Jonathan Coe, heartbroken by England in the 2010s

Tuesday's books - Lauriane Pipoz

Part novel, part political essay, Jonathan Coe returns to introduce us to the forces behind the Brexit. Through the characters of Welcome to the Club and from Closed circle, he tells us about the of this once powerful country. Thanks to their adventures and, above all I laughed a lot. But it's a story of collapse collapse that the author describes for us. Without seeming to.

«How did England get here?» This is the question the characters in the novel «The Heart of England" are trying to answer. More or less consciously. Between 2010 and 2018, what has changed? Why a Brexit? How can we explain the rise of hatred in the streets?

The latter comes across well in this novel. Welcome to the Club was marked by the pub bombings of 1974. Here, we witness the riots of 2011. As with the former, these outbursts of violence have a political origin. As such, they are of interest to our author, who goes to great lengths to show not only the causes, but also the devastating consequences of this violence. He explains them simply, thanks to the clear stances taken by the characters. Benjamin, Doug, Sophie and the others join and oppose each other to show us how social background can - or can't - determine which side they'll be on when the question of Brexit arises. Or the Brixit, a term used by the author to illustrate, in a surreal way, just how out of touch Dave Cameron’s administration is with reality.

«Excuse me, I'm interrupting, suppose the people vote for what?
- Brexit.»
Nigel looked at him in amazement. «Where on earth did you come up with that word?”
– Isn't that what people say?
– I thought it was called Brixit.
- What? Brixit?
– That's what we're saying.
- Who are we?
»-Dave and the whole team."

«And here we are, having always said »Brixit«…” Nigel shook his head as he jotted down more detailed notes. “This is going to cause quite a stir at the next Cabinet meeting.”.
»Well, since you're convinced it won't happen, you don't really need a word to describe it..."

This simplicity is Jonathan Coe’s strength. Have you read the first two books in this trilogy? That’s perfect. Haven’t read them? That’s fine, too. Because Jonathan Coe leaves no one behind—not his brand-new readers, nor those unfamiliar with British politics. The characters reflect on the past often enough that even a novice reader can jump right in. But without making it feel that way. The conciseness of the events keeps you from getting bored; their sheer number paints a complete picture of the political and personal situations—and often the political-personal ones, since the two are almost always intertwined. This is the true strength of this genre, which straddles the line between novel and political essay: the author uses his characters to help us easily understand the political forces at work. The most telling example is the breakup of the Sophie-Ian couple, torn apart by remain and leave.

At their very first session, a week later, Lorna, their marriage counselor, explained that many of the couples she was seeing at the time had cited Brexit as a key factor in the breakdown of their relationships.
«I usually start by asking everyone the same question. Sophie, why are you so angry at Ian for voting »no’ on the European Union? And you, Ian, why are you so angry at Sophie for voting ‘yes’?”
Sophie thought before answering.
«I think it’s because I told myself that, personally, he wasn’t as open-minded as I would have thought. That, for him, the primary model for human relationships came down to antagonism and competition, not cooperation.»

I would add that this virtuoso of fiction based on real events knows how to describe human relationships. The characters are placed in ambiguous ambiguous situations. We have to think hard to understand which side the author is on. And above all, to determine our own. These fragmentations sometimes interrupted me in my reading. But that's a positive thing: they're a perfect representation the reasons why the author's country is fragmented. What's more, this ambivalence this ambivalence doesn't destabilize the reader too much, since the psychology of the characters are fairly straightforward. Rather predictable protagonists interacting and reacting and reacting to major events: this realistic recipe - yes, we're all a bit predictable - seems to work just fine.

This final instalment allows us to appreciate Coe's view of a political picture spanning decades. All in all, this fiction will provide novices to British politics with a wealth of knowledge and sensitivity for the country of the’After Eight. For others, humor british The deadpan delivery alone will win you over! For my part, I finished this book with undisguised pleasure, but also with a bittersweet taste in my mouth. That the split in the population was perhaps to be expected, and above all that it's well underway. That if the author of this trilogy wanted to offer his characters a semblance of happy end, that the Brexit saga is far from over, as he himself is well aware. And finally, that it will certainly not end well.

«Cameron is just one part of the story,» Charlie continued. “In my opinion, everything changed in England in May 1979, and forty years later, we’re still paying the price.”

Write to the author: [email protected]

Photo credit: © Jonas Follonier

Jonathan Coe
The Heart of England
Editions Gallimard
2019
548 pages