Across the Pond: An Englishman's View of America
A Humor, Politics, Nonfiction book. In a world in which everything bears the indelible impress of Man, it...
Americans have long been fascinated with the oddness of the British, but the English, according to Terry Eagleton, find their transatlantic neighbors equally strange. Why must we broadcast our children’s school grades with bumper stickers announcing “My Child Made the Honor Roll?” Why don’t we appreciate the indispensability of the teapot? And why do we so foolishly insist on being friendly to every passing stranger? In his quirky journey through the language, geography, and national character of the USA, literary theorist Eagleton probes the depths of American culture with an academic’s gravitas and a comedian’s glee. He answers the questions his compatriots have always had but (being British) are too reticent to ask, like why we willingly rise at the crack of dawn, even on Sundays. In this pithy, warmhearted, and often very funny book, Eagleton melds a good old-fashioned roast with true admiration for his neighbors across the pond.
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- Filetype: PDF
- Pages: 178 pages
- ISBN: 9780393088984 / 0
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More About Across the Pond: An Englishman's View of America
In a world in which everything bears the indelible impress of Man, it is refreshing to escape from time to time from this wall-to-wall humanisation. Hence the American enthusiasm for national parks and outdoor activities. It is seductive to see the world as though we were not there to see it. We can always dream of perceiving things as they are in themselves, without the buzz and distortion of human meaning. We can take a vacation now and then from the intolerable burden of sense-making, rather as we do when we treat human flesh as something to be mindlessly... Americans come out of the comparison rather better. They may overdo emotion, but they are not fearful of it. A surplus of feeling has rarely done as much damage as a deficiency of it. Terry Eagleton, Across the Pond: An Englishman's View of America // British flight attendants warn you not to tamper with the smoke detectors in the aircraft toilets, whereas American flight attendants warn you not to tamper with, disable or destroy them. Terry Eagleton, Across the Pond: An Englishman's View of America //
I enjoyed Terry Eagletons book, Across the Pond, and not just because my own book shares a very similar title and is loosely based on the same theme.While we both share an interest in humorously recording UK/US differences and similarities, any comparison between our two books ends there; Mr. Eagleton is a prominent British literary... An entertaining if not especially profound diversion, although I am vulnerable to Eagleton's charma fact that should color my recommendation for you. It put me in mind of a dreadful Frances Trollope screed I was made to read as an undergraduate, about the brutish and rough-spun indignities of then-adolescent American capitalism, except... In this season of the Rise of Trump, I was looking forward to a good, witty lambasting of American culture and dysfunction. Instead, I got this book.Here are some of my margin notes,"No examples?""Why does he keep switching topics to the Irish?""funny""Aimless ranting." "Editor?" "WHAT is he SAYING?""Makes zero sense.""Huh? Define?""I...
