Rate this book

The Hell Of It All (2008)

by Charlie Brooker(Favorite Author)

4.06 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0571229573 (ISBN13: 9780571229574)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Faber & Faber

review 1: I would have given this a 3 1/2 as it's better than a 3 but not quite good enough to earn a 4...but 1/2 stars aren't allowed so I'm rounding down. This collection of Brooker's doom-ladened rants from his regular Guardian column are, for the most part, highly entertaining and humorous (sometimes laugh out loud humorous) but there are times when his writing swerves across the line from being satirical, ironic and sarcastic to the blatantly offensive for no point whatsoever (in fact, there was a whole chapter where every piece left me with something of a quizzical look on my face as I felt he'd somewhat lost his way). It would probably be handy if you have an encyclopaedic knowledge of past series of The Apprentice, Big Brother, The X-Factor and I'm A Celebrity... as there is... more a great deal written about individual contestants on these shows and this compilation of columns runs from 2007 - 2009. On the whole, I did enjoy reading this and would very probably read his other books too, the format of short pieces of writing on various subjects makes a nice change from my usual reading. One section where this does fail though is the insertion of a journal of his road trip holiday in America. It is neither very descriptive, informative or funny and seems out of place with the other pieces. If your sense of humour is slanted in the right direction then you would definitely get something out of this book.
review 2: A collection of Charlie Brooker's Guardian columns from 2007 when his misanthropic rage was at peak boil. Brooker turns his splenetic eye on seemingly every aspect of modern culture, from the soul-sapping inanity of reality television to the empty platitudes of the media-trained political class. Brooker's abrasive critique is often hilarious and also enlightening as to the varied inspirations behind his wonderfully nightmarish TV series Black Mirror. Recommended for anyone who ever threw something at the telly. less

Download links for: The Hell of It All

Advertising