Diddly Squat: The No 1 Sunday Times Bestseller

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Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth This book was a really interesting insight into the world of farming from the perspective of someone who started with absolutely no clue on the business! From buying the wrong tractor (Lamborghini, since you ask . . .) to formation combine harvesting, getting tied-up in knots of red tape to chasing viciously athletic cows, our hero soon learns that enthusiasm alone might not be enough. I loved Clarkson's Farm it was hilarious and also showed how deadly serious farming is. The main problem with this book is that it's made up of Clarkson's newspaper columns. So if you've read those then you've read this already and if you haven't read them then reading them all in one go is weird. The repetition means constant deja vu, the references which may have been topical in a weekly column are lost here.

Pull on your wellies, grab your flat cap and join Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the farm we're all obsessed with . . . Endise Briti huumorisaate Top Gear juht otsustas pärast mitut pööret oma elus teha järgmise järsu kurvi ja hakata farmi pidama. Ta olla selle juba ammu ostnud, kuid selle eest hoolitseja otsustas minna pensionile ning selle asemel, et otsida uus sarnane ametimees, otsustas Clarkson asja ise käsile võtta. Eks aitas kaasa ka Covid-19, mis täpselt siis kõik 6 jala 7 pöidla ja 9 küüne pikkuste impeeriumi mõõduühikute kaugusele karantiini surus. Jeremy kirjeldab, miks põllupidamine pisikesel skaalal on tõsine väljakutse ja kallis hobi. Ning seda kõike kohalikus ajalehes kolumnides, mis nüüd kokku raamatu andsid. Ning lisaks on ta leidnud aega ka selle kohta nähtavasti sari teha, mille vaatamine nüüd ootamatult prioriteetseks ülesandeks kerkis, sest raamatu peatükid on väga kõikuva kvaliteediga, aga telesaateid mees ju teha oskab. Seda tõestab asjaolu, et tema nn "autorevüü" saateid vaatavad andunult peamiselt inimesed, keda mootorid ja ringrajasõit absoluutselt ei huvita. Rääkimata pisiasjast, et revüüsaatest kunagi keegi ühtki reaalset tarbijanõuannet ei leidnud. This book is classic Clarkson filled with all his wit and humor, but this time about his new, and serious, job. During Covid, Jeremy tries his hand at farming on his land that he has owned for quite a few years after his farm manager retires. What we end up with is someone that really does not know what he is doing, but still tries his best while listening to nobody's advice. The book is made up from his Sunday Times column writings, and it is fabulously funny.So, being utterly and completely uninterested in cars*, I have obviously not a clue of who Jeremy Clarkson is and what makes him famous**

I love the drawings scattered throughout, at the beginning of each chapter and section. I really enjoyed looking at them as I was reading. It balanced out the writing, humour and serious comments on the state of the farming industry and the government actions. It is slightly worrying about how our planet will look in just a few years or a decade and how much we rely on other countries. vabandust, aga mulle Clarksoni farmiseriaal hirmsasti meeldis; ja Clarkson ise, kes enne üldse ei meeldinud, muutus seeläbi kõvasti sümpaatsemaks. nii läheb, kui üks mees lihtsalt ausalt tunnistab, et ta ei saa absoluutselt aru, mida ta teeb, ja et tema obsessioon suurte kallite traktorite ja ekskavaatorite suhtes ei ole kellegi jaoks hästi lõppenud. mõned lambad ja mesilased sinna juurde ei tee ka üldse paha. Ma arvan, et kõlab nagu paljude inimeste karjäär, sest kes ikka üsast välja potsatades kõike oskab. Pärast võid oma õppeprotsessist panna kirja vahva lugemise ning kui sa oled Jeremy Clarkson, siis see avaldatakse lausa paberi peal ajalehes. Kui sa oled suvaline minusugune, siis kirjutad sa selle internetti kuhugile digipapüürusele, et pakkuda vähemalt teistele oma kannatustest meelelahutust. Sest sarnaselt Top Geariga ei ole tegemist lugejat säästva õpetliku traktaadiga, vaid ikkagi ajaviitelugemisega Briti keerulisest olukorrast COVIDi ja Brexiti aegu. Igasugu UK viiteid on tõsiselt palju, mille kohta maakeelde tõlkija on kannatlikult pidanud iga lehekülje alla harimatutele eestlastele selgitusi viitama, mis võtavad Clarksoni hoogsal tekstil kahjuks tugevasti inertsi maha. There are tidbits of interesting knowledge about farming or the law and how it interacts with farmers but this is never selected into, instead the book prefers to go on raging tirades against Greta Thunberg instead. Strange.Also, when someone thinks it's an enviable knowledge to know this by heart (or even more when someone says cr*p like "I was able to test the new automatic because thankfully I was able to shift gears manually and I'm much better than any automation") this is what makes me simultaneously roll my eyes hard enough to lose balance, laugh so hard so I lose my breath and fall asleep from pure boredom. In short - it's not good for me. Such a bad book. So, so bad. But this is what i get for reading something I found discarded at an airport. Pull on your wellies, grab your flat cap and join Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the farm we're all obsessed with. The things written just keeps you engaged throughout without getting bored and it’s so interesting. There’s a lot of things in this I wouldn’t know.

