I enjoyed reading The Proof of My Innocence, the new novel by Jonathan Coe. Coe’s genius lies in satirising modern society in a clever, witty manner without resorting to unpleasantness. He is a master of social observation and has a perfect ear for speech patterns and attitudes of all generations. The novel features a story within a story, including a ‘cosy crime’ section with a country-house murder, an eccentric detective, a secret passage and a cryptic note left by a dying man. A subplot concerns the paranoia, ambitions and machinations of a clandestine group of right-wing politicians linked to the brief period of Liz Truss’s Government. The plot is interjected with repeated running jokes concerning the uncertainty of whether a musical instrument is a clavichord or a harpsichord and an annoying train announcement, which is relevant to the book’s sections. Several characters reminisce about episodes of Friends and the comfort they gain from the series. In addition to his novels, the author is known for his biography of B S Johnson. There are references to Johnson’s work, including borrowing one of Johnson’s stylistic devices. This is undoubtedly my favourite book of 2024.
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The author is identified now with a certain view of England, a liberal perspective, and a certain way of writing about it with the same cast of characters moving through the years, ageing with the writer. This is slightly different. It is a good read but unlikely to win new fans – in fairness he probably doesn’t need them. On one level it is a murder mystery. It is cleverly plotted, lots of possible suspects and neat twists and turns. The details do not matter here – just to say it is a good read. Running alongside – below, above, beneath, between – is the short premiership of Liz Truss. Coe’s politics are completely Guardian and that’s fine, though might grate with those not similarly persuaded. In addition to the above, the author offers a commentary on modern novels and novelists, including a faintly disguised version of himself. To “get” this you must be well-read and sometimes he pushes it all too much. Too clever by half – which would be a good title for his next book! It’s very Coe and it’s a good read.
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I have been a great fan of Jonathan Coe, and have enjoyed most of his previous books (although there have been a couple that I struggled with). I found this one very frustrating. For the overwhelming majority of the book, I thought it was excellent, and likely to end up in my top ten novels for the year. However, I found the ending and resolution very annoying, and a deep disappointment. The novel is set during that brief period of the Liz Truss premiership, and the key events occur in and around the fringes of a conference held by right wing political theorists, which is infiltrated by Chris, a liberal blogger who suspects that there are more serious moves afoot. Coe is as sharp as ever in his portrayal of the potential … indeed relentless … hypocrisies of politicians, and this is given an extra piquancy as everyone knows that things will probably not end well for La Truss. The novelist also deploys great dexterity in the way in which he weaves different storylines, and different narrations together, offering the reader several perspectives on the unfolding story. Unfortunately, to my mind, he took this a little too far, and I felt that the narrative device that brings the book to a close was simply irritating. It did, however, prompt me to re-read his excellent earlier book, The Rotters’ Club, which I enjoyed as much now as I did almost twenty years ago when I first read it.
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A good book bought for a christmas present, delivered on time.
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I am a huge fan of Jonathan Coe's books, rate some of them as amongst the best novels I have read and enjoy and agree fully with his world view, at least as expressed in such books as Middle England and Bournville. I agree with the political concerns of this book too, and as ever Coe has captured the zeitgeist, at least until the recent UK election, superbly. Also, most of the book is set in Cambridge, my favourite city in the UK. My problem with this book is that there are just too many literary devices employed here to allow for a flowing tale. Stories within stories, shifting character perspectives without warning, jumps back and forward in time, and odd recurrent little in-jokes (whose I wonder) about harpsichords and train announcements. No where near Coe's most enjoyable work, but still not terrible
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I am sure someone with in depth knowledge of English Literature can explain the complex patter of this book. Fortunately, that is not required to enjoy it. Hugely engaging, witty, scathing and wonderfully warm. Another classic from JC.
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This novel set in the very recent past...Truss Time......has a very unusual structure and has a plot full of twists and turns in search of "who dunnit". It rewards the reader who persists to the end.
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Well written and enjoyable but ultimately disappointed. Feel cheated by a clever author who messes around with the completeness of a novel with unnecessary and annoying devices - don’t trust you anymore Mr Coe
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Highly enjoyable mix of mystery novel, the development of British conservatism over the last 50 years and reflections on what is truth and what is fiction - you can literally sense on every page the fun the author had when writing the story and this easily tranfers to the reader .
