Jeremy Clarkson I Know You Got Soul Book Review And Thoughts

That in mind, lets get on to the book, heres the blurb inside the cover. Straight away you can feel the passion and interest your about to be absorbed into. If you haven't read the book yet, you should know straight away by this if it's something you could get into or not.

.."Some Machines have it and others don't: soul. they take your breath away, and your heart beats that little bit faster just knowing that they exist. They may not be the fastest, most efficient or even the best in their class - but they were designed and built by people whol loved them, and we can't help but love them back.

For Instance,

Zeppelin airships, whilst disastourously explosive in almost every case. were elegant and beautiful bubbles in the air.

The battleships were some of the least effective weapons of war ever built but made the people who paid for them feel good.

Despite two tragic crashes, the space shuttle still leaves you with a rocket in your pocket.

Some might dismiss this list as simply being for boys and their toys, but, as Jeremy Clarkson shows, that is to miss the point of what makes the sweep of the hoover dam sexier than a supermodels curves; why the princess flying boat could give white elephants a good name; and why the flying scotsman beats the bullet train every time.

In I know you got soul, Jeremy Clarkson celebrates, in his own inimitable style, the machines which matter to us, and tells the stories of geniuses, boffins and crackpots who put the ghost in the machine"..

If this hasn't got you even the slightest bit interested, then this book probabally wouldn't be for you, but if it has. your about to turn the page on a thoroughly entertaining read!

I know you got soul is written on the idea that inanimate, mechanical objects such as cars and planes can ascend to be alot more than just a piece of machinery or a tool that we use to help us in our lives.

The fact that we take things such as cars, trains and other tools of transportation for granted in a strange way reaffirms this idea. Think about your current car or your first cars. Alot has happened in them and your life that probabally wouldn't of happened if it wasn't in your life in the first place. I've just turned 20 now, and my car (my current and first car actually, you can see it here, a volvo 340 ) has given me freedom and memories that I wouldnt of had if I didnt have it.

I've been down to bournemouth several times in it, been to all sorts of track days across the country, been to newquay, been to cardiff, brighton and other coastal areas. None of this would of happened if i didnt have it. Alot of these trips to the coast and other places have been for partying weekends..so you can imagine some of the antics that went on in the car ;). Also because my cars old, it makes some funny noises and obscure things happen...occasionally bits of the interior fall off too. This adds to the laughs and the memories.

Other people look at the car and think nothing, me and my friends have many smiles and stories surrounding it. But you can pretty much guarantee that while other people look at my car and think nothing, they also have a similar memory and fondness of some auomobile in their past. The car itself may be complete rubbish..but the stuff and expieriences in and around it are priceless.

This car is an important part of my life, and its instances like this that jeremey clarkson discusses. two shining examples in this book are the stunning Concorde and Rolls Royce Phantom. Both of these stunning feats of engineering and technological prowess are built by teams of people that are thoroughly enthusiastic and into the idea of the machine itself. They have immense pride and passion in these "machines" or "business tools" that they are building. It's impossible for some of that spirit and enthusiasm not to be captured in the very metal and materials within these machines.

Think of when you see a ferrari in the street, the first thing that comes to mind is "wow, thats a pretty car" but fast afterwards on a sub-consious level it evokes feelings of amazement and racing pedigree. it puts images of glamour and speed into your mind, an amazing lifestyle. thats why this car is so special in the first place, and everyone that builds these cars shares that vision and enthusiasm.

Jeremy Clarkson, I know You Got Soul challenges this idea, and asks whether its possible for a machine to develop, as clarkson puts it, "a certain something". The soul is something we can't really put our hands on, see or expierience, but we just know its there, it has to be, otherwise us human beings would just be incredibly advanced bio-mechanical machines.

.. And so you should be, this is a nice, charming book of one mans deep interest in machinery, covering some of the engineering greats of the last century of transport.

In this book, Jeremy covers the Concorde, Rolls Royce Phantom, The stunning Riva speedboat- A toy of the fabulously rich and wealthy, much loved by the celebrity world. The Millenium Falcon...yes the one from Star Wars! the Sunderland flying boat, the SS Great Britain, Arthur...not a person, the sattelite system at goonhilly observatory in Cornwall. The Boeing 747, the AK47, The Fantastically useless, but nonetheless amazing Zeppelin Airship. The Flying Scotsman..the first train ever to break the 100mph barrier. The huge B-52 bomber, the hoover dam. The aircraft carrier, namely Jeremies expierience onboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. The stunning Alfa Romeo 166. The SR-71 Blackbird-This is an incredibly fascinating read, he really captures the wow factor, how did man create such a machine?, Submarines, The space Shuttle, the Ford GT40, The "useless" Yamato Warship- this is a good read! and finally what would a book about this subject be without the Glorious Supermarine Spitfire!

Jeremy Clarkson manages to capture the very essence of what has made all these machines historic and lustrous, he manages to put in words how we feel about these historic and important machines.

All of these stunning and special machines capture that all important something that is in every human being on this earth, a flaw, an insecurity, something that defines each and every individual on this earth. Because despite all their greatness and resounding success, this one thing reminds us that were not perfect and its ok to be wrong sometimes, We overlook the flaws or endear them, we embrace them and love them for what they are.

For instance, Concordes Cabin was very cramped and in the early days a bit stuffy and uncomfortable. but you can easily overlook that when you look at what your surrounded with. it feels "special", you know it's special and you feel a part of it. Alot of the people that had the privilege to go on it, never tired of seeing that mach sign at the front of the cabin.

Do you see the associations? In "i know you got soul", Jeremy Clarkson doesn't just explore this, he highlights some incredibly interesting facts and events that took place in the life of these machines and in the development of them aswell.

You will learn and memorise more about these machines in the 10 or so pages he covers them in than you would trawling wikipedia for an hour on the subject. Wikipedia just isn't interesting in the same way. I think it's the fact Jeremy is clearly passionate about all that he talks about in his book, and he just wants to share it in the most amusing and interesting way, which he does very well.

Also if you get the hard back version, some of the pictures are stunning! (I've got both hard and paper back vers.) my parents accidently bought the hard back one for me, after id already got the paper one myself! the pictures are a two-page spread in the hard back version, compared to the smaller ones in the paper back one.

If you like Jeremy Clarkson, You Will Love This book, if you like any of the machines covered in this book, you will love this book, if you have an appreciation of technology or anything automotive, you will love this book.

It's also entertaining and interesting enough for the more casual reader or someone who likes to read in short spurts or generally has a short attention span. , The pieces arent too long or to intense. The generally quite short and light-hearted fact filled stories. Some of the remarks and comparisons Jeremy Clarkson comes out with are bound to make you laugh.

I really enjoyed this book, theres certain parts in it aswell which you'll find yourself telling your friends "you have to read this..". Overall its fantastic and I'd Highly reccomend it.

have you already read it? let me know your thoughts in the guestbook below, or alternatively whats your favourite Jeremy Clarkson book? take the poll :), is there anything you don't like? or something else you recommend I should read? :)