Customer Reviews

For Crying Out Loud: The World According to Clarkson Volume 3: v. 3 (World According to Clarkson 3)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As with everything Jeremy Clarkson does you will either find this book agreeable and amusing or utterly distasteful and rubbish!!I enjoyed this read, after all the man successfuly holds onto the job that little boys like me can only dream of.With his trademark dry wit Clarkson gives us his tainted view on lifes most important topics such as:Binge drinking,Conservation,Mobile phones and the most annoying word in the English language.But thats just for starters Clarkson "delicately" proceeds to broach the troublesome subjects of:Gypsies,The homeless, Americans and Religious fundamentalists.With that out of the way something we should all know "How to dipose of a dead seal" oh and a donkey too!What would London be like if this man was lord mayor? read this for the Clarkson perspective.

Clarkson fans will enjoy this book but if your easily offended,a religious fanatic, American or all of the above then steer clear.There are no prisoners taken in this abrasive collection of articles.Theres life in the old dog yet.........

This is a collection of Clarkson's opinion column for the Sunday Times, over the years 2006 and 2007. Each one is about 3 pages in length, so it makes good reading whilst you're doing your number twos, although I read it cover-to-cover on a cross-channel ferry.

Some of the articles are quite funny. I particularly liked "Mother knows all the best games", "An Oscar-winning village hall bash", and my favourite, "Arrested just for looking weird" where American officials regard commonsense with much less gusto than the law.

Clarkson is certainly an erudite and engaging writer. As a fan of (new) Top Gear, I can imagine him speaking the text as I read it. Some of the articles were quite thought-provoking, such as "The lost people of outer Britain", "If you're ugly you've got to be funny", "It's lies that make TV interesting", and in particular, "Schools are trying to break children", featuring the (actually very serious) story of a student being discouraged from reading "difficult" Engineering subjects for the sake of minimising risk for the school's statistical league table position.

Clarkson's abrasive, amusing laments and parodies of people taking leave of commonsense is fair enough, although it soon develops into dreary "intolerant Tory" political overtones which become tedious about 2/3 of the way through the book (e.g. "Drip-drip-drip of a revolution"). Furthermore, I felt disturbed by articles auch as "Simon Cowell ate our strawberries" and "Save rural Britain - sell it to the rich"; Clarkson is showing signs of beginning to become a NIMBY, which would be a terrible shame if he goes further down that road.

I fear Jeremy Clarkson and i would not get on. He hates "eco-mentalist " George Monbiot while i admire and respect him. He thinks all modern music is complete rubbish while i like to keep up with new bands ( though we may agree that the Artic Monkeys are over rated ) .He hasn't a socialist cell in his gangly pot bellied frame while i would drape my gangly but svelte torsoed frame in the red flag while cuddling a statue of John Smith . Jeremy denies the onset of global warming while i simply believe there is no way you can pump CO2 into the atmosphere ad infinitum without it having some effect.
Anyway you get the gist. So why is it i love Top Gear ( even though i don't drive ) and more pertinently why is it i found this book so enjoyable? For those who may not be aware For Crying Out Loud is a collection of his newspaper columns from the beginning of 2006 to the end of 2007.So while not exactly rigidly topical ( he blathers on about Blair a lot for instance ) there are a wide enough range of issues covered that are still relevant .Most importantly it is very entertaining and sometimes very funny .
We learn along the way that James May has prodigious wind, his wife(Jeremy Clarkson's not James Mays who is , of course , a committed bachelor ) has a bottomless handbag , he likes donkeys while not caring if tigers become extinct , he thinks ALL Americans are fat ( bit tongue in cheek though that may be ) and makes many more sweeping generalisations . He has the social conscience of a rabid ferret.
Yet his honesty and straight talking ( or writing ) are refreshing and like i said it is often really quite amusing .And funnily enough our opinions sometimes converge. I don,t know who should be more worried about this ,him or me , but a lot of the time , especially when he is lambasting our manic health & safety culture and the zealous proliferation of the PC fascists i found myself nodding as well as laughing . Not the most flattering combination it must be said.
So maybe we would get along after all. As long as we avoided eco-issues, politics , social issues, non motor sports and lots of other stuff we would be fine. As someone once said -we may not agree Sir , but i will defend to the death your right to say it -or something like that. Especially when they say it as well as Mr Clarkson .Oh and he likes Marine Boy as well , which makes him even more alright by me.

Having bought all of Jeremy's previous books, I was delighted to receive this as a present. Obviously I knew what to expect and I thoroughly enjoyed the read...right up to the last chapter. In this, he opens both barrels at none other than the Archbishop of Canterbury for his views on climate change. Now, let me say first and foremost that my views on that subject are tilted more towards Clarkson's than the good Archbishop's and that I am by no means a religious fanatic. But this particular section of 'For Crying Out Loud' did leave a slightly unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth. Not that I was offended in any way, it was merely a disappointment that my favourite writer had descended to the level of the schoolboy essay that seeks to justify a controversial point of view by using ridiculous examples. For instance, he states that 'More people have died in the name of God than were killed in the name of Hitler.' I'm sure that this is true but then God has been around somewhat longer than Adolf. Having said that, I have read the book from cover to cover no fewer than three times and I enjoyed it every time. The lesson is that, as a previous reviewer has pointed out, the easily offended might be best advised to avoid this book.

