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captlychee's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the best books I've read so far in the current millennium. It's funy enough that I actually laughed out loud (rather than using the acronym). Mitchell reminds me of [a:Douglas Adams|4|Douglas Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1189120061p2/4.jpg] in that when he writes about things that annoy him, he can still be funny about them.
Bearing in mind that, like QI, the reference are to events and pple mainly from England, but the book has an index of who's covered so you can easily look up the person or event and then go to exactly where in the book they are.
His predictions for the years ahead are funy, too, and there's no need to think about why they haven't come true. He'd rather be funny than right, and too much is made of accurate predictions these days, anyway, and probably will be in the future.
It's always good to see that England has retained its sense of humour.
Bearing in mind that, like QI, the reference are to events and pple mainly from England, but the book has an index of who's covered so you can easily look up the person or event and then go to exactly where in the book they are.
His predictions for the years ahead are funy, too, and there's no need to think about why they haven't come true. He'd rather be funny than right, and too much is made of accurate predictions these days, anyway, and probably will be in the future.
It's always good to see that England has retained its sense of humour.
lordnelson's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
2.0
Went into it expecting a dive into overthinking instead it was more of a deep dive into the intricacies that show how everything is bad when you look hard enough.
Had some funny quips, I enjoyed the reference to giving out movie recomendations and the balance not to give someone to great an expectation and then disappoint. Then a very funny line about having to great expections about the book great expectations would ruin your experience.
What
How very clever just chuckle jokes for most part
True
Yes but who cares really about everything he was diving into. But was nice hearing the exploration as if someone did.
What of it
Not that important or funny enough topic. Love David Mitchell but that book was a little too much.
Had some funny quips, I enjoyed the reference to giving out movie recomendations and the balance not to give someone to great an expectation and then disappoint. Then a very funny line about having to great expections about the book great expectations would ruin your experience.
What
How very clever just chuckle jokes for most part
True
Yes but who cares really about everything he was diving into. But was nice hearing the exploration as if someone did.
What of it
Not that important or funny enough topic. Love David Mitchell but that book was a little too much.
patiolinguist's review
4.0
I love David Mitchell, and I really really wanted to give this book a five star rating. But about halfway through I started losing interest. I guess it's just that the subject matter wasn't always well known or directly relevant to me (British economy for example). I hope I get round to finishing it soon, but I just don't feel like it at the moment.
lora2295's review against another edition
3.0
Wouldn’t recommend reading in long sittings as can it begin to drone on.
sarahlreadseverything's review against another edition
3.0
David Mitchell has a wonderful wit and sense of humour. His collection of columns from The Observer is no exception and I found myself laughing out loud often. The downside of this collection was the time period it covered, some of these columns were well over five years old. If they were on more general topics, this would have been fine, but many are linked to political and current events that are now horrendously out of date - to the point that the inaccuracy of his opinions in retrospect makes you wonder why you're reading it. If only the inclusions had been better selected, or a better context given as to why they were selected. A shame.
qbull's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Political humor is like a caprese salad: it doesn't matter how good that salad was, give it a week and it will begin to make all the other food in the fridge smell rancid. I found all of Mitchell's articles about the British politics of the early 2010's aged like soggy basil and putrid mozzarella. Still, I enjoyed the more light-hearted articles towards the beginning and end of the book, like the ones on Japanese smart toilets and the futility of weather forecasts.