Jack Edwards #2

[Mark81]

The high education sector is in crisis anyway, but this article focuses on durham

The decline and fall of Durham university

When Mark Hillery – Durham University’s largest donor – cut his funding for the institution last month over ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the students of Collingwood College had the most to worry about. Hillery had previously endowed his alma mater with a £5.6 million arts centre, a shiny new...

www.spectator.co.uk

 

[jade18]

I watched his new romance video - haven’t watched him in ages but I read 99% romance so I was curious- and Jesus Christ I’d forgotten how absolutely bleeping annoying & cringey he is

the way he talked about TSLD (It’s by no means a book I loved) did piss me off- you can criticize a book without calling it dog mit & just shitting on it - then goes on to say the hating game has the same tropes but done well?! But fails to mention the creepy tit (* spoiler* but “I painted my room the colour ofyour eyes within like a week of meeting”)


this man would not know what hit him if he read half the stuff me & my friends love

Also the people in the comments kissing his ass about his “misogyny & romance” disclaimer (that & his highlighting diverse books felt very performative)
- the bar is in hell

 

[Bennycs]

I watched his new romance video - haven’t watched him in ages but I read 99% romance so I was curious- and Jesus Christ I’d forgotten how absolutely bleeping annoying & cringey he is

the way he talked about TSLD (It’s by no means a book I loved) did piss me off- you can criticize a book without calling it dog mit & just shitting on it - then goes on to say the hating game has the same tropes but done well?! But fails to mention the creepy tit (* spoiler* but “I painted my room the colour ofyour eyes within like a week of meeting”)


this man would not know what hit him if he read half the stuff me & my friends love

I almost can't wait until he actually releases this novel he's working on so we see just how bad it will be.

There's a fantasty reviewer called Daniel Greene with a massive following, who is very critical and in-depth with his reviews. He's great. But he recently self-published two novels, and at first everyone was loving them, but once the readers who had no idea who he was read the books, the mood changed and people were giving it 1 or 2 star reviews and absolutely slating it.

I can imagine the same will happen to Jack if he releases one. The faithful will sing its praises and then outsiders will just be like 'what the hell is this?'

 

[roy]

I haven’t watched the GB news clip, but I find it bizarre he was supposedly invited to argue against the notion that most Durham students are Oxbridge rejects, but just reinforces it. He just needs to accept that he wasn’t good enough and move on.

To be honest, If he releases a novel, I imagine most readers would have no idea who he is. I have visions of it being on the same level as Ruby Grsnger’s novel. I don’t really understand what his followers see in him, but the adoration he receives is cringeworthy.

I am surprised he has released a video on romance novels. I’ve not watched it, but it’s interesting that he feels qualified to comment on this genre.

Any news about getting a proper job yet?

 

[Mark81]

Thing is, although I can't speak for much knowledge on Durham itself, plenty of universities in its league have their admissions aim as oxford/Cambridge rejects. It's quite standard, even if it is 'unspoken' outside of the management meetings. Don't forget universities can see where their applicants do and don't get in through UCAS once applicants decisions are made. Plus applicant behaviour shows patterns, as in they apply for oxbridge and also the next best

 

[Just here to say]

I was surprised he described one of the books as "dogshit" as well. If I was the author watching this video I'd be super shocked for my book to be called names like that to his 900k subs. Is this how they taught him to critique books at Durham? If you're trying to make a video defending the romance genre and dislike most of the books then that's a bit awkward. I am not a fan of this genre myself, but I wouldn't call a book dogshit. Many other people might love this book, and are looking for something else in books than he is. Why say that those peoples taste is basically dogshit?

Again in the Women's Prize for Fiction book video - he has to have everything rehearsed otherwise it looks visibly awkward. It was clear this was a first impression. All the covers looked fine to me. I quite liked the window one, it was atmospheric and it fit the blub well. But he criticised the cover so much, as if he isn't going to read it because he doesn't like the cover lol.

