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karTER
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 02:21 pm |
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LONDON (Reuters) - England is an irritating and insular country full of overweight, binge-drinking, reality TV addicts, a new guide warns tourists.
But in the new Rough Guide to England, the English are also hailed as a nation of animal-loving, tea-drinking charity donors who love nothing better than forming an orderly queue.
Gone, it seems, is the image of a genteel country awash with Englishmen politely tipping their bowler hats, groping through the London fog and being kinder to pets than kids.
The writers confess to bafflement over the quirky English, concluding that of the 200 countries the guide reviews there is none "so fascinating, beautiful and culturally diverse yet as insular, self-important and irritating as England."
They said the English are proud of their multi-culturalism and are united by one thing -- their sense of humour.
But there are constant contradictions. In a country priding itself on patriotism, they have a Scottish Prime Minister, an Italian football coach and a Greek married to the Queen.
They are gently mocked as voracious consumers of celebrity chit-chat and "as a glance at the tabloid newspapers will confirm, England is a nation of overweight, binge-drinking reality TV addicts."
Fair or not? What would you add? Or delete?
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Mav
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 02:23 pm |
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smell faintly of wee?
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karTER
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 02:24 pm |
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Mav wrote: smell faintly of wee?
Surely not everyone rides a BMW?
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nickwiz
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 04:00 pm |
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Hmmmm? I wonder if an Englishman wrote such a derrogatory sterotypical piece about the Germans for example, it would make it into respected travel book? It might make it as far as the tabloids but no further methinks.
But big but, I doubt this is all the rough guide has to say. I suspect its one paragraph in amongst a whole load more positive stuff.
To be honest it sounds like the media trying to stir up an argument to create news.
Last edited on Fri May 9th, 2008 04:04 pm by nickwiz
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Ian
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 04:05 pm |
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nickwiz wrote: Hmmmm? I wonder if an Englishman wrote such a derrogatory sterotypical bullshit piece about the Germans for example, it would make it into respected travel book? It might make it as far as the shite tabloids but no further methinks.
+1.
Fuck 'em. It's jealousy, that's all. I mean, just look at the place. Utopia, innit?
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karTER
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 06:25 pm |
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nickwiz wrote: Hmmmm? I wonder if an Englishman wrote such a derrogatory sterotypical piece about the Germans for example, it would make it into respected travel book? It might make it as far as the tabloids but no further methinks.
But big but, I doubt this is all the rough guide has to say. I suspect its one paragraph in amongst a whole load more positive stuff.
To be honest it sounds like the media trying to stir up an argument to create news.
I quoted this from Reuters, but also saw it in the Telegraph, where they elaborated more- see below in blue:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1939201/Rough-Guide-to-England%2C-an-irritating-place.html
And the book was written by four British travel writers. 
England, once famed for its high culture and good manners, has been dismissed in a new travel guide as home to "overweight, binge-drinking, reality TV addicts".
The Rough Guide to England, which is published around the world, says that the English have become obsessed with "C-list celebrities and toffs".
Visitors are warned that they will never fully understand what drives the country, or defines it as a nation.
As well as a fascination with celebrities, England is also characterised by tea-drinking charity donors who love animals and listen to Radio 4, it notes.
"Of the two hundred-plus destinations across the world that Rough Guide covers, there is none so fascinating, beautiful and culturally diverse, yet as insular, self-important and irritating, as England," says the guide, which was written by four British travel writers.
It claims that the country has been scarred by the London bombings and the war in Iraq, making it a "querulous, quarrelsome country" that may be suffering a national identity crisis.
It notes that we all have views on issues such as politics, crime and immigration, but are also voracious consumers of "celebrity chit-chat".
The guide says: "As a glance at the tabloid newspapers will confirm, England is a nation of overweight, binge-drinking reality TV addicts.
"But it's also a country of animal-loving, tea-drinking, charity donors, where queuing remains a national pastime and bastions of civilisation, such as Radio 4, are jealously protected. It's a nation that prides itself on its patriotism – yet has a Scottish prime minister, an Italian football coach and a Greek royal consort.
"Ask any English person to comment on all of this and you'll get an entertaining range of views. Try to make sense of these, and the resulting picture might suggest something akin to a national identity crisis."
