From personal investigation I'd say 18-22 thirsty white girls studying literature.
Jack Edwards #2
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And he's like "You should read translated fiction! I'm looking at you, people who I invented for an excuse to act superior! You might learn about other cultures!" ...and then proceeds to offer zero indication what he learned about other cultures from these books which he didn't read during the week in question, if ever.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.'
With a straight face he proclaims that he's a "literary critic" when there's absolutely no attempt to think critically or use his brain to explore the idea he bases the video around. What did he learn about the culture of the author? How did the book in question differ in form, technique and content from English or American authors working in the same genre? He has none of that to share, even though that's the setup for the video. Dude's brain doesn't work.
He thinks literary criticism is reciting plots synopses and then spouting a list of random adjectives and cover quote clichés. "It's humorous, but also depressing. It's searing, but also icy cold. It's astronomical, yet subterranean." He's also so used to just heaping blind praise on books that he didn't read fully or at all just to be part of the BookTube conversation and desperately cling to relevance, that many times none of it tallies with his final score/option. His review of Heaven: "It's heartbreaking, but so, so endearing...(waffles pretentiously about how deep and thoughtful and wonderful the book is before remembering that he only gave it 3 stars months ago)...It was okay."
His sole complaint is that the book had young characters who Jack decided were too precocious and therefore not believable. There was no consideration that this might be reflective of a cultural difference, with Japanese children being taught independence much earlier and being generally more mature, and discipline being a much more predominant part of the culture.
He also never thought that dialogue might also just be something that got lost in translation, with the translator having to take liberties and fill in blanks for Japanese words and expressions that have no direct equivalent in English. He never considered that this might be intentional on the author's part to convey how quickly the characters were forced to grow up emotionally due to the trauma they've endured.
Or maybe it's just a bad book poorly written and Jack's complaint is valid, but it's impossible to tell given how vague and nebulous all his reviews are. His comments/"reviews" simply approach the books he claimed to read as any old books, without consideration of cultural context or comparison, and Jack approaches them with the mindset that his idea of what literature should be and how characters should act (i.e., like English/American people) is the default, and if they aren't written that way, the book is flawed. Kinda missed the point of your own video, Jack.
I'm reading a book at the moment and I can probably offer more constructive review than he does.
And so far all I'd say is it's a bit all over the place, you're not always sure whose perspective it's writing from. And I really hate when authors write the accent of the character into the written speech. You've written the story is in Birmingham, and you've referred to the character hearing Brummie accents please stop writing "foive" instead of "five" and such things. I'll assume the accent based on what you've already written.
And so far all I'd say is it's a bit all over the place, you're not always sure whose perspective it's writing from. And I really hate when authors write the accent of the character into the written speech. You've written the story is in Birmingham, and you've referred to the character hearing Brummie accents please stop writing "foive" instead of "five" and such things. I'll assume the accent based on what you've already written.
As someone who works as a translator and an editor of translated books, his attitude astounds me. Translation into English is a thriving arm of publishing. There are translators working from literally hundreds of languages, prizes for translated fiction, etc.
just skipped through the cambodia video and got so annoyed at his voice, especially at the beginning. like the vocal fry oder whatever you call it is so strong? or is he just sick idk...
also jack english-lit-grad edwards does not know what the difference between an interpreter and a translator is apparently
And does it need to be declared an ad if the video itself isn't necessarilly sponsored but the trip is? because it once again isn't properly declared from what i can tell
also jack english-lit-grad edwards does not know what the difference between an interpreter and a translator is apparently
And does it need to be declared an ad if the video itself isn't necessarilly sponsored but the trip is? because it once again isn't properly declared from what i can tell
Yeah I don't think he does either. Without leaving France it took me around 5 years to reach a C1 level. And I started to take English seriously around 15. Now, two years later I'm at a C2 level and can pretty much read anything. Overall, it took years of work (ok, a lot of it didn't really feel like actual work since it was just watching content and reading) but still, you really have to be determined otherwise you won't go far.
But since French and English share so much vocab and since he's living in France, he has a bit of an advantage.
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I think I disagree on that second part. For instance, Jennifer Worth attempts to capture cockney accents in all 3 of her Call the Midwife memoirs. She does this because the accent that existed in the 1950s when she worked among them does not exist as it does today. She has a decent aside talking about how important the cockney use of language was, and how (for a group derided as uneducated) they had an incredible usage of language. Similarly, Stienbeck uses a sooner accent for his Oklahonan characters (and other accents for characters not from there) in The Grapes of Wrath to capture the "otherness" sooners (or I suppose their descendants) experienced when moving to California. For contrast, Edna O'Brien doesn't use an irish accent in her irish novels because they're intended for an irish audience.
