Customer Reviews

Not Dark Yet: A Very Funny Book About a Very Serious Game

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Imagine the intensity and stats content of Fever Pitch (the book, not the film - which is pretty good, but not the same), but about village cricket. One of the books I wish I had written myself.

Sadly this was a real disappointment. Despite being well written it doesn't capture the imagination in any way and really isn't that funny. One audiable laugh for the whole book doesn't befit the claim on the cover.

There are a number of similar books of this ilk that are a delight - Rain Men has a genuine charm and Penguins Stopped Play has a tremendously mischievous spirit... not to mention a surpising capacity to make grown men cry before it's finished.

Not Dark Yet lacks the essential charm that these sorts of books require to hold a reader - and frankly was a waste of money. Its regular political commentary felt turgid, and it recycles many well-known facts about cricket in a way that makes you realise you've heard most of them before.

This book unfortunately joins Shane Warne's extraordinarily dull autobiography and Graham Thorpe's painfully bitter account of his career as the worst cricket books I've ever read.

One to avoid, I'm afraid.

A self-indulgent tragedy of a book. It may be about "a very serious game" but it is definitely "not a very funny book". In fact, it's not even mildly entertaining. I'd recommend you spend your money on something else. Anything else.

Meh. This book falls way short of the quality served up by berkmen and Thompson in the titles mentioned in other reviews. A book not mentioned here is Fatty Batter by Michael Simkins, that really is up there with proper cricket humour. Not Dark yet only sells due to a tenuous link to Bumble.

I really wanted to like this book as I loved Rain Men, Zimmer Men, Penguins Stopped Play etc; I also grew up near where the book is set in Oxfordshire so I'm familiar with the pubs and ground mentioned in the text.
Unfortunately, Not Dark Yet isn't in the same league as the books mentioned above, it reads more like an extended article and is pretty uninspiring throughout. The political comments seem very out of place and add nothing to the tale.
Probably just about worth buying second hand for a couple of quid but otherwise I'd be inclined to give it a miss.

This is an entertaining book that covers similar subject matter to Marcus Berkmann's "Rain Men" and "Zimmer Men". Any club cricketer will smile and laugh along with the stories of Mike Harfield's trials and tribulations as captain of a cricket team who have played just one match per season for the last 30+ years.

My only criticisms are that it is not all that long (I read it in two fairly short sessions) and it occasionally veers off at a tangent into other subjects. In particular, there are a few political semi-rants which come out of nowhere and seem at odds with the book's otherwise easy and laid back style.

Overall, recommended for cricket lovers.

This is a "must-read" book for anyone who has played cricket, returned to cricket later in life or simply loves the game in all its forms from the beach to the MCC !
Hugely entertaining, funny, witty, and well-observed throughout.

Tremendous book that any 35-50 something club or sunday cricketer would relate to. I read the book in a couple of days and found it extremely hard to put down. Mike Harfield - you should write some more

For anyone who has ever tried to assemble 11 men on a cricket pitch at 2.30 on a Sunday afternoon, this book contains a lot of all too familiar stories (and excuses!), mixed in with some rambling reminiscences of how, over the course of 3 decades, a single annual fixture has infuriated, delighted, baffled and entertained some village cricketers. But it's not "Rain Men" (or its (better IMHO) follow up "Zimmer Men"). It just isn't as funny as often. It's not as rich and it doesn't really capture the atmosphere of what it's like to go from cricketing enthusiasm and promise to middle-aged lethargy and non-availability due to wife/kids/DIY etc etc. On the other hand, if I knew when the fixture was being played (I know where the ground is very well!), I would go and watch it just to see some of the characters described in the book in action!

Whether cricket addict or not this is a very funny, touching book about a group of friends and hangers-on taking pleasure in the simple joys of life - sport, beer and friendship. Set over three decades, the author shares his twin obsessions of village and test match cricket, with smatterings of politics and Bob Dylan thrown in for good measure. I have bought this book for several friends and they have all thought better of me for it.