No Sex Please, We're Brutish!

THE EXPLOITS OF A GREEK STUDENT IN BRITAIN

by Spiros Doikas ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2013

A Greek national takes a humorously scathing look back at his student life in Great Britain.

Although the title suggests a recounting of erotic escapades, this debut is more of a compendium of quotations from literature, journalism and scholarship about the English character, rounded out with Doikas’ anecdotes of his experiences in England. Heavy drinking, emotional inexpressiveness and sexual repression all come in for criticism here, as do local colloquialisms (“innit should become the formal equivalent of n’est-ce pas”), the English climate and food and beverage horrors such as baked beans on toast. These are all well-known targets, and Doikas’ extensive quotations show that even the British often take aim at them. The author’s Greek perspective, however, is fresher, especially when he discusses generosity and reciprocity. He writes of a Greek concept, for example, that “represents a code of honor, a rectitude, that even villains are compelled to observe.” Doikas is apparently horrified when he overhears “a discussion between a young couple that had been living together for four years”; she wants to make a phone call, and he offers to lend (not give!) her the princely sum of 10 pence. Similarly, the author writes that the common English instruction to “bring your own booze” when going to a party was “most discordant with my home culture.” The book is at its best when it sticks to such scenes. However, Doikas’ humor can be heavy-handed at times, as when he cites the fictitious “Dr. Paulus Silentiarius,” who “graduated in Social Anthropology (Single Horns) with a First Clash degree from Onanistan’s renowned university of Loxford.” The book’s most glaring problem, though, is that it contains no references later than 1998. You’d never know, for example, that famous celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay exist, or that one of the most popular dishes in today’s Britain is chicken tikka masala. Did Doikas like anything about Britain? He does mention a few things, such as the postal system, taxis and public libraries, and when he watches sitcoms such as Blackadder, he feels “such a great gratitude for this nation that [he] could forgive them almost everything.”

An amusing, if somewhat dated, critique of British culture.

Pub Date: March 27, 2013

ISBN: 978-1482640830

Page Count: 290

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: July 2, 2013

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION