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Two Tribes by Chris Beckett
This was an odd but interesting book, although not at all what I expected from the author of the Dark Eden series.
Two stories unfold side by side: In one, Brexit referendum has just happened, crystallising the differences between the "two tribes" of the UK, when an architect living in London falls in love with a hairdresser in rural England. Centuries later, following a civil war and the disastrous effects of climate change, a historian reconstructs the lives of these two long-dead people from their diaries.
I found this book a lot more interesting than I thought I would. Obviously, the whole story was just an excuse to present the divisions between the two sides of the Brexit divide from a centuries-removed, objective point of view, but not just re Brexit. There are indeed two tribes, which one might think of as "educated people vs the ignorant masses" or "regular folk vs the posh elite" depending on your point of view, each with fundamentally different values, operating under very different rules.
I would recommend this book to everyone here. We have all had quite enough of the emotional accusations and insults both sides have been slinging at each other over the last couple of years, but I doubt if you have ever seen such an objective analysis of the causes and prognosis of these two opposing tribes.
A few paragraphs from the book:
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‘Do you know why you give so few fucks about civilization? It’s because it’s not your civilization. It’s not even meant for you. It’s theirs. It belongs to the people that run things. It’s their rights, it’s their parliament, their laws, their culture, their paintings and opera houses. They let you have plasma TVs, and cars, and fridges, and holidays in Greece if you’re lucky, or maybe even Florida. And in exchange for that, all they ask is that you keep your great clumsy clodhopping boots off their civilization and let them enjoy it in peace.’
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you’ve got a strong culture. It just isn’t about things like that. It’s about being part of a tribe, and being loyal to it, and being willing to fight and die for it if necessary against anyone who tries to push it around. It’s like the culture of sport in a way. In fact, I reckon that’s why we love sport so much, because it lets us get back to those old simple values. It feels good to support your own team, doesn’t it? To stick up for your lot against the others, no matter what, for no particular reason except that it’s yours. And there’s nothing to beat that feeling, is there, when your side scores that winning goal. It’s shit for the other side, of course, but who cares? That’s their problem, isn’t it? They should have been better, shouldn’t they? Or they should have fought harder. Either way, it’s not your concern. It’s not your concern at all.’ She stood with her hands on her hips, right at the front of the stage, looking down at them affectionately. ‘I reckon what your culture’s all about is courage and loyalty. And, most of all, I reckon it’s about belonging.
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We’re so alike at one level. We’ve both read our Nietzsche, we both believe that only excellence redeems the world. It’s just that we have different ideas about what excellence actually is. Your people were lawyers and mathematicians and you see excellence as intellectual brilliance. My people were soldiers and adventurers, and I see it as charisma and strength.