I think there is much to be said about the careful use of written interpretations for accents when they are used considerately with knowledge of expected audience. Not everyone is intimately familiar with a given accent, and hence may not be able to reproduce it in their head consistently. If you're intending your work for an external audience it may well be a good idea to write with an accent.
This is to say nothing of the use of written accent in Irivine Welsh's work, as he writes in plain english, scots and english with a glaswegian accent. I've read trainspotting but can't say I've thought about it well enough to truly appreciate his use of accent and scots.
I think there is much to be said about the careful use of written interpretations for accents when they are used considerately with knowledge of expected audience. Not everyone is intimately familiar with a given accent, and hence may not be able to reproduce it in their head consistently. If you're intending your work for an external audience it may well be a good idea to write with an accent.
This is to say nothing of the use of written accent in Irivine Welsh's work, as he writes in plain english, scots and english with a glaswegian accent. I've read trainspotting but can't say I've thought about it well enough to truly appreciate his use of accent and scots.
Him reporting his life in France and progress in French could be somewhat interesting tbh (and at the beginning I thought he would use it for views). For now I just don't see how different his life is from living in England. Does he even consume French media? He says he can speak a little bit of French now but we don't really have any proof of it lol
Is he still taking classes? because if he isn't, just living in Paris isn't going to do that much... All his work communication is in English, so is the media he consumes, and it doesn't seem like he has many (if any?) French-speaking friends, so it's not like he's actually using French in daily life other than maybe 30 sec interactions in restaurants and shops
Yes exactly!! It doesn't seem like he's fully taking advantage of being in France... I think he should've started learning the language before "moving" here to at least have the basics
Haven't watched a Jack Edwards video in a while, but I watched the '7 translated books in 7 days' one and just turned it off after a couple minutes. From my perspective, it seems the reason he puts on such a grandiose persona, even moreso nowadays, is because he is struggling to find himself now that he's left uni. I think Durham life suited him very well because he felt like a mini-celebrity. I used to watch his Durham vlogs all the time and he would always slyly mention how people joined societies he was in, would say hi to him on campus, go to socials he advertised, or even chose to go to Durham because of his channel. As a young man who probably wasnt really popular at school, this was a big ego boost. When he was rejected by Oxford for his masters, and then had his final year abruptly cut short by covid without the big celabratory graduation, it probably brought him down to earth quite violently. It seems he never really cultivated his personality/raison d'etre past being a 'big name'/socialite at Durham, which I think would happen to anyone in his situation, however he's went about recreating himself the wrong way. He reminds me of Ruby Granger with all the constant lying about having read books and acting like a superior literary genius.
exactly. or maybe attending a language school in france if such thing exists. it would probably give him more immersion and some purpose in country
Sadly we don't have something like Germany's Volkshochschule where anyone can learn German for free. But considering he's in paris, there are plenty of nonprofit organizations that provide free French classes. But tbh he can probably afford paid classes.
He was for quite awhile at the beginning
i was rewatching his rejection for the oxford masters video and it was really clear that his definition of success especially in literature is different that a lot of other people's. As in he was so determined to get to Oxford to prove them wrong but that's not why you apply to Oxford and to me seemed like a very immature way of dealing with rejection for someone in their third year of uni (and it just seemed like he hadn't progressed past his year 13 mindset)
I think you've hit the nail on the head and the masters video makes it even more obvious that he views his own success via how other people view him. Again fair enough at 18, but other studytubers like Eve Bennet have clearly moved on from that mindset and allowed her 3 years of uni to change her outlook and to not view life like school still where mindlessly reading lots of books is rewarded
As we are heading to a new thread I still feel this post by Sheleg is best for new thread title
'Liberté! Fraternité! No-Jacques-té!'
'Liberté! Fraternité! No-Jacques-té!'
It would be an honour! Un honeur, I should say.
Best be off - I have seven TRANSLATED books in French to read before midday.
Oh, for the love of all that is holy, he did it again. No, Jack, you started reading these books months ago. I really don't understand why he thinks it's necessary to lie about such a basic thing. It's perfectly fine to say "I'm going to read some banned books" and then take your time to read them.
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Urgh is he just working his way through cliche video titles now?
The whole 'oooh I read banned books' thing really makes me roll my eyes. They're very rarely banned for sane reasons, usually just because some super sensitive parents take offence to the magic in Harry Potter or something. It's not impressive that you're reading them.
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