Clarkson Putting The World To Rights (The World According to Clarkson V.3 - Jeremy Clarkson)

Member Name: Andy.mack

Product:	The World According to Clarkson V.3 - Jeremy Clarkson
Date:	28/01/09 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Full of typical Clarkson observations and comments

Disadvantages: Don't like him and you'll hate it. Chapter format a little bit like padding

It would seem since the inception of Dave it is almost impossible to turn the TV on these days and not be confronted with Jeremy Clarkson. His views on the current state of the Country and the world keep millions entertained every week on TV and in the papers, so it wasn't really a surprise to see the release of the 3rd edition of the World According To Clarkson. Once again the book collates a number of articles written for the Times news paper between 1st January 2006 and the 31st December 2007, covering a variety of subjects.

As any viewer of Top Gear will have realised his views are getting a little closer to the mark the older he seems to get. It's no surprise then that this collection of articles is getting slightly more risqué than the previous volumes. This time round Clarkson covers a vast variety of subjects from household pets to his hatred for the new format of Ski Sunday. Again like the second volume it doesn't have the addictive, must read qualities of the first edition.

Once again the book flows through the articles in terms of the dates they were published in the Times. In this way it actually shows the more cynical and critical Clarkson has got as he gets older. The previous books didn't seem to have this element to them, but this time round it is very clear to see all the way through. Like the previous books this is a bit of a pointless purchase if you are a regular Sunday Times reader as you will have read all of the articles at one point or another during 2006/07.

It's strange how close his presenting and writing styles seem to reflect each other. There are very few writer/presenters who come across exactly the same in the written word as they do fronting their regular TV shows. Each chapter is made up of either 3 or 4 pages depending on the article length; however I was slightly disappointed that when it was 4 pages, it was only for 2 or 3 lines. It seemed like they were just padding the book to fill pages, a feeling I never really seemed to get with the other 2 volumes. It would have been quite easy to adjust the font slightly and make each chapter 3 pages, but it's a bit of a minor gripe.

The book is a typical Clarkson affair however and that means it certainly isn't for the easily offended, in fact if you don't like him give it a really wide birth. Despite not being anywhere near as addictive as the last 2 World According to Clarkson books it is still a good read. He covers so many subjects and it's fair to say that I found myself agreeing or at least seeing it from Clarkson's point of view on a worrying number of occasions.

Overall while this book isn't quite up to the standard of the previous Clarkson books it is still a really good read. Having got it for Christmas it took me about 3 weeks to get through the whole thing, but at no point did I read more than one or two of the articles at a time. It's this factor that makes Clarkson so easy to read. You can dip in and out of the book, picking up on different subjects without any difficulty. If you like Clarkson then you'll like this book, if you can't stand him or you're a Sunday Times reader then I'd give it a miss.

Amazon: £10
Amazon Marketplace: £3.88
ISBN: 978-0718154400

Summary: Recycling more old articles from the Clarkson archive