London, 1958 : unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task : to keep an eye on The Brittania, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century and the first to be held since the Second World War.
As soon as he arrives at the site, Thomas feels that he has escaped a repressed, backward-looking country and fallen headlong into an era of modernity and optimism. He is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, the lovely Flemish hostess who meets him off his plane. But Thomas's new-found sense of freedom comes at a price : the Cold War is at its height, the mischievous Belgians have placed the American and Soviet pavilions right next to each other - and why is he being followed everywhere by two mysterious emissaries of the British Secret Service? Expo 58 may represent a glittering future, both for Europe and for Thomas himself, but he will soon be forced to decide where his public and private loyaties really lie.
This will be a very quick review, 3 teenagers are waiting for my computer (again). Damn lock in - fichu confinement. Well, it could be worse, we live in the country.
First, you'll have to know that Jonathan Coe is one of my favourite contemporary writers. Just saying. That's why I wasn't supposed to read this one soon, because I love the author so much that I felt I would read other books first to get rid of them.
Second, the book started out as a 3 stars, good 3 stars, funny 3 stars, but a nice, easy, fun 3 stars with nothing more, but finally turned out so much more. I couldn't give it a 5, but a 4 didn't seem enough, hence the 4.5.
Third, boy, do I love Coe's sense of humour ! His irony, his depth, his social criticism, his description of a society trapped between its past and the future. His characters feel more or less the same (his main characters, I mean), but I do have such a soft spot for them ! Men, unassuming men, trapped in plots bigger than them and not quite understanding everything that's going on. I have to say, the kidnapping scene was completely hilarious !
Reading this book led me to several things : first, discovering Honegger's Pastorale d'été (it's beautiful, I never listened to Honegger before) ; second, watching videos on that famous Expo 58, so kitsch and modern at the same time ; third, listening to Coe talking about why and how he wrote this book (I wish he would come in my library, l'espoir fait vivre !).
All in all, here's the summary : fun, easy book at the beginning, comfortable good ole England, then Brussels and people from all over the world, so eye-opening for a guy who never left his country before, even if his origins are half from Belgium. The quite not fitting in, from his part, or from Clara's part, those who are not what they're supposed to be (a reference to Le Carré, of course), those couple of spies straight from a Hitchcock film, and personal misunderstanding, grief, resignation, wasted lives ? From traditional to fun/alive to bitter-sweet. I love this book. And I love this writer. I can understand why people don't think it's their favourite from Coe, but I loved it anyway and highly recommend it !
“He waited in silence for the blindfold to be tied firmly at the back of his head. ‘Right,’ said Wilkins, emphatically. ‘That should do. How many fingers am I holding up?’ ‘Three,’ said Thomas. ‘God damn it to hell, how did you know that? Can you see through the cloth?’ ‘No. It was a guess.’ ‘Well you’re not supposed to guess. For crying out loud, I’m trying to make sure that you can’t see where we’re going. We’re not here to play guessing games. How many fingers am I holding up?’ ‘I’ve no idea. I can’t see a bloody thing.’ ‘Good. It was four, by the way. Not that it matters. Now shut up.”
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