 

[sheleg]

It’s honestly no surprise he was rejected by Oxford for English if that’s the standard of his criticism and analysis. My god!

 

[gossip_guy]

Any news about getting a proper job yet?

According to that GB News interview, he claims he works in publishing. Since that's not remotely true, I'm guessing he just felt like he had to blatantly lie about tit since he was on a "fake news" channel with his fellow Tory rum.

But he criticised the cover so much, as if he isn't going to read it because he doesn't like the cover lol.

The cover is usually the most he'll read of a book, so it makes sense that he'd place so much emphasis on it.

 

[Binx]

also, tory needs some filler, his top lip was literally non existent in that clip with the way he kept smiling like an idiot.

 

[mindlessness]

According to that GB News interview, he claims he works in publishing. Since that's not remotely true, I'm guessing he just felt like he had to blatantly lie about tit since he was on a "fake news" channel with his fellow Tory rum.



The cover is usually the most he'll read of a book, so it makes sense that he'd place so much emphasis on it.

I'd wager he was embarrassed to say he works as a research assistant for another youtuber's book.

 

[LydiaDeetzHat]

I was surprised he described one of the books as "dogshit" as well.

ah the benefits of a "top flight "university education really paying off I see

 

[xaannaa]

I was surprised he described one of the books as "dogshit" as well. If I was the author watching this video I'd be super shocked for my book to be called names like that to his 900k subs. Is this how they taught him to critique books at Durham? If you're trying to make a video defending the romance genre and dislike most of the books then that's a bit awkward. I am not a fan of this genre myself, but I wouldn't call a book dogshit. Many other people might love this book, and are looking for something else in books than he is. Why say that those peoples taste is basically dogshit?

I'd argue that *generally* it's fine to critique a book as "dogshit" on yt (if that's the branding you're going for and he's clearly trying to go for that "sassy" personality) "even" as a Durham grad and that it's a matter of him adjusting his critique according to what's appropriate to the medium, so I don't think it's completely fair to ask whether that's how they teach to critique at Durham BUT if he was really aiming for the video to defend the genre, he really missed the mark. I can hardly disagree with him on the critique - the book is bad imo, he is right in saying the characters are very one-dimensional - BUT he could've (and should've!) expressed that differently. Or even better: He should've done research and just shown better romance books instead of giving The Spanish Love Deception and The Hating Game even more publicity that they don't really need.

He seems so caught up in his virtue-signalling that he doesn't know how to add nuance. Defence of the genre from misogynistic criticism can exist alongside critique of harmful tropes and toxic (and at times heteronormative and/or racist) writing within the genre - but that nuance seems to complicated for him to express in one video?

(I also felt that when he talked about representation of body types it was kind of one-sided that he only talked about the men. Obviously that's his perspective as a guy but he mentioned a couple times how the girls are often described as "tiny" and even right before he talked about the male bodies but then it didn't really go anywhere? Like he basically went "every two seconds we're reminded how tiny she is and maybe this is a good time to talk about the representation of *male* bodies" which felt like a super weird transition for me? Yeah he talked about the (male) love interests before that but he really could have added a sentence about how representation of body types isn't great for both the male and the female characters)

 

[Just here to say]

I'd argue that *generally* it's fine to critique a book as "dogshit" on yt (if that's the branding you're going for and he's clearly trying to go for that "sassy" personality) "even" as a Durham grad and that it's a matter of him adjusting his critique according to what's appropriate to the medium, so I don't think it's completely fair to ask whether that's how they teach to critique at Durham BUT if he was really aiming for the video to defend the genre, he really missed the mark. I can hardly disagree with him on the critique - the book is bad imo, he is right in saying the characters are very one-dimensional - BUT he could've (and should've!) expressed that differently. Or even better: He should've done research and just shown better romance books instead of giving The Spanish Love Deception and The Hating Game even more publicity that they don't really need.

