East Markham Book Club
Watching the English
by Kate Fox
by Kate Fox
In this completely revised and updated edition of international bestseller Watching the English, anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people.
Now with new survey data to add weight to her original fieldwork findings, and more extensive field-research and experiments to back up earlier observations, Kate Fox has deciphered yet more enigmatic behaviour codes, adding new rules, new subcultures, new chapters and over 100 updates. If you're English, this new edition of Kate Fox's acclaimed international bestseller will make you stand back and re-examine everything you take for granted - and if you aren't English you'll finally understand all our peculiar little ways.
Watching the English has sold more than half a million copies and has been translated into many languages. Not only a worldwide bestseller, but also a set text for university anthropology courses, Watching the English has been widely praised as a revealing and entertaining dissection of the English national character.
Next Meeting Sunday 4th June 2023 at 7.30pm
Club Opinion
As always, it was a lively and entertaining evening discussing the book (Watching The English by Kate Fox). There was great anticipation before reading this one - it sounded like a fun, insightful look into our nation. Unfortunately the hype didn’t quite meet the reality, and despite the claim that it definitely wasn’t a textbook, you could be forgiven for feeling like you were back at school. Fox’s observations were not particularly witty and had many of us saying, ‘well yes, what’s your point?!’.
Loose comparisons were made with Bill Bryson’s books and Matt Haig’s The Humans, though those would be recommended far higher than this. There was a feeling that perhaps this would be a helpful guide for new arrivals in England, to explain common scenarios and expectations, but for most natives it’s a bit dull and dry.
To date it received our lowest ever rating, a paltry 2 out of 5, but it did produce a great discussion, so for those who ploughed through it all, that’s a bonus!
