About book I Know You Got Soul: Machines With That Certain Something (2015)
I like Jeremy Clarkson. His dry wit and "grumpy old man" outlook, contrasting with Richard Hammond's more boyish enthusiasm, make "Top Gear" an enjoyable hour's viewing on BBC2 on a Sunday evening. It makes for a decent column in The Sun once a week as well, with this latter also proving that it's not just cars he can write about the same way.He's been doing the columnist bit for a while now, though, as evidenced by his previous book "The World According To Jeremy Clarkson", which was essentially a collection of his writings in the Sunday Times. That wasn't just about cars, but it was all about a grumpy old man poking fun at and holes in various topics.Clarkson has narrowed his scope slightly with "I Know You Got Soul", as this is a book all about man's creations, the machines. Clarkson picks the ones he feels have a certain something that elevates them above the rest; the ones that have touched the hearts and minds of the public and become more than mere nuts and bolts.Perhaps surprisingly, given Clarkson's past history, there are very few cars mentioned. Maybe after so many years of writing and talking about them, he can't see them as much more than just a machine. It is in the air and on water that Clarkson manages to find most machines with soul.The style is pretty much the same all the way through, with Clarkson picking his machine and talking about it. There is usually a bit of general history, about how, when and why the machine in question was originally designed and made and of his own experiences with that particular machine. Whilst doing so, there is the occasional dig and snide remark and, even more occasionally, something genuinely funny, as is Clarkson's way. The only major difference between chapters is that sometimes he has more to say than at others.Whilst this does delight at first, seeing Clarkson back on his usual subject, more or less, it does wear thin pretty quickly. What makes Clarkson so enjoyable for me in the other forms I come across him in is that there isn't too much of him. In the form and size of a book, he does get a little wearing. He comes across as a little bit snobbish, presenting information as if he knows it and you don't and he's not about to let you forget it. His dry wit and habit of grumbling and finding fault even in the things he's holding up as the greatest of examples amuses at first, but soon gets annoying and you wish he would just give up and actually find something he really likes.One thing that is noticeable is that he seems to find less to say about things as he goes deeper into the book. It feels like he had a few machines he was truly passionate about, but there weren't enough for a book, so he had to add a few more he wasn't quite so keen on. Then, when the publishers said it wasn't long enough, he had to throw in a few more just because he thought he could make a point out of them.As with other books I've read, particularly things like "The Darwin Awards" and the books of collected newspaper columns by John O'Farrell and by Clarkson himself, this is really a book you need to dip in and out of. If you try to read it as a novel, it just gets a little repetitive and dreary. Had I read this over the period of a week or two, dipping in an out, I don't think it would have annoyed me as much as it did reading all in one go, thanks to a 3 hour delay on the Underground.If you're a fan of Clarkson, be that because of his humour on "Top Gear" or his general grumpiness as on "Grumpy Old Men", I suspect you'll enjoy this, although it would still be better read in bits and pieces. If you're a fan of all things mechanical, I suspect you'll also enjoy this, but if you're not a fan of Clarkson, it may just annoy you. If you like neither, you've possibly not even considered buying this book and that would be by far the best idea.Although good in parts, the title makes the style of the writing seem somehow ironic. Towards the end where Clarkson seems to be running out of ideas and the constant repetition of the same style is getting wearing, it all feels quite mechanical. This is a book about machines with soul that feels almost as if it was put together by a robot and by the end it feels, in total contrast to its title, strangely soulless.This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
Jeremy Clarkson is someone, like Simon Cowell, who you either like or hate. I just love his sense of humour and he loves one of my favourite machines - the SR-71 Blackbird.Back Cover Blurb:It will come as no surprise to anyone that Jeremy Clarkson loves machines. But it's not just any old bucket of bolts, cogs and bearings that rings his bell. In fact, he's scoured the length and breadth of the land, plunged into oceans and taken to the skies in search of machines with that elusive certain something.In I Know You Got Soul, Jeremy Clarkson tells the stories of the geniuses, innovators and crackpots who put the ghost in the machine. From Brunel's SS Great Britain to the awesome Blackbird spy-plane and from the woeful - but inspiring - Graf Zeppelin to Han Solo's Millennium Falcon, they were built by people who love them. And we can't help but love them in return.
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….although Jeremy Clarkson's enthusiasm for his machines is sometimes irritatingly childish. I tended to agree with his thesis that some machines do seem to have a soul. The Spitfire, the Rolls, the 747 and the Blackbird. Some of his other choices were a bit more suspect - the AK47, the B52 (although he admits this has a dark soul if anything) and an Alfa Romeo. Cracking photos compensated for a badly edited, rushed out for Christmas, book that I think would have been better as a documentary and DVD.
—Jim
Jsme jediní, kdo má Clarksona jako audioknihu?Pokud ano, mohou nám mezinárodní kolegové závidět. Pro nás Čechy je namluvena Clarksonovým dabérem, tedy stejným hlasem, který známe z Top Gearu - hlasem Zbyška Horáka.Kniha samotná sestává z 22 kapitol pojednávajících o historii a kuriozitách Jeremyho oblíbených strojů. Můžete se tak dozvědět spoustu zajímavostí o letadlech, ponorkách, lodích, vzducholodích, vlacích i autech a navrch ještě o Kalašnikovu a Millenium Falconu.Více mě bavily kapitoly na začátku knihy. Buď se Jeremy trochu vyčerpal ze svého břitkého anglického humoru, nebo jsem jeho stylu až příliš přivykla. Nebo jsou prostě lepší.Zbyšek Horák měl během dabování Jeremyho Clarksona dost času přizpůsobit se jeho intonaci a dikci, proto věřím, že je celkem věrná. (Jak by svou knihu asi načetl autor samotný?) Přesto mám pocit, že je v některých chvílích přehrávaná. Prostě se mi výkyvy a důrazy v hlase zdají být až moc velké a důrazné. Ale jen občas.Většinu ze skoro šesti hodin poslechu tvoří konzistentní příjemné vyprávění, které doporučuji tematicky do auta, zejména na delší nerušené cesty. Nebo když někam musíte sami a nemáte si s kým povídat. Jeremy/Zbyšek je dobrým společníkem.
—Aya
Jeremy Clarkson is the "Marmite" of the celebrity world. You either love him or you hate him. He got his writing skills hike he was a journalist, then after becoming famous through the early "Top Gear" tried to quit and become a writer. While he was never successful in quitting, much of his writing was still successful anyway, and his rants about dentists became acquirable in writing. While he can be an inconsiderate oaf, or a racist pillock, most of the stuff he does is great. "Top Gear" would be just another boring motor show without him, and the world of books would be equally uninteresting. I would recommend all of his books to anyone! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to read "Clarkson on cars".
—Oscar
