Xenophobe's Guide to the English (Xenophobe's Guides)

Miall, Antony; Milsted, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1906042292 ISBN 13: 9781906042295

Verlag: Oval Books, 2008

Unusual book

Críticas:

"Each book is an entertaining essay on the failings, foibles and good points of their subjects. Their humour is relaxed and gentle and it would be a sour, churlish native of a subject country who would object seriously."
--"The Northern Times"
"The Xenophobe's Guides raise a smile and give you an understanding of the beliefs and foibles of nationalities."
--"Glasgow Evening Times "

Reseña del editor:

Never overstep the mark

Moderation—a treasured ideal—means a lot to the English. Their respect for it is reflected in their shared dislike of any person who “goes too far.”

 

Irrational rationality

The English can admire something without enjoying it, or enjoy something they suspect is fundamentally reprehensible. You can never be sure which stance they are going to take—the reassuringly reasonable, or the wildly irrational.

 

I'm fine, really

Stoicism, the capacity to greet life's vicissitudes with cheerful calm, is an essential ingredient of Englishness.

 

Push-me, pull-you

Two equally fundamental but contradictory English characteristics are a love of continuity and a yearning for change. In the English character these two opposite desires vie with each other constantly, which produces some curious behavior patterns and several characteristics most usually observed in the classic split personality.