Jeremy may never succeed in becoming master of his land, but, as he's discovering, the fun lies in the trying . . . Clarkson raises a number of issues with farming in the UK that the general public wouldn’t know about, which seem to be quite a bit different to in Australia as the government seems to have more control over what is grown. I enjoyed comparing what I know of Aussie farming with Clarkson’s experience in the UK (I still can’t get over that each field has a name). The columns are humorous, easy to understand and give an insight into different aspects of farming (right down to the farm shop). It’s clear that even for all its frustrations, Clarkson enjoys farming and it really shows through his writing. There’s a sense of pride and love in sharing his farming life. Review What I most learned from this book, was that government decisions on the environment can have devastating effects, I had not heard of these examples. They came after major interference on what the author needed to do with a water supply for his crops. Härra Clarkson annab kõigile lootust, et tee mis sa teed, aga huumor aitab igast jamast läbi. Ta on ühte aegu eeskuju ja samas täielik ristivastand sõnale "eeskuju". Pealehakkamist on vaja, püsivust ja aega. Whilst this isn't the most thrilling book i've read, it did provide what I needed - which was something I could more or less switch off my brain to and let Jeremy mutter in my ear about the joys and sorrows of farming.The small illustrations are ded good when each chapter arrives; nice that Kaleb Cooper and Cheerful Charlie get mentioned quite as bit also. It is just an amazing book, so if, like me, you enjoy agricultural and business/ comedy books, it is a must read. Looking forward to S2 of Clarkson’s farm in Feb. Clarkson finds himself, like all farmers, up against the vagaries of the British weather. It’s too hot, it’s too cold. It’s too dry, it’s too wet. He battles red tape, new regulations, and the devastating damage Brexit has caused to farming. The Government, and the exhausting, continuous hard work just to try and make a living from the soil. And yet while the farm may be called Diddly Squat for good reason, Jeremy soon begins to understand that it's worth a whole lot more to him than pounds, shillings and pence . . .

Faced with suffocating red tape, biblical weather, local objections, a global pandemic and his own frankly staggering ignorance of how to 'do farming', Jeremy soon realises that turning the farm around is going to take more than splashing out on a massive tractor. An idyllic spot offering picturesque views across the Cotswolds, bustling hedgerows and natural springs, it's the perfect plot of land for someone to delegate the actual, you know, farming to someone else while he galivants around the world in cars.As an aside - I surprise myself by having quite a bit of patience with the English version of this humour, but I think it may have to do with the fact that it's not told in the horrible Gothenburg accent. And just to not be too hard on Gothenburg, it needs to be said that I spent most of my mandatory military service there and that probably coloured my perception of it ( not really, seriously, stay away!)