Sorry!
The English and Their Manners
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A humorous and charming investigation into what it really means to have proper manners
Most of us know a bit about what passes for good manners—holding doors open, sending thank-you notes, no elbows on the table—and we certainly know bad manners when we see them. But where has this patchwork of beliefs and behaviors come from? How did manners develop? How do they change? And why do they matter so much? In examining English manners, Henry Hitchings delves into the English character and investigates what it means to be English.
Sorry! presents an amusing, illuminating, and quirky audit of British manners. From basic table manners to appropriate sexual conduct, via hospitality, chivalry, faux pas, and online etiquette, Hitchings traces the history of England's customs and courtesies. Putting some of the most astute observers of humanity—including Jane Austen and Samuel Pepys—under the microscope, he uses their lives and writings to pry open the often downright peculiar secrets of the English character. Hitchings's blend of history, anthropology, and personal journey helps us understand the bizarre and contested cultural baggage that goes along with our understanding of what it means to have good manners.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist and theater critic Hitchings (The Language Wars) takes up the curious study of proper English behavior in his latest book. Manners matter to the English, yet the Daily Mail reported a study in 2008 "claiming that bad manners were the biggest problem facing society." Part social history, part cultural critique, the book moves humorously from the ancient to the modern with pithy anecdotes and amusing factoids. In the medieval court of Henry II, "One shouldn't attack an enemy while he is defecating, should avoid sharing secrets with one's wife, and ought to look towards the ceiling when belching." As the author notes, "people have been talking about modern manners' since the 18th century," and the discussion continues. Throughout the book, Hitchings offers genuine insight into the paradox of the English character: "The English are polite, and they are also rude. Extreme rudeness and elaborate politeness both stem from feelings of unease; they are different techniques for twisting one's way out of discomfiture." This seriously amusing and illuminating book goes a long way toward explaining to Anglophobe, Anglophile, and the just plain puzzled why "the average Briton says Sorry' eight times a day."
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