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Part state of the (UK) nation, part parody of the cosy murder mystery genre, part rumination on the nature of truth, at least in its literary/fiction context, Coe tries to keep a lot of literary plates spinning in this ambitious but rather underwhelming offering. The shift away from the socio-economic and cultural consensus in the sixties and seventies in the UK to the fanatical neo-liberalism of Thatcher and beyond forms an important background, and indeed, foreground in this novel, as does the University of Cambridge which three of the central - working class? - characters attended, very nervously, at least initially. Unfortunately, however, Coe never seems to attempt to move beyond describing this pernicious shift as a more coherent/cogent narrative might attempt to do? Other minor missteps for me include a long-winded description of people queuing to see the recently deceased British monarch - mawkish and incongruous in my view. Overall, not one of Mr Cole’s best novels.
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„Middle England“ war mein liebstes Buch von Jonathan Coe, „Bournville“ habe ich auch gemocht. Mit dem neuen Buch „The Proof of my Innocence“ hadere ich ein wenig. Ich mag die satirische Darstellung der britischen Gesellschaft, die in Coes Büchern oft im Mittelpunkt steht. Die gibt es auch hier, doch sie ist mir etwas zu oberflächlich. Coe hat sich hier ein literarisches Experiment erlaubt. Er beginnt seinen Roman mit einem Prolog: Eine Detektivin vom Typ Miss Marple sitzt im Zug und ist kurz davor, ein verdächtiges Subjekt, das ein paar Reihen vor ihr sitzt, zu verhaften. Darauf folgt ein „Prolog“ genannter Teil, in dem Phyll vorgestellt wird. Die junge Frau aus wohlhabendem Haus (Mutter Vikarin) steht nach ihrem Uni-Abschluss vor der Frage, was sie mit ihrem Leben anfangen soll (mäßig originell!), und verdingt sich derweil am Heathrow Airport als Hilfskraft in einem Sushi-Restaurant (scharfe Messer!). Sie überlegt zu schreiben und ist sich nicht sicher, ob es Cosy Crime, Dark Academia oder Autofiction sein soll. Die nächsten drei Teile des Buches sind dann auch diesen so beliebten Genres zuzurechnen, also zunächst eine typische locked-room-Mordgeschichte in einem bröckelnden englischen Landhaus. Das Opfer (Messer!) ist ein alter Freund von Phylls Mutter aus Collegetagen in Cambridge. Geheime Gänge, mehrere verdächtige Gestalten aus der Upper Class und der Universität mit ultrarechtem Gedankengut, die Detektivin vom Beginn des Buches taucht wieder auf. (Einen Krimi nach diesem Muster wollte ich eigentlich nicht lesen.) Es folgt die Dark Academia Story: ein Memoir eines weiteren Universitätsfreundes der Mutter, in dem ein nach rechts tendierender Autor eine Rolle spielt, von dem man glaubt, er habe sich umgebracht. Geheimnisumwitterte rechte Salons. Danach der „Autofiction“-Teil, in dem Phyll und ihre neue Freundin (Adoptivtochter des Mordopfers) den Mord mit ihren Mitteln aufklären wollen (teilweise zum Haareraufen absurd, womöglich als Satire beabsichtigt?) Ein Epilog, der einiges offen lässt, beendet das Konglomerat. Der Roman spielt zur Zeit des Todes der Queen in den kurzen Regierungstagen von Liz Truss und auf einer zweiten Ebene in den 80er Jahren im Collegemilieu in Cambridge. Die Tories und ihre Thinktanks sind immer wieder Ziel des Spotts und der Anklage. Es gibt bittere politische Wahrheiten. Daneben geht es auch um das Schreiben selbst und die Wahrheit in der Fiktion (vgl. literarisches Experiment, zuweilen eher langweilig). Coes Ton ist oft humorvoll, stellenweise richtig lustig. Aber das Ganze ist zu zerfleddert für mich. Zu viel gewollt?
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I like J. Coe very much, but this book has a strange quality to it. It is not a smooth read. It seems to me kind of hacked into pieces. And it is not optimistic nor houmous.
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