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Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain

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Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain

By: Fintan O'Toole
Narrated by: Sam Devereaux
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About this listen

A fierce, mordantly funny and perceptive book, from the author of Ship of Fools, about the act of national self-harm known as Brexit.

In exploring the answers to the question 'why did Britain vote leave?', Fintan O'Toole finds himself discovering how trivial journalistic lies became far from trivial national obsessions; how the pose of indifference to truth and historical fact has come to define the style of an entire political elite; how a country that once had colonies is redefining itself as an oppressed nation requiring liberation; the strange gastronomic and political significance of prawn-flavoured crisps and their role in the rise of Boris Johnson; the dreams of revolutionary deregulation and privatisation that drive Arron Banks, Nigel Farage and Jacob Rees-Mogg; and the silent rise of English nationalism, the force that dare not speak its name.

©2018 Fintan O'Toole (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd Europe Political Science Politics & Government World Thought-Provoking Funny Imperialism

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Critic reviews

"There will not be much political writing in this or any other year that is carried off with such style." (The Times)
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The book was not the same caliber as Ship of Fools (which was phenomenal) but had many useful insights, such as the construction of narrative by politicians and elites from cherry picking through history.

One could argue that O'Toole does much the same here as he provides an overview of the British psyche by referencing new articles, TV shows and the like. While many of his points do seem self evident and resonate, the actual evidence he uses is very thin.

Worth a listen for anyone still interested in Brexit and fully support his conclusion that we need to deal with English Nationalism head on.

Narration was weird at parts but listenable (except for mimicking of a Scottish accent when quoting Pringle)..

Some cherry picking but good listen

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I found the narrator off putting in places in the odd pronunciation of a few words: Wildean, dilettante, Aquitaine, Balliol. These are not especially unusual words and if you are stepping up to a Fintan O’Toole book, you need to expect to put the work in and check pronunciation where you might it be sure…. In my opinion!!

Fascinating and thought provoking as an Irish resident with an English husband whose parents voted Leave

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Fintan O’Toole identifies the U.K.’s political leaders and media totally overlooked the growing sense of English nationalism that characterised the Brexit vote in England. There’s nothing substantive on offer in England’s polity to match the unspoken change in the English nation’s mind and sense of identity since 1999, you need to get to the last chapter to understand the evidence for and significance of Brexit as a false solution to a genuine political crisis. Chapter 2 is repetitive and you can skip over bits- that chapter could do with editing.

Agonising account of the wrong solution to the problem

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An excellent but troubling account about the grievances of the English and the reasons why they voted for Brexit.

Why did the English vote for Brexit ?

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Great book,
but Sam Deveraux's mid-atlantic accent and mispronunciation of common french words was annoying

let down by narrator

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a brilliant book with a message for the English in particular . like marmite you may hate it or love it but if you read it through you can't ignore what is written here. Who are we English in any case

an invitation to have a good look at ourselves

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This book offers a fascinating look at how England's fundamental failure to have articulated or politically expressed a national identity led to Brexit. How the self-aggrandizing self-pitty of the English, created a situation where the people with nothing left to lose hitched their wagons to those with nothing on the line.

The performance is competent, though brought down by some slightly cartoonist accents.

A stylish look at the shattered English psyche

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This is a poetic inspection into the British character and sould which peels back the layers and explains how Brexit was almost always going to be an inevitabtility when framed the way it was in the referendum. It's painful to listen to many of the truisms about the masochism at the heart of the British character, but a delight to listen to someone capture this so precisely.

Painful Insights Into The British Heart

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Beautifully narrated, very eloquently composed examination of the English nationalist mindset and historical anxieties. This is a distinct book about Brexit. It does not examine the technocratic complexity, it dissects the psychology of the English Tory Right.

Great, Forensic Dissection of Brexit Psychology

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I do recommend you read this book,
or, even better, listen to it as inflection brings it to life. Ideally it should be digested before Brexit day but, perhaps, subsequently as a story reflecting on where this whole saga has come from. History will be the real judge but I found it excellent food for thought. A little instructive, a little bit challenging and possibly controversial. A review in The Times suggested Finton O’Toole was wordy and lacking in humour. I cannot comment on the written version but this is certainly not true listening to his book on “Audible”!

A Fascinating view of the Character, and Characters, of Brexit

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