![]() ![]() Since returning from Prague, and now particularly sensitive to it, I have come to realise that this negative stereotype is fairly common amongst the English, and this was at least partly the reason why I have been so interested in reading Graham Greene’s 1955 novel, The Quiet American. ‘They’ve probably come over here to start a war,’ my friend seethed. Of course, I was aware of the stereotype of the brash and grossly impolite and uncultured American, but I had never really given it much thought, and, with ‘yanks’ being in short supply in Sheffield, I certainly hadn’t before heard such vitriol directed at them. ![]() ‘I hate them,’ my friend said quietly, and at first I thought he meant only this particular group, until he followed up with ‘fucking Americans, I can’t stand them.’ It wasn’t the first time I had heard someone dismiss an entire nation, but I was still surprised by this passionate outburst. They took the table behind us, and began to fight for each other’s attention like a bunch of rambunctious puppies. That is, until a group of Americans arrived. One afternoon my friend and I were in a bar, six drinks deep and thrillingly relaxed. The purpose of this trip was to get away from everything, to drink a lot and lose myself in that beautiful city. My personal circumstances haven’t been the best for the last twelve months and I had slipped into a state of deep depression without realising it. Earlier this year I was in Prague visiting a friend of mine. ![]()
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