A reading list on the weird and wonderful culture of Great Britain.
Brexit
Posted inQuotes
Open the Door to the Political World of Narnia
“One road unquestionably leads from Narnia to Brexit. Lewis would have hated the notion of a superstate with all the extra ‘meddling’ that implies.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
From Narnia to Brexit: CS Lewis, the Novels, and This Country of England
“A children’s story,” wrote Lewis, “is the best art form for something you have to say.”
Posted inFeature
Tea, Biscuits, and Empire: The Long Con of Britishness
The soft-focus Britain of Downton Abbey bears little resemblance to the real Britain collapsing under the weight of racism, austerity, and COVID-19. As Brexit plods on, it’s time for an honest reckoning of the history and future of this outsize little island.
Posted inBooks, Fiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
Irvine Welsh on Brexit, Existential Panic, and His Latest ‘Trainspotting’ Sequel
“The books from ‘Trainspotting’ onwards have been about deindustrialization … the cruel existential panic that we feel, in the sense that we don’t really know what we’re here for anymore.”
Posted inBooks, Fiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story, Writing
Sarah Moss on Brexit, Borders, Bog Bodies, and the ‘Foundation Myths of a Really Damaged Country’
Sarah Moss’s tale of Iron Age reenactors and parental abuse is her way of addressing Brexit. “Putting the skulls of the ancestors up in some attempt to hold back history never works.”
Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Quotes, Uncategorized
Welcome to the New Transnational Paradigm
The decline of national political authority requires a new transnational political system. First we have to stop denying the problem.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Will London Fall?
In an increasingly insular Britain, the world’s most cosmopolitan capital is bracing for an uncertain future.
Posted inFeatured, Nonfiction, Quotes
On the Thin Line Separating Honesty from Rudeness
Rachel Cusk explores the complicated question of politeness from various angles — from Brexit and the Trump presidency to airport security checks and in-store shopping etiquette. But she also dives deep into the fundamental difficulty of separating honesty from being plain rude.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Age of Rudeness
When society is as polarized and stratified as it is today, what does it take to imagine a definition of politeness and civility that transcends our differences?