A Little Bit of R&R...

I picked Dara O'Briain's 'Tickling the English' up after 'Brave New World' because I felt a bit sorry for my brain and thought it could do with a bit of light relief!

'Tickling the English' by
Dara O'Briain (Penguin, 2009)

I don't know whether it's my imagination, but there seem to be a lot of books about by comics nowadays, which made me a bit sceptical before I started reading.  I hoped I wouldn't feel ripped off by a callous money grabbing venture of the 'Oh, he's been popular this year, let's give him a book contract in time for Christmas' variety.

This book is essentially a collection of musings comparing and contrasting the English/British character, structured around some of the more interesting shows Mr O'Briain did as part of his 'Talking Funny' tour in 2008/9.  It meanders a bit, encompassing the people he meets on tour, polls and statistics and the enduring appeal (and stamina) of Ken Dodd, but by the end manages to draw everything together into a logical conclusion.

The style of this book was quite nice and just right for what I wanted at that time.  It wasn't completely vacuous (as I'd feared), but certainly wasn't heavy going either.  In fact, it was just pleasant.  There were a few moments where I felt a bit lectured to and wished there were more anecdotes about the shows, but that wasn't what the book was about.  On the whole, it was a nice, easy read.

However, this was very much the result of timing.  I would recommend this as a relaxing holiday read for the kind of curious mind which can't read anything completely devoid of information, but if you're hoping for a laugh-a-minute page turner, this isn't really it.

Do I think it was a money grabbing exercise?  If it was, I get the feeling that Mr O'Briain was dubious about it and wanted to use the opportunity wisely to make a point of importance to him.  Whether that was what his agent had in mind is another matter!  I'm not going to complain about the commerce of creativity though.  If it wasn't for the bestsellers, there wouldn't be the niche literature, so I see no problem with a world where both exist side by side.  I only get annoyed when one pretends to be the other...but that's another story.

I'm glad I read 'Tickling the English'.  It's good to chill out once in a while and that's exactly what I've done!