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Reviews
Very British Problems: Making Life Awkward for Ourselves, One Rainy Day at a Time by Rob Temple
timdams007's review
2.0
Funny, but lots of jokes return in a different format. Basically the books is build around 10 to 20 'template jokes' and simply throws in lots of variations on those (but those basic ones are very funny indeed *snigger*)
bluestars991's review against another edition
5.0
What a Truly Funny Book!!! This just describes about most people in Britain!!!
If you haven’t read this then you should!!!
If you haven’t read this then you should!!!
vanessa_issa's review
3.0
This was such a light, fun read! The apologising chapter is so accurate. I love the glossary.
I guess I'm a little british after all. :)
I guess I'm a little british after all. :)
jarreloliveira's review
4.0
Very much needed reminder that not all who suffer from these horrific maladies need be British but that the ones who experience them best are.
Great humor. Great illustrations. Twitter follower gained.
Bugger.
Great humor. Great illustrations. Twitter follower gained.
Bugger.
wanderaven's review
3.0
Fun and far too easy to see myself in some of these, like:
"Feeling you need a change in your life, so treating yourself to a completely new type of cheese."
"The disappointment of finding the train company has reserved you a seat next to another human."
"Tripping over nothing and turning to stare furiously at the floor."
"Attempting to deal with a queue-jumper by staring fiercely at the back of their head."
"Thanking people under your breath as punishment for them not thanking you."
"Telling someone to help themselves, then feeling your chest tighten when they take more than you think they should."
"Being told to enjoy your meal, flight, stay or birthday and replying, 'Thanks, you too!'"
"Accidently saying 'you're welcome' too loudly when someone hasn't thanked you, and smiling politely when they look straight at you."
"Feeling utterly devastated when you say to the barman, 'I think this guy was next' and you're not thanked."
"Dropping five pence: Pick it up and look desperate or leave it and look like a snob?"
As others have noted, and as one can tell just by reading the lines above, there is some repetition throughout the book, which can feel less forgivable when you consider how brief it is.
I wanted this because I've been following the Twitter feed for a few months and frequently laugh out loud over lines there, but there were less laughs here. I have to wonder of the material is older, so less developed, before they hit their stride or whether perhaps witticisms like this are best encountered in the brief world of Twitter instead of gathered together like this - even though I did try to nip in and out of it over the course of a couple weeks, instead of reading it all at once (which definitely wouldn't be advised).
Anyway, still fun and insightful, and nice to know that I'm not always the only one to have such thoughts and reactions to others around me.
"Feeling you need a change in your life, so treating yourself to a completely new type of cheese."
"The disappointment of finding the train company has reserved you a seat next to another human."
"Tripping over nothing and turning to stare furiously at the floor."
"Attempting to deal with a queue-jumper by staring fiercely at the back of their head."
"Thanking people under your breath as punishment for them not thanking you."
"Telling someone to help themselves, then feeling your chest tighten when they take more than you think they should."
"Being told to enjoy your meal, flight, stay or birthday and replying, 'Thanks, you too!'"
"Accidently saying 'you're welcome' too loudly when someone hasn't thanked you, and smiling politely when they look straight at you."
"Feeling utterly devastated when you say to the barman, 'I think this guy was next' and you're not thanked."
"Dropping five pence: Pick it up and look desperate or leave it and look like a snob?"
As others have noted, and as one can tell just by reading the lines above, there is some repetition throughout the book, which can feel less forgivable when you consider how brief it is.
I wanted this because I've been following the Twitter feed for a few months and frequently laugh out loud over lines there, but there were less laughs here. I have to wonder of the material is older, so less developed, before they hit their stride or whether perhaps witticisms like this are best encountered in the brief world of Twitter instead of gathered together like this - even though I did try to nip in and out of it over the course of a couple weeks, instead of reading it all at once (which definitely wouldn't be advised).
Anyway, still fun and insightful, and nice to know that I'm not always the only one to have such thoughts and reactions to others around me.
kodermike's review against another edition
2.0
I grabbed the kindle edition, so these notes are particular to that release:
* Formatting: bleh. Not a single consistent font though the book. Pages that have two lines of text. At least the formatting made for a quick read (I see goodreads lists the book as having 200+ pages? More like 50. I read the bulk of it in an hour.)
* Content: I (mistakenly) expected something with a bit more discussion. This book is to Britain what Foxworthy is to Red Necks - largely a collection of "you know you're British if..." punchlines without any actual framing discussions.
Somewhat disappointing, to be honest. In chapter 3 there's a quiz for how British you are - I came out decidedly British, which was fun/amusing, but that was really about as deep as the book got.
* Formatting: bleh. Not a single consistent font though the book. Pages that have two lines of text. At least the formatting made for a quick read (I see goodreads lists the book as having 200+ pages? More like 50. I read the bulk of it in an hour.)
* Content: I (mistakenly) expected something with a bit more discussion. This book is to Britain what Foxworthy is to Red Necks - largely a collection of "you know you're British if..." punchlines without any actual framing discussions.
Somewhat disappointing, to be honest. In chapter 3 there's a quiz for how British you are - I came out decidedly British, which was fun/amusing, but that was really about as deep as the book got.
forthright48's review against another edition
3.0
Has some funny relatable moments, but gets repetitive at one point.
tifflesy's review
4.0
Fun little book for those of us Americans who suspect that we're actually British. ;)