good. "Speak for England" carries plenty of barbs about that relationship as in the following conversation with Brian, the Headmaster and one of the boys just after Brian's memory returns:

Headmaster - "Good old Winston, I hope they gave him a good send-off."

Brian - "Oh yes, they must have given a day off school or something and it was a big thing. We all watched it on TV. And someone landed on the moon, yes, that was exciting, we all watched that too."

"Golly, Headmaster, an Englishman on the moon.

"No, sorry, it was just the Americans on the moon."

"What, man, all?"

"I'm afraid so. And there was a war, in a place called Vietnam, for a very long time. All the time it felt like ..."

"I know damn well where Vietnam is, Marley, I fought in Korea with the Glosters. Did we win in Vietnam?"

"It wasn't us. Just the Americans, they lost."

"Hmm, that sounds believable. Tough little sods, the Vietnamese. Chaps knocked the stuffing out of the Frogs."


Without giving anything away, this satirical spoof turns dark (no, not Lord of the Flies dark) and warns of what can happen when societies give up liberties in order to repair its ills.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, more of a three-and-a-half than a pure three. Speak for England addresses the silliness of reality TV shows like I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, the tight-knit nature of class in Britain, questions of race, and also questions of social morality; i.e., what is considered acceptable and why is it considered acceptable given the circumstances. While not a brilliant work, it was still engaging and entertaining. The protagonist is an old-fashioned bumbler dropped into a situation far beyond his ken, his environment is overwhelming, and his dreams, while strangely attainable, seem fit to be thwarted.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The social commentary on the English personality was certainly interesting, though some of it went over my head. The story is engaging, but ultimately shallow, and very few characters are developed beyond stereotypes with the occasional quirk. The ending, or lack thereof, is an interesting choice, but somehow exacerbates the two-dimensionality of the two female characters. A decent light read, but nothing stunning.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hilarious and its plot was ridiculous. A group of British school children crash on an island during WWII and create their own society complete with a "Headmaster" to serve as their leader. They are completely stuck in the 40s. A man who is participating in a rather dangerous, Survivor-type game show gets stranded on this island and come across this society. It was interesting to see how the clash of eras of the same culture played out...it was ridiculous.

[Adelaide · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a lot of good ideas and themed, particularly around "being British", the relationship between UK and US and what makes England but I struggled to finish as I wasn't hooked by the writing style and story development.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd book - seemed uncertain of its aim - farce or satire? - and ended on an irksome cliffhanger.

[Chris Trevett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great storyteller in the British tradition, but accessible to everyone who enjoys fiction. The love triangle ending is nearly perfect in its ambiguity.

[Kristian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun idea, great writing style

[Beth Shields-Szostak]

1st edition

[Curtis Edmonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review at Bookreporter.com: http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/s...

[Sharon Eshel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps I should have given it a 5-star-rating, considering how often it comes to mind, and how profoundly clever I think it is.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's an exciting adventure that gets your blood boiling. It reveals your own patriotism by creating a defensive feel to the new 'Old England.'