Coasting: Running Around the Coast of Britain – Life, Love and (Very) Loose Plans

Product Information

Oh, and he meets up with noted glass-half-full types Theroux (who was trudging around working on Kingdom by the Sea at the same time) and Philip Larkin, both of whom are positive about positive things all the time forever. Reading Coasting is like listening to a friend tell a tale down the pub that you can’t quite believe. Not only do we learn about various places around the UK but Raban also delves into his own background and childhood, explaining how he ends up on the journey to begin with. His awkward church parsonage childhood, the poverty and class consciousness, and his incipient middle age, all reflected amidst the sea-shifting background of his journey, conveys something fundamental about the nation and culture, something you need to venture beyond the limits of London to discover.

In the especially uncertain times that we are living through, I need to read something more uplifting! Anyhow, the major part of the book is about the landlubbers, the Falkland war, parents and a few (actually quite funny) pages about meeting Paul Theroux (which Theroux also describes in his 'Kingdom by the sea'). Raban has coasted through yet another term,” his housemaster’s report said, “and I can hold out little hope for prospects in the forthcoming examinations. I think they've missed the point of what is fundamentally not a story about describing the lovey coast of Britain or camping but about showing the realities behind the people you see doing adventures on the internet. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged.Raban himself has commented on his own attitude to England and the influence of Margaret Thatcher on Britain at the time of writing his book. They are at least reading copies, complete and in reasonable condition, but usually secondhand; frequently they are superior examples. I got ticked off by my father in my early teens if I was seen wandering down the street with a girl from the local secondary modern whom I had met at a church hop.

The author/narrator is very authentic and the writing and reading styles carried me as a listener along with them on the highs and lows of the journey undertaken. It was a good time to be taking an outside-in look at the British: Margaret Thatcher was at the height of her authority , and the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands brought out the worst in British jingoism and sabre-rattling The country was changing rapidly but continuing to hanker after an imperial past. She had just graduated from university; she had a shiny new flat, her first proper job and a budding relationship - and they were all making her utterly miserable.Among many other themes, the Falkland war and the economic recession, which are important themes in the 80ies, seem to worry the author. The rest is really about his voyage and ongoing learning how to handle this boat and how to be at sea.