If you can't say something nice

The title and subject of this book made me anxious to read it. I knew it was written by an American who had been living in Britain for a while, and so I was anxious to read The Anglo Files by Sarah Lyall. I realize that when moving to another country there will inevitably be some culture shock. What I wasn't prepared for in this book was the constant theme running through it of how outdated/ridiculous/backward the British were in absolutely every aspect of modern day life. There are frequent laments along the lines of how "this would never be tolerated for a second in America" and how much superior in every way the U.S. is when compared to Britain. I don't doubt that this is true in some cases, but what puzzles me is why the author continues to live in such a clearly horrible place for a second longer. One would have thought she would have been on the first boat/plane/dirigible back across the Atlantic long ago.

The book is divided into chapters, each addressing a particular topic and how the British tend to deal miserably with it. Some examples: blatant sexism is tolerated in government; newspapers don't even try to publish the truth; everyone is drunk all the time; people care more for hedgehogs than children or the elderly; the state of dentistry is a disaster (with NHS dentists often just pulling out all the teeth in healthy patients so they won't have to deal with problems later); the service industry is full of surly, uncaring workers; washing machines are smaller, slower and more expensive than their American counterparts; things are stolen more often than not in the Royal Mail; the weather is terrible all the time; and people "enjoy an excuse for a grumble." Even national heroes can't measure up. American heroes tend to overcome adversity and survive, while British heroes die due to poor planning and "failure to pack the right gear." Every chapter is a rant against something in British society, and no opportunity is missed to point out how much better everything is in the U.S. The worst sin of all (from what I can gather) is that for some unexplained reason, the British do not rinse the suds off their dishes when they wash them. Horrors!

This book was a disappointment for me, simply because it came off as an extended whine. I'm sure the author felt better after writing it, but I certainly felt worse after reading it.

Final Verdict for The Anglo Files: Two Gherkins, for some interesting insights, but for overall being a non-stop whinge-fest