A review by seclement
Born to be Mild by Rob Temple

4.0

This book was incredibly vulnerable, and that really surprised me. I have been following the Very British Problems social media for a long while, and as an immigrant to Britain I found it hilarious but also, quite often, thought "British people really struggle to differentiate culture from depression". This book made me realise that Rob Temple is more aware of the line between national temperament and personal psychology than I had ever realised, and that it is no coincidence that the sentiments he captures walk that fine line. It's still a book with characteristic British wit and humour, but it's also a book that makes you feel things. The internet machine kept pushing this book on me and I figured I would regret the purchase when I finally caved because, let's face it, I am not invested in the person behind a meme page. But this was a very different sort of book than I expected, and it surprised me in many good ways. I don't relate to all of it personally but everything he recounts is relatable to either me or someone I know, for better or for worse. Probably not for the person with no cultural context about Britishness, but if you have that, and you find it peculiar or interesting, particularly the ironic sense of humour and the fact that it's always teetering on the line between wit and deep depression, then it's probably worth a read.