He seems so caught up in his virtue-signalling that he doesn't know how to add nuance. Defence of the genre from misogynistic criticism can exist alongside critique of harmful tropes and toxic (and at times heteronormative and/or racist) writing within the genre - but that nuance seems to complicated for him to express in one video?

(I also felt that when he talked about representation of body types it was kind of one-sided that he only talked about the men. Obviously that's his perspective as a guy but he mentioned a couple times how the girls are often described as "tiny" and even right before he talked about the male bodies but then it didn't really go anywhere? Like he basically went "every two seconds we're reminded how tiny she is and maybe this is a good time to talk about the representation of *male* bodies" which felt like a super weird transition for me? Yeah he talked about the (male) love interests before that but he really could have added a sentence about how representation of body types isn't great for both the male and the female characters)

He was clearly doing this because these are the most popular ones and the ones that will get him views. Just overall a strange video. Everyone talks about the same books and it's almost lazy. There are books deserving more publicity that get hardly any. But Jack is always chasing views with his celebrity book clubs and "youtuber books" reading challenges.

 

[YellowFellow123]

I was actually shocked when he described a book as "dogs**t" because I didn't feel like it suited his brand. I know he's said before he likes 'hot takes' and tries to be sassy but his channel is rooted in studytube from someone who studied literature at, as he keeps reminding us, a top uni. He has shown a more educated vocabulary. Also, it seemed like his dislike was more personal taste (despite his intro, the video suggested he really doesn't like romance books), and he should have expressed that in a more articulated way. Just saying its "dog**it" seemed lazy and like it would put people off, purely for his personal tastes.

Maybe its alright for a channel with a different style but from him it felt lazy and rude..?

 

[larin_ree]

I don't know much about Steph Bohrer but she seems nice, are they just friends or is there anything happening there? I may have missed it but I'm surprised there's not more speculation around them after the brits and now that she's visiting him in Paris

 

[MarthaBartha]

I don't know much about Steph Bohrer but she seems nice, are they just friends or is there anything happening there? I may have missed it but I'm surprised there's not more speculation around them after the brits and now that she's visiting him in Paris

I very much doubt it. He’s more likely dating Mark Ferris.

 

[StatusWoe]

The high education sector is in crisis anyway, but this article focuses on durham

The decline and fall of Durham university

When Mark Hillery – Durham University’s largest donor – cut his funding for the institution last month over ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the students of Collingwood College had the most to worry about. Hillery had previously endowed his alma mater with a £5.6 million arts centre, a shiny new...

www.spectator.co.uk

The author of that piece has a weird take on the subject and it's hard to tell if he's being serious or tongue-in-cheek. I mean, he's writing for The Spectator so you never know but...

Blaming the 'downfall' of Durham on cancel culture? The idea that students might have conflicting political views is hardly new or unique to Durham, and the polarisation is simply a reflection of the wider political climate - not an issue specific to one university.

 

[Just here to say]

I doubt she give a damn, Jack why is he tagging the celebrities like they're mates? What a beg

 

[LydiaDeetzHat]

I doubt she give a damn, Jack why is he tagging the celebrities like they're mates? What a beg

it's someone from Little Mix .. hardly a celeb lol

 

[Larancia]

I was actually shocked when he described a book as "dogs**t" because I didn't feel like it suited his brand. I know he's said before he likes 'hot takes' and tries to be sassy but his channel is rooted in studytube from someone who studied literature at, as he keeps reminding us, a top uni. He has shown a more educated vocabulary. Also, it seemed like his dislike was more personal taste (despite his intro, the video suggested he really doesn't like romance books), and he should have expressed that in a more articulated way. Just saying its "dog**it" seemed lazy and like it would put people off, purely for his personal tastes.

Maybe its alright for a channel with a different style but from him it felt lazy and rude..?

Yeah some of his recent videos have a lot more cursing. I dont mind f words used occasionally but excess of it makes him look angry. I feel uncomfortable when watching a person with an angry attitude