The guide also highlights the gap between rich and poor, and our increasing use of anti-depressants despite a wealth of material goods.
"As never before, the English have become obedient consumers rather than active citizens, with brand loyalty the nearest thing to religious/spiritual belief," it says.
A spokesman for Visit Britain said: "People should not take these comments seriously. The comments demonstrate the quirkiness of the English personality that is so attractive to many visitors."
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PaulR
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 06:46 pm |
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It looks like a pretty fair assessment to me - quite incisive. The nature of Britain today has been much on my mind over the last few months, as I've been working on ten books, each dealing with a decade of British life. In researching these and especially the 3,500 photographs therein, I've built up quite an overview of how the country and its people have changed over a hundred years. It certainly wasn't always the way it is now, not that there haven't been some shameful periods (the 1930s take some beating), but the sulky, lowest-common-denominator atmosphere of the place today is a modern phenomenon, I think.
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TimmyMagic
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 07:27 pm |
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karTER wrote: And the book was written by four British travel writers.
Ahhhh, 2 Jocks, a Paddy and a sheep shagger probably 
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PaulR
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 08:45 pm |
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by Robert Andrews (Author), Jules Brown (Author), Rob Humphreys (Author), Phil Lee (Author), Donald Reid (Author), Matthew Teller (Contributor)
They all sound disappointingly English to me. Apart from that Donald Reid bloke, who could easily be a kilt-lifter.
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eddieknocker
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 09:06 pm |
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nickwiz wrote: Hmmmm? I wonder if an Englishman wrote such a derrogatory sterotypical piece about the Germans for example, it would make it into respected travel book? It might make it as far as the tabloids but no further methinks.
But big but, I doubt this is all the rough guide has to say. I suspect its one paragraph in amongst a whole load more positive stuff.
To be honest it sounds like the media trying to stir up an argument to create news.
Come on Nick - it's to do with our famous sense of humour - we can laugh at ourselves.
As for Roughguides i like em and use em alot but they credited a letter i sent to them correcting some stuff in their previous Brasil guide but left the out of date stuff in the new one. Would rather they updated the guide and left out my credit!
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HCR
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 09:20 pm |
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I'm as English as anyone I know, yet going back four generations in my family tree gives English, Scottish, Irish (albeit Anglo-Irish) and Belgian. Including all nationalities in my recorded family tree I have in addition Welsh, French, Spanish, Portugese, Danish, Prussian, German and Armenian blood in my veins.
Apologies to the countries I forgot to mention - nothing personal.
So perhaps being English is a bit like being a mongrel. Shall we call it hybrid vigour?
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dave1450
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 07:35 pm |
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PaulR wrote: It looks like a pretty fair assessment to me - quite incisive. The nature of Britain today has been much on my mind over the last few months, as I've been working on ten books, each dealing with a decade of British life. In researching these and especially the 3,500 photographs therein, I've built up quite an overview of how the country and its people have changed over a hundred years. It certainly wasn't always the way it is now, not that there haven't been some shameful periods (the 1930s take some beating), but the sulky, lowest-common-denominator atmosphere of the place today is a modern phenomenon, I think.
So the poorer areas of the big cities were better or worse than now? This idea of the country changing for the worse suggests there was a golden age of niceness. Absolute bollocks. The only thing thats changed, in the way we treat each other is the publicity it gets.
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nickwiz
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 11:15 pm |
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dave1450 wrote: PaulR wrote: It looks like a pretty fair assessment to me - quite incisive. The nature of Britain today has been much on my mind over the last few months, as I've been working on ten books, each dealing with a decade of British life. In researching these and especially the 3,500 photographs therein, I've built up quite an overview of how the country and its people have changed over a hundred years. It certainly wasn't always the way it is now, not that there haven't been some shameful periods (the 1930s take some beating), but the sulky, lowest-common-denominator atmosphere of the place today is a modern phenomenon, I think.
So the poorer areas of the big cities were better or worse than now? This idea of the country changing for the worse suggests there was a golden age of niceness. Absolute bollocks. The only thing thats changed, in the way we treat each other is the publicity it gets.
For once, Dave1450, we wholeheartedly agree!
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