Customer Reviews
The bible of Englishness - By: Miss Sparrow, 26 Jun 2007 
This is the most enjoyable Betjeman book I've ever read - a book that's so good, it ought to be part of the English Literature curriculum. More than that: it ought to be read by everyone applying for British citizenship! In the course of 360 pages, Betjeman plunges you into what he regarded as the major issues of English identity - issues of aesthetics, civic duty, relations with authority, & individuality.
I suppose that all these ideas are containedin Betjeman's poetry, but there one tends to get distracted into noticing rhythm & metre & scansion. And Betjeman's poetic ideas are smaller. Here, although the writing is often lyrical, he addresses topicsin a much more direct way. He cares that unvalued townscapes are being destroyed, that there might be collusion between commercial interests & public officials, that the recent past & the middle brow are ignored by modern taste-makers. Especiallyin his earlier essays, he writes about these issues with passion & yet with a lightness of touch that engages the reader completely. Read this, & you cannot fail to agree that Betjeman stands as one of the foremost spokesmen of the twentieth century.
"Trains & Buttered Toast" (with its beautful cover design by Duff Tollemache) also shows that Betjeman was fascinated by individuals & individuality. He is correspondingly cruel about English stereotypes - the lumpen proletariat who,in the late 1940s, listened to popular music on car radios or went on holidayin luxury coaches. His point, however, is to criticise people's failure to open their eyes, ask original questions & discover fresh beauties - something he sees as the public's sheep instinct. The antidote, he suggests, is to look for inspiration at people who didn't go where everyone else went & who weren't damaged by commercial pressures & mass production. He finds his role modelsin Victoriana, an age that he regards as richin the culture of individuality. Many of his talks explore thisin its most extreme manifestation -in eccentricity &in provincialism. In fact, among the most entertaining talksin the entire book are those that look at individuals who dedicated themselves to the church. Never before Betjeman was there a literary category devoted to "West of England Victorian hymn-writing vicars". Now there is!
Spread a little happiness. Buy this book - & buy it for your friends. They'll love you for it: it's a total joy.
A new landmark in Betjeman studies - By: Miss Sparrow, 24 Aug 2006 This is the most enjoyable Betjeman book I've ever read - a book that's so good, it ought to be part of the English Literature curriculum. More than that: it ought to be read by everyone applying for British citizenship! In the course of 360 pages, Betjeman plunges you into what he regarded as the major issues of English identity - issues of aesthetics, civic duty, relations with authority, & individuality.
I suppose that all these ideas are containedin Betjeman's poetry, but there one tends to get distracted into noticing rhythm & metre & scansion. And Betjeman's poetic ideas are smaller. Here, although the writing is often lyrical, he addresses topicsin a much more direct way. He cares that unvalued townscapes are being destroyed, that there might be collusion between commercial interests & public officials, that the recent past & the middle brow are ignored by modern taste-makers. Especiallyin his earlier essays, he writes about these issues with passion & yet with a lightness of touch that engages the reader completely. Read this, & you cannot fail to agree that Betjeman stands as one of the foremost spokesmen of the twentieth century.
"Trains & Buttered Toast" (with its beautful cover design by Duff Tollemache) also shows that Betjeman was fascinated by individuals & individuality. He is correspondingly cruel about English stereotypes - the lumpen proletariat who,in the late 1940s, listened to popular music on car radios or went on holidayin luxury coaches. His point, however, is to criticise people's failure to open their eyes, ask original questions & discover fresh beauties - something he sees as the public's sheep instinct. The antidote, he suggests, is to look for inspiration at people who didn't go where everyone else went & who weren't damaged by commercial pressures & mass production. He finds his role modelsin Victoriana, an age that he regards as richin the culture of individuality. Many of his talks explore thisin its most extreme manifestation -in eccentricity &in provincialism. In fact, among the most entertaining talksin the entire book are those that look at individuals who dedicated themselves to the church. Never before Betjeman was there a literary category devoted to "West of England Victorian hymn-writing vicars". Now there is!
Spread a little happiness. Buy this book - & buy it for your friends. They'll love you for it: it's a total joy.
Discovering Englishness - By: Michael Roodyn, 20 Jul 2006 This is a most enjoyable read for anyone interestedin John Betjman or indeed anyone longing to go back to the times when trains had windows that would open! Stephen Games has skilfully edited talks given out on the BBC during a period of 40+ years. The range of topics, clearly indicating the diversity of the broadcaster, poet & architectual buff (self-taught) range from the wit of Tennyson to the lament of modernism encroaching on metropolitan & rural life, with many interesting talks coveredin between. Anyone interestin "how we lived then" should buy this book now.
Betjeman Revisited - By: Book Fan, 21 Jun 2006 This is a really warm & fond look at British life, taken from Betjeman's radio broadcasts. My favourite was the Eccentrics section, which made me laugh out loud. It reminded me of Bill Bryson's travel guides: Warm, funny & you always learn something new!
Essence of Betjeman - By: William, 26 May 2006 This is a terrific selection of Betjeman's radio broadcasts. And it seems to be get to heart of the man's passions, prejudices and, of course, humour. The talk on Tennyson made me laugh out loud. But it's Betj's love of English architecture & way of life that come through so stronglyin this collection. Reading the pieces you can almost hear that familiar voice one minute quietly serious & passionate, the next gently poking fun. What a remarkable man he was.