However, the rest of us can split our sides as we read it over and over again. A superb read!

Clarkson has a delightful wit and uses the English language with brilliance. His vocabulary and delivery of punchlines is superb. This then is a well crafted book written by a man at the top of his game. As always do not expect to agree with him on everything, his dislike of Americans, Surrey and cats hits my buttons. So does his support of fox hunting a subject I could have a blazing row with him about! Some of his chapters are self mocking and this is his forgiveness moment. This is when the true depth of the man appears and you can forgive the views you disagree with.It is in these chapters that he proves he is as human as you or I, and that is a significant part of why you should read this book. I particularly liked the beetroot moment, haven't we all done that! The world would be a sad place if we did not hold different opinions.So if you are of a leftie inclination you will hate this book passionately as this book is far closer to how most of us feel about the leftie polices we have been forced to endure for some years now. Indeed Clarkson is able to send up anyone of a leftie persuasion with aplomb. Reading this book now, his comments from 2006 and 2007 are very poignant too. It is only at the end that "recession" is begining to loom. I found myself laughing out loud at most of the book, so I rate is one of the most enjoyable reads I have had for some time. In fact I devoured it in more or less one sitting so had to re read it. It was every bit as good second time round! Buy and enjoy, or give it to someone you know who will enjoy it! This kind of brilliance is not often found!

I can't believe the franchise has reached volume 3 already! 'For Crying Out Loud' picks up where 'And Another Thing' left off. And I must say it is vintage Clarkson, ranting on all the usual subjects and more.

I can't say I agree with everything he says (in fact sometimes quite the opposite), but this is his genius - he has the ability to make you laugh even if you don't share his opinions. He even finds time to take the mickey out of himself!

This book will be on many a Christmas list and rightly so... Clarkson remains the king of the genre. That said, Grumpy Old Rockstar: and Other Wonderous Stories: And Other Wonderous Stories by Rick Wakeman is a brilliant read if music is your thing, while Modern Football Is Rubbish: An A-Z of All That Is Wrong with the Beautiful Game by Nick Davidson and Shaun Hunt is the funniest thing I've read in ages - ideal for the grumpy old football fan in your life.

In the age of the credit-crunch Clarkson's latest effort... delivers belly-laughs a plenty for a bargain price!

If you were a regular reader of the Sunday Times in 2006/2007, you will already have read the content of this book. But you won't remember the columns and all of them are worth a second read - or even a third. The total content is just as vitriolic and outrageous as his other books. It is also just as likely to offend if you are politically correct, vegan or an environmentalist who believes that attitudes like Clarkson's will cause the globe to melt down before he has a chance to publish another tome. Above all, it celebrates the right to free speech - something which is likely to disappear much faster than the ice caps. I loved it and kept it in the loo - as the time taken to read one column is about equal to the time required for a satisfying bowel movement. Also, once you've finished reading it, you might find another use for the paper.

I picked up volume 1 to see what it was like and have been hooked ever since. Please write some more Jeremy! The only reason I didn't score 5 is because 'nothing is perfect..' The book comprises of short extracts from Jeremy's newspaper column so its easy to read a bit here and there. I have been reading on the bus, waiting at my daughters dance lessons etc. Virtually every every page had brought a smile to my face and many parts have caused me to laugh out loud and I'm not easily amused!

This book is good because Jeremy is saying what a lot of people are thinking and his tales relate to real life experiences that many of us can identify with.
If you are a politically correct type of person who is easily offended, I wouldn't bother with this book, but if you enjoy a bit of sarcasm and funny metaphors go for it! I am female by the way. Don't be put off thinking this is a blokey book or full of stuff about cars.

Despite the current pariah status bestowed upon anyone rash enough to admit to being a fan of Mr Clarkson, I confess that I am, indeed, a fan of all things Clarkson. I love his irreverent style of anti-establishmentism which seems to be utterly unabashed by his increasing decline into the very middle class mire that he so roundly lampoons. Top Gear sustains, simultaneously, the distinction of being one of the most watched TV shows, the most You Tube hits and the most publicly reviled show on TV. No one admits to liking it but everyone watches it! There may be few car crashes on Top Gear but Mr Clarkson's private life is a kaleidoscopic car crash all of its own and a sort of 'Jeremy Kyle for rich folks'.

It's a bit like that with Mr Clarkson's writing; no one admits to enjoying it but it is very successful! Well I, for one, am prepared to come out of the closet and admit to thoroughly enjoying Mr Clarkson's typographic rants. These books are merely a collection of his newspaper column articles and so are short, random and, often, out of date. But that doesn't matter a jot because you really read these to wallow in Jeremy's massively improbable use of simile and adjective. And, at the end of each item, I find myself in complete agreement with the 'Denim Warrior'..... er, yes it is a bit worrying!

I guess that you wouldn't even be reading this review if you weren't thinking of buying this book. And you wouldn't be thinking of buying it if you hate JC. So, on that basis, I can tell you, as a fan, that it isn't his best effort, nor is it his worst, but you will, thoroughly, enjoy it.

This book is typical sarcastic and insulting Clarkson and therefore is highly recommended for keeping husbands very quiet on holiday