Jack Edwards #2
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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.
I don't live in an English speaking country and the way people from the US or UK talk about translated books is so baffling to me. When I walk into a bookshop probably 70% will be translated books, most from English but also other languages. It's just perfectly normal. But sometimes it seems like people think translated books are automatically "difficult" or too out there? I don't really get it. Imagine someone in Germany being like "ugh this JK Rowling, sounds interesting but I'm not sure, it might be hard for me to understand because she's FOREIGN"(some) English-native speakers (aka Jack):
Oh my god, you UNLOCK SOOO many new books when you read books from another country! Such a wild concept, the genre of translated fiction!
such an exciting entirely new concept!! and did you know these books were not written with English-speaking readers in mind? Can you imagine we are not the center of the universe and not every single piece of fiction is written specifically to cater to English-speaking audiences???
100% his grief will be losing his dream of going to Oxford.
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.
Yeah, I've always found this odd. I've had friends that have acted like they're the smartest people in the world because they've read a book that's been translated. You didn't translate them yourself, calm down.
Also, what the bloody hell was that fake crying at the end of his video? I've seen better acting in GCSE drama classes.
First time poster here, honestly that last video really was my last straw. The fake crying at the end, acting like reading foreign literature is this revolutionary thing when literaly (I assume) most people do it without a second thought?, lying about reading these books in 7 days when he shelved them as "read" on his PUBLIC Goodreads before, the self sufficience, the condescending undertone, the lame jokes... that's too much.
I can't stop thinking about how awkward it must be to set up a camera to film yourself reading and fake crying and then to sit there and watch it several times to edit? like he had to sit there, maybe do several takes, watch it several times and after editing watch the entire thing all the way through and go "yup, i'm uploading this" and then actually upload it? could not be me
idt a lot of folks read translated fiction outside of me and the book accounts and lit fic fans I know..
also there is no way he read Paradais in a day
Ikr, i would at least expect him to be familiar with russian literature since it holds a great importance among world literature im not russian but im familiar with many authors.
His approach to reading translated books is like he is reading the books in the original language
Exactly, like here reading a translation is nothing to brag about. When you're able to read a book in its original language then it's impressive, and even then it depends who you're talking to cause some people think reading a book in English isn't that impressive even if it's not our native language.His approach to reading translated books is like he is reading the books in the original language
He always talks about translated fiction like it's way harder to read than books originally written in English and I always find it so weird. Also comes across pretentious af but that might just be Jack himself
Oh that is completely jack, it's all about protecting a certain academic literary image. He has been trying to cultivate it since he began youtube, problem is though (like so many youtubers) it doesn't come across as authentic. Some people, the insincerity just oozes out of them, and jack is one of those people. Everything he does, whether its book reviews or just smiling or doing an 'honesty post, nothing feels genuine.
Durham was all about being a highly ranked historic, university . Trying to get into Oxford, again all about the image. Living in Paris, again all about the Instagram image of being in Paris (he makes Emily in Paris look like a documentary), now wanting to be an author. He reminds me a big of Carrie Hope Fletcher actually, both acting and trying to present their image in a literary way
Can you imagine the size of his ego on the day he'll finally read a book written in French? He says he wanted to read books like "at night all blood is black" someday but I think he doesn't realize the amount of work this would require. I already have a hard time believing that he read it in English from the description he made of it ("about the physchological undoing of a man", no, this is about a whole generation of young Senegalese being sent to a war they had no business going to and their descent into madness and their traumas being represented by the mc, but hey, this would recquire to read the book and some light researches on the side so...)
Also I'm quite suprised he literally made no comment on the fact that 70% of this book is a tale of the mc life in Senegal, their customs, their language (the mc doesn't even speak french), their history. The author made such a great job at desribing all of that, but no... All Jack could come up with was "Gory, horrific, blood, war, pew pew, [insert the lamest quote from the book]. I guess it was too far away from his perfect vision of all rich, white, pretty, traditional French novels he wanted to show.
Honestly it would've even been fine to make a video about "7 books from 7 countries" or something like that, just without the "they are not originally in English and NOBODY ever reads translated fiction so i am super unique and literary" part of it all. He could've just said that books from non-English speaking countries don't get enough hype in the UK (or in English-speaking online spaces like booktube and booktok), so he wanted to specifically make a video about them. Could've made the same points about translation and cultural differences without stroking his ego so much. He probably would've found a way to make that all about him too but in theory, I like the idea of him showcasing books from different countries (well someone in that English-speaking booktube space with an audience as large as his showcasing them, maybe not Jack specifically lol)
I wonder what the average age of his audience is exactly. Why is he presenting ~translated fiction~ like its a new concept like some children's talkshow host? I do agree with his point that translators should get equal credit for their work, but that's something the International Booker Prize (I think?) is trying to fix. And most reasonable literature lovers are already aware.
Well said. It's giving "white boy discovers other cultures and languages!!".
Agree with the comments here. Reading translated fiction is essentially just reading fiction. If it's been translated into your native language then you're just reading a normal book. 
This attitude is especially strange coming from someone with a degree in literature.
This attitude is especially strange coming from someone with a degree in literature.
I think it's impressive to read a book in any second language tbh.
I just had another go at watching the video, and his reviews are quite literally 'beautiful prose style. Disturbing parts.' Fascinating insight there, Jack.
Also, in the comments he said that he was aiming the video at English speaking readers who (apparently) don't read translated fiction. How does he know this? It's not like translated books come with a warning label on the front 'Caution! Originally written in Russian.'
The pretentious act makes me cringe every single time.
The jokes are getting worse too. 'I feel like I've just eaten an eleven course meal. I need to leave in...two minutes ago for the actual meal I'm going to eat.'
Also, in the comments he said that he was aiming the video at English speaking readers who (apparently) don't read translated fiction. How does he know this? It's not like translated books come with a warning label on the front 'Caution! Originally written in Russian.'
The pretentious act makes me cringe every single time.
The jokes are getting worse too. 'I feel like I've just eaten an eleven course meal. I need to leave in...two minutes ago for the actual meal I'm going to eat.'
Is this some sort of 4D Durham-level translated-fiction-readers-only line?The jokes are getting worse too. 'I feel like I've just eaten an eleven course meal. I need to leave in...two minutes ago for the actual meal I'm going to eat.'
I am PRAYINGGGG that his book is written the way he talks, I will laugh myself to death.
'It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. We had more times than a watchmaker. Call me Times New Roman, because boy, we had some times. Forget the Sunday Times, because this was a 7-days a week kind of times.'
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