Storia o famiglia?

Un grande classico di Jonathan Coe: la storia della Gran Bretagna attraverso le vicende di una famiglia o di un gruppo di amici. Modello La famiglia Winshaw, insomma, anche se qui siamo molto lontani - a mio gusto - da quel capolavoro, e nemmeno a livello della saga dei Trotter (La banda dei brocchi, Circolo chiuso, Middle England).

Bournville spazia dalla fine della II guerra mondiale al Covid19 e, a mio parere, la storia della Gran Bretagna spesso prevale sulle vicende della famiglia, come se la seconda facesse da sfondo alla prima, e non il contrario. In ogni caso, è un gran bel leggere.

p.s. nel racconto compare un certo 'Boris' e uno dei passaggi che lo riguardano è anche uno dei più spassosi del libro.

Premessa doverosa: questo è soprattutto un romanzo scritto per gli inglesi. Racconta la storia della Gran Bretagna attraverso alcuni eventi cardine, dalla fine della guerra, la vittoria del mondiale contro la Germania dell'Ovest, fino al funerale della principessa Diana. In ciò si allontana molto da ciò che pensavo che fosse, ovvero, ingannata dall'immagine in copertina, una sorta di "Fabbrica di cioccolato" in chiave adulta, con giusto un po' di realismo magico.
Forse anche per questo ho faticato un po' nella prima parte, e senz'altro anche perché molti degli episodi storici evocati sono inevitabilmente distanti per me: ne ho sentito parlare, ma non li ho vissuti sulla mia pelle, non li ho potuti percepire con il patriottismo degli inglesi (cito ad esempio il capitolo dedicato ai funerali della Principessa Diana, che sconvolsero l'Intero popolo inglese; ma anche lo spot pubblicitario della Austin Metro). Eppure, nonostante ciò, il romanzo trasmette molto anche a chi sia vissuto lontano da tutto ciò e non l'abbia sperimentato in prima persona, grazie alla capacità di Coe, splendido narratore, di avvicinare questi episodi storici alle vicende dei personaggi. Bello, e molto toccante osservarli crescere, trovare il loro posto nel mondo e invecchiare sullo sfondo della storia inglese, di volta in volta raccontata da un diverso punto di vista. Tra tutti è quello di Mary ad avermi colpita di più, forse perché Coe è così naturale e delicato nel mostrarla bambina e giovane donna, protagonista della vicenda, e poi collocarla sullo sfondo, che ci si abitua alla sua presenza, come qualcosa di rassicurante. Come la fabbrica di cioccolato Cadbury di Bournville, cui il romanzo deve il titolo.
Uno dei migliori, se non il migliore, tra i romanzi letti quest'anno.

I loved reading about this place which is not far away from where I live. I often wondered about Bournville, the place where Cadbury chocolate comes from and have been fascinated by what its story might be.

Bournville chronicles a family's journey through time and in a way West Midlands as well through the political discourse that underlines the plot. Right from the time the village was carved into the existence to the sweeping changes of the war and its aftermath, to the coronation, EU inclusion and later Covid, it takes a reader on a fascinating rollercoaster through time.

Love his writing and realised he is a prize winning author for his previous one. Must catch up on that one next!

Rounded down from 3.5. I loved the start and then felt it lost its way a bit. And I don't think I'm ready to read about covid yet...

I've seen other readers complain that this book is too similar to Middle England, and that all Jonathan Coe does is samey state-of-the-nation novels. I have to disagree. I found this very different to Middle England - a completely different set of characters and tone. And while Coe does have a strong line in state-of-the-nation novels, he's SO GOOD AT THEM that I really don't mind. My only real gripe about this book (and I very rarely say this) is that it could have been longer.

The book is a series of snapshots in the life of Mary, who was born in Bournville, Birmingham in the 1930s. Each snapshot comes at a time of national togetherness or crisis (usually both) - VE Day, England winning the 1966 World Cup, the marriage of Charles and Diana, the COVID pandemic, among others. I thought it worked really well, but I would still have liked to have spent more time with the characters to get to know them in a bit more depth. For a work that spans a whole dynasty over eight decades, I felt like it could have been a fair bit longer.

I also really appreciated the parts of the book about lockdown and the pandemic. It's the first fiction I've read set around that time and I think he captured it really well - the paranoia, anxiety and confusion of February and March 2020; the disbelief; the isolation; the inequality in peoples' experiences of lockdown. It was all there and well rendered. I don't think anyone has really processed the pandemic, and as a society we definitely haven't. More good lockdown novels please!

A compelling and insightful survey of social and economic change at the macro and micro levels, structured around one family and seven key dates in English history.

They think it’s all over: after Jonathan Coe’s venture into Hollywood blockbusters in Mr Wilder and Me, we’re back on familiar ground, the postwar English Midlands and with our kind of people - in fact, relatives of the Trotter family who star in his Rotters’ Club sequence. As a follow on from Middle England, this is sturdy work, covid now added to the litany of modern day ills afflicting the disunited kingdom, all of which are embodied in the dramatis personae of Bournville.

It’s highly readable, with diverting strands taking in Welsh nationalism and the English blank incomprehension at why our fellow Brits might hate our guts, the chocolate wars between the British product emanating from the titular dormitory suburb and its more sophisticated continental rivals early on in UK membership of the Common Market, and a sour take on the 1966 World (football) Cup, portrayed as scarcely the well-organised festival of international bonhomie it’s now commonly commemorated as, these events being framed by the end of the war and various royal occasions. All stand proxy for the loss and nostalgia experienced by the English, even those not born until long after 1945, when contemplating her finest hour. (There’s probably a German word we can purloin for synthetic memories of glory - if there isn’t may I suggest Vollmelkshokolade?)

Coe is very good at this state of the nation articulated through the minor sadnesses and calamities that befall individuals and families thing, and some of Bournville clearly stems from his anger at the way our government handled the pandemic leaving people like his own mother to die in isolation; indeed Boris Johnson appears, early in his career, as a minor and disreputable figure, perhaps how he’ll be remembered in the long run. It’s too early for a full or in any way comprehensive disinquistion on the pandemic and its fallout, but this is an excellent interim report.