common myths and misconsceptions explained in plain English
Disadvantages:
unorganised content pages, hard to find questions again
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
*** Read it wisely, Little One, for the power of ignorance is great. STEPHEN FRY ***
I'm an avid fan of QI the television series. I've watched all four seasons so far on television, most of the episodes more than once thanks to BBC4 and BBC2 repeats and of course UKTV G2. I ordered season one on DVD from Amazon together with this book. A gift voucher received a little while back enabled me to purchase both, the DVD box set AND the book accompanying the series. At the time of ordering the price for the hardback edition by Faber was £5.20, however, upon checking prices you now have to pay £6.50. I had hoped to get it cheaper at Tesco but this time round they were not the cheapest (£9.95 in store). But even if you order from Amazon now, it's still only half price as RRP is £12.99.
~~~ What colour is water? ~~~ … Not clear or transparent, if that's what you thought.
"The Book of General Ignorance" is often mistakenly accredited to Stephen Fry who's the quizmaster in the TV show but apart from a foreword by him he doesn't actually contribute much else. Even Alan Davies has a few words to say - four to be precise. The book is actually compiled by two Johns, John Lloyd (of '"Not the 9 o'clock news", "Spitting Image" and "Blackadder" fame) and John Mitchinson.
The book is actually a collection of topics raised in the TV show. If you've watched all of them then you will know the questions and - if you paid attention - remember some of the answers. Reading some of the answers I still have Stephen Fry's voice bouncing around in my head. I can imagine that some of the passages in the book were lifted straight from the crib-sheets Fry takes his information from.
As I mentioned before, this book entitled "The Book of General Ignorance" and accompanies the highly successful BBC2/4 panel game by the name of "Q.I.: Quite Interesting". Stephen Fry acts as the quizmaster as he's generally thought of as being 'clever'. After all he's Cambridge University educated and it seems everyone knows that Fry knows a thing or two. In the show he chairs over his guests who in most cases are comedians, sometimes intellectuals themselves. The guests change every episode with one exception, actor and comedian Alan Davies appears in all show (apart from once in season 4 where, after 'dematerialised', only his voice is heard for the rest of the show). Whereas Fry is seen as the intellectual, Davies falls into the obvious traps set by the writers who try and uncover the truth about so called common knowledge and urban myths.
There are plenty of these misconceptions in the book, mainly the ones Alan Davies answered wrong in the first place, proving that there's a lot of hogwash out there that needs to be cleared up.
~~~ What did Nero do while Rome burned? ~~~ … Fiddle? … Wrong.
"The Book of General Ignorance" can be compared to the popular New Scientist books "Does Anything Eat Wasps?" and "Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?" I'm a fan of those two books but find them a little too 'scientific' in their explanations. "The Book of General Ignorance" uses simple language to explain the, sometimes, most complicated matter in simple, easy to understand words and often in one page or less.
At the moment only available as hardback it's not something you read cover to cover. Over 280 pages Lloyd and Mitchinson answer 230 questions that at some point or other were already answered during the episodes of Q.I. on television. But it doesn't mean that the book is boring in any way. The 30 minute television programme covers so many questions, often new questions arising from the attempt to answer them, that you don't necessarily catch them all. And of course there are people who are interested in the subjects but are not familiar with the show.
I like to dip in an out, check the index pages and pick a topic I want to read. I often find myself at the end of the show wondering if I caught everything as you have a studio audience reacting, usually with laughter, various guests talking over each other and Stephen Fry reading the answer incredibly fast (you need to be a speed reader when you switch on subtitles) so this book lets you find out the answers at your own pace. And you can always go back and check that you actually heard right in the first place.
I have learned a number of quite interesting things and if they ever come up in a pub quiz I'll be able to answer them.
I now know that: · Coffee is not made from beans · Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are not berries but oranges and lemons are · Bangkok is not the capital of Thailand
And much much more.
~~~ Who invented the Theory of Relativity? ~~~ … No, not Einstein.
The contents list extends over 7 pages and you will find every question asked with page there. It's easy to go down the list and pick questions you're interested in at the time. While there are no categories or sub-categories, a lot of questions are grouped together - food, history or animal related. It makes it a little difficult to find particular questions you want to check out - or even find them again after you read them the first time. But on the other hand, while looking for what you want to know you come across plenty other questions you want answered anyway.
Accompanying the different sections of Question & Answer, mainly to lighten the load, are little doodles that vaguely illustrate the topic. For example when the question regarding the length of one day is asked you have a tape-measure underneath the words "1 DAY". Other times you will find little proverbs or quotes that broadly fit the topic, the likes of "You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone. - Al Capone" next to the answer for Billy The Kid's real name. I enjoy reading those little extra bits.
Whether you're a fan of the show on television or not, this book is informative, funny, well written and laid out. It is crammed full of useful information that will make you feel more intelligent and I think even give you bragging right when you can correct the ignoramus still insisting that Henry VIII had six wives when, depending who you talk to, it's either three or four.
I will refer back to this book as I've read through the content list but only to see which of the questions I would like answered first and receive confirmation that I remember the correct information. And not all answers will stick in your mind all the time and sometimes need reinforcing.
I leave you with the startling news that the Moon does not smell of cheese but gunpowder.
The Book of General Ignorance Hardback 280 pages Published by Faber RRP £12.99
Available to buy at all good bookshops and supermarkets, often for a reduced price.
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