7 books in 7 days.... except he's already discussed reading some of these books months ago. Goodreads confirms he started reading these in February. I used to really like Jack and his content, but the constant lying just makes him insufferable now.
This, so much.
It's the Ruby Granger school of content creation: Make a video in which you claim to do something not wildly impressive, but which you still didn't do, then spend the video lying your ass off about accomplishments which are easily proven wrong, all to get a hollow, narcissistic ego boost from gullible people.
This is the breakdown of the dates in which he originally claimed he read those books:
The title has a clear claim: Jack read 7 complete books in the span of 7 consecutive days. Blatant lies.
It's not even a case of him just using a clickbait title and then being honest in the video, either. He very clearly claims in the video that he read 'My Pen is the Wing of a Bird' one day and then in the following two days, read 'Paradais' and 'Cursed Bunny'. He clearly claims multiple times that he read them all in the same week.
There was absolutely nothing preventing Jack from being honest and then titling this video: "An English Reader Samples 7 Translated Books". It wouldn't have made the video any weaker than it already is. It would be more honest and accurate, and it would side-step the obvious problem (which he's already had to address in the comments) where a focus on reading translated books as though it's some huge, impressive feat of culture just shows how sheltered his life and perspective are. Most of the world reads translated fiction every day, since they're not native English speakers.
Instead, he titled the video "i read 7 translated books in 7 days (and one made me cry lol)". Supposed English lit scholar and multiple-time Oxford reject Jack can't figure out how capital letters work or is just too lazy to bother. The title contains blatant lies, then one cringeworthy, self-deprecating cry for attention to try to coax people into watching to see him cry. He only
pretends to cry in the video. It is beyond embarrassing. We're talking 'Amber Heard on the witness stand' level of unconvincing crocodile tears. He overdramatically pretends that he's crying, wipes away non-existent tears (no puffy eyes or redness or any sign of anything approaching a tear), then on a dime, he's fine. It's insane.
Jack: "I didn't expect to be ending this video with TEARS in my EYES. I am a MESS!"
Me looking for the tears:
There's also no clear indication that this is - no surprise - yet another sponsored ad video. Shameless dishonesty all around from someone turning reading into a lie-filled numbers game to boost his fragile ego and trick naïve people into thinking he reads more than them, as though that's something to impressed by even if true.
Also, independent of the lies, it's just a dull hook for a video, especially coming from Jack. I don't want to see a compulsive liar pretend to read more books in English so he can pretend to be cultured.
Give me a video from someone who can compare and contrast the original language with the translated one - what changed and how, if at all, does that impact the work? What's lost in translation? Give me a video exploring the process of translating fiction to other languages - how involved is the author in that process with the translator, etc., and what compromises do they have to settle for? Jack doesn't offer any insight into that other than saying, "Go Google that." He doesn't have any insight into the argument over whether the translator has a right to be a credited co-author or if their role is to be invisible. His comments amount to "Yes, they should, no follow-up questions please".
There's no real insight into any of the books, either. It's just Jack's usual tiresome schtick: Vague, adjective-filled plot blurb recaps that give every indication that he didn't read most of these in full, if at all, regardless of the dates he claims he did it. He doesn't review them in the context of the video's title/premise and offer up any indication of what he learned from other cultures or what cultural barriers he encountered. It's just more vague plot synopses. The only new thing he apparently learned was the work "curmudgeon", which is ironically a fairly common English word. There's no balanced reviews, either. On Goodreads he gave 3 stars to a couple of these, but in the video he offers over-the-top glowing praise for all of them.
You're not fooling anyone, Jack.
" Whaaat really? oh my god thank you jack for this history lesson, I had no idea!!
