2014; 345 pages. Full Title : Money for Old Rope – The Big Book of
Everything – Part 2. New
Author? : Yes. Genre : Non-Fiction;
Etymology; Historical Trivia. Overall
Rating : 6½*/10.
Did
Paul McCartney really die in the 1960’s, and have they been covering it up all
these years? Why do they call it “French
Toast” if it isn’t French? What do they
mean by “drunk as a newt”? Is there a
hidden meaning to the song-&-dance “The Hoky Poky”?
If
you’re the kind of person that finds such questions fascinating (and I do),
then you will find Money For Old Rope – Part 2
to be a fun read, perfect for cluttering up your mind with odd facts that will
come in handy the next time you play Trivial Pursuit.
And for that matter, just where did the British come up with that
strange word/expression “Bollocks”?
What’s To Like...
Albert Jack divides Money for Old Rope 2 into
seven sections. They are :
Ch. 1.) Favorite Phrases & Idioms
Ch. 2.) Urban Legends
Ch. 3.) Mysteries
Ch. 4.) Nursery Rhymes – Hidden Meanings
Ch. 5.) Pub Names – Secret Meanings
Ch. 6.) Fabulous Food History
Ch. 7.) Wonderful Words
The sections felt about the optimum length for keeping the reader’s
interest. I don’t know if I can pick a
favorite; each section had fascinating anecdotal tidbits. Chapter 5, Pub Names, was a bit of a yawner,
but that’s probably because I’m an American, where the closest thing we have to
pubs, our bars, have nondescript names like Moe’s, Larry’s, or Curly’s. British pub names have histories.
Albert
Jack is English, so there are lots of “Britishisms” here, which I always
enjoy. Some of them are topics, such as
Toe-Rag, Mufti Day, and Moonlight Flit.
Others, such as “hoick”, are just part of the author’s everyday
vocabulary.
The topics seemed well-researched, and I didn’t see any glaring
errors. Indeed, some of the American
topics seemed spot on. There were lots
of kewl incidental references as well, such as the French comic “Asterix” (and his pal, “Getafix”); Jane Austen’s
“Pride and Prejudice” (which I’m kinda
sorta reading right now); and my mother sod, “Berks County, Pennsylvania”.
The
writing style is adequate, but not compelling.
More on this in a bit. There is,
naturally, also a Money for Old Rope – Part 1,
which I have not read.
Kewlest New Word...
Hoick (v.) :
To lift or pull something abruptly, or with effort.
Others : Runcible
(adj., and a nonsense word invented by
Edward Lear)
Excerpts...
Other rock and
roll legends include the time Peter Grant, charismatic manager of Led Zeppelin,
was checking out of a hotel in America one day and was reeling off $100 dollar
bills from a huge roll of cash to pay for the damage his band and entourage had
caused during their stay. Nervously, the
hotel clerk asked, “excuse me Mr Grant, but what is it like to actually through
(sic) a television
out of the window.” Grant looked down at
the lad and after a short pause peeled off another $300 and replied, “here you
are, son, have one on us.” (loc. 1173)
What we call French toast is known as pain perdu (‘lost bread’) in France
itself. Like toast, it is regarded as a
way of using stale (or ‘lost’) bread, slices of which are softened by being
dipped in a mixture of egg, milk and sugar before being fried in butter. In Britain, it was actually referred to as German toast until the First World War
when anti-German sentiment caused it to be changed. (...)
In a further, somewhat ironic twist, French toast briefly became known
as freedom toast in America
following French disapproval of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. (loc. 5241)
Kindle Details...
Money
For Old Rope – Part 2 currently sells for $3.99 at Amazon, and has
a newer book cover than the one shown above.
Albert Jack has a slew of similarly-themed historical-trivia books
available for the Kindle, ranging in price from $1.99 to $11.99.
“Odds bodkins, that’s more Blarney talk.” (loc. 195)
Three
things mar this otherwise enjoyable book.
The first concerns the formatting, which is atrocious. The line spacing varies for no discernible
reason. There are a bunch of links, such
as: (See
Melba Toast), but they don’t actually link to anything and often the link-to
topic doesn’t even exist at all. The words in
chapters 1 and 7 are in no particular order, so there is a screaming need for
an Index, with active links to each topic.
I have a feeling all of this is due to the author pulling these chapters
in from his various other books, but still, it’s annoying.
The second issue is the general tone of the “asides”. Side comments are the soul and wit of any
non-fiction book, but here they are mostly negative. At various times, Albert Jack is anti-French,
anti-Aussie, anti-Politically Correct, and even anti-Posh Spice. If you’re going to write what amounts to a
reference work, you should really keep the asides witty, yet not snarky. You lose readers otherwise.
Finally, there is the labeling of Global Warming as an Urban
Legend. I’m sorry, but the bulk of the
mainstream climatologists are firmly convinced that Global Warming exists, and is
occurring at an ever-accelerating rate due to the greenhouse gases being belched
into the atmosphere. This is based on
scientific evidence, not wishful thinking.
You’re allowed to disagree, and you’re even allowed to put your beliefs
in a book. But when the majority
scientific opinion is that Global Warming is a reality, you can’t categorize it
as an Urban Legend.
6½ Stars. Add 1 star
if you had friends who really believed Paul McCartney died back in the
60’s. Add another 1 star
if you’re British.
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