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So instead of reading this nasty list of anti-British propaganda pieces, there's an actually decent list of British books, which was put online by "Culture Trip

So instead of reading this nasty list of anti-British propaganda pieces, there's an actually decent list of British books, which was put online by "Culture Trip", whoever they are: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/articles/12-books-to-read-before-visiting-england/ https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/art... This covers a wide range of history, and does cover (pre)modern culture - Zadie Smith's "White Teeth", for example.

shaftoe444 5y ago
That is a good list. I'll submit one opinion about the English, that we don't do theory and express ourselves and ideas best in fiction.
stuaxo 5y ago
There is one on the list that is "the long con of Britishness", not sure how the rest can be seen as "anti British".
- bencollier49 5y ago
  "Why I'm utterly sick of going for a walk" strikes at British culture in a very particularly Guardianish way. Then we have a class diatribe and a Brexit moan. I'll give you the marmalade.
  - stuaxo 5y ago
    The walk thing I just found amusing, my parents loved walking but I hated it as a kid, came to appreciate it more. Then in the lockdown with a small child, with one nice walk nearby, walking it again and again it goes so boring - it resonated as something funny, it seems like people are looking for things to be offended by? It's also funny as Guardian readers are right in the "going for a walk" demographic - it's poking fun at themselves.
  - somewhereoutth 5y ago
    Given that Brexit is by any objective measure an act purely of destruction, born of fear and selfishness, I think a moan might be justified.
    - bencollier49 5y ago
      I fear that your objective judgements may be biased.
derriz 5y ago
The list is a personal selection - some critical of and some positive towards aspects of British culture. I'm not sure why it's upset you so, unless you either believe that there are no unattractive aspects of British culture, or that nobody should ever comment on the unattractive aspects.
- bencollier49 5y ago
  A "Great British" list of books shouldn't focus in the majority on left-wing critique. Like I said elsewhere, I'll give you the marmalade, but the rest is the product of metropolitan miserabilists.
  - derriz 5y ago
    Half of the 6 reads seem like gently sympathetic descriptions of peculiarities of British life (the popularity of holiday walks in bad weather, marmalade and pets). I don't see the source of the offence in any of these stories - but then again, I'm not British.

shaftoe444 5y ago

That is a good list. I'll submit one opinion about the English, that we don't do theory and express ourselves and ideas best in fiction.

stuaxo 5y ago

There is one on the list that is "the long con of Britishness", not sure how the rest can be seen as "anti British".

bencollier49 5y ago
"Why I'm utterly sick of going for a walk" strikes at British culture in a very particularly Guardianish way. Then we have a class diatribe and a Brexit moan. I'll give you the marmalade.
- stuaxo 5y ago
  The walk thing I just found amusing, my parents loved walking but I hated it as a kid, came to appreciate it more. Then in the lockdown with a small child, with one nice walk nearby, walking it again and again it goes so boring - it resonated as something funny, it seems like people are looking for things to be offended by? It's also funny as Guardian readers are right in the "going for a walk" demographic - it's poking fun at themselves.
- somewhereoutth 5y ago
  Given that Brexit is by any objective measure an act purely of destruction, born of fear and selfishness, I think a moan might be justified.
  - bencollier49 5y ago
    I fear that your objective judgements may be biased.

derriz 5y ago

The list is a personal selection - some critical of and some positive towards aspects of British culture. I'm not sure why it's upset you so, unless you either believe that there are no unattractive aspects of British culture, or that nobody should ever comment on the unattractive aspects.

bencollier49 5y ago
A "Great British" list of books shouldn't focus in the majority on left-wing critique. Like I said elsewhere, I'll give you the marmalade, but the rest is the product of metropolitan miserabilists.
- derriz 5y ago
  Half of the 6 reads seem like gently sympathetic descriptions of peculiarities of British life (the popularity of holiday walks in bad weather, marmalade and pets). I don't see the source of the offence in any of these stories - but then again, I'm not British.