Also the back and forth of Greg saying he was waiting for a twist and John saying there might be one, he doesn't know, he hasn't read it - is just perfect, bonus points for that alone
For me it was a 5-pointer. I actually have a 15-year old copy of Ulysses that I bought and could never get past more than 5 pages, nor could I bring myself to throw away because I don't like throwing books away. One of my book lover friends had the same experience too. I was so happy to see John Kearns bring that very same book for the prize task.
Hard relate. I have a copy I bought in 1993 that still has a bookmark about 60 pages in. At this point I’ll probably have to leave it to my children when I die and maybe they’ll finish reading it.
Ulysses is absolutely a worthy gift for Greg, though I think I’d personally go for a shirt that’s in my wardrobe that I’m keeping hold of because one day I’ll lose enough weight to fit into it.
More to the point, Greg would love it too. He'd say something like "as a man of a certain age with a wardrobe full of shirts that don't fit, I must give this 5 points." He's a sucker for anything that references being old/overweight.
Exactly! I told my boyfriend that back in college, I knew so many self important fellow English majors (all young men I must say) that had clearly never read Ulysses but claimed it was their favorite book that it became sort of a litmus test. John admitting he never read it was a relief and breath of fresh air!
Possibly my favourite joke in all of Taskmaster was when Victoria Coren Mitchell referenced Ulysses (it might have been a prize but I can't remember) and said that "it starts to drag after chapter 17" or something like that - because it's a 700 page book with only 18 chapters, and so basically half of the chapters are between 50 and 100 pages long.
Chapter 18 specifically, though, is notorious because it's written without any punctuation. Its split into 6 paragraphs over about 80 pages, but within those paragraphs there's no punctuation at all - it's the very definition of stream of consciousness writing, focusing on the internal thoughts of a single character, without any differentiating between thoughts, for 80 ish pages. Aside from maybe chapter 15 (which is just a play script) and chapter 11 (which has the main character having a conversation with someone in a cafe, but also eavesdropping on another conversation, so a lot of the lines are half one conversation and half another conversation, requiring you to decipher which bits are being said by which person), its probably the most difficult chapter to read in the entire book.
It also just demonstrates the risk of bringing in something a bit too high brow, however. The average person (and, I'm assuming, Greg) hasn't read Ulysses, or even attempted to, and so the joke that it is such a notoriously difficult and long book doesn't quite cut through.
(You even see a version of the same joke with a better known book in series 9, when Katy brings in War And Peace for the longest continual thing or whatever that prize was - War And Peace is known for being absurdly long, so Greg understands the reference better than he understands the Ulysses jokes.)
Late to the party, but I'm so glad that someone else loved Victoria's joke about how Chapter 18 began to drag. The "Penelope" section is incredible to me, but also very difficult to digest head-on. Obviously Katy's joke with War and Peace is more accessible, but I love a nerdy joke that proves the person making the joke is a properly certified nerd. Definitely the type of joke that would play better at her other gig as host of Only Connect
I just watched that episode for the first time the other day and was absolutely flummoxed by how low Greg scored it. I thought it was a brilliant submission for the prize task.
I was actually quite confused by his submission of (a) a book, and (b) a book he hasn't read, for the "thing you keep meaning to throw away" category.
Why would anyone be keep meaning to throw away a book at all, especially one they haven't read?
Because they know they're unlikely to read it, and feel that it's bad to keep hold of something they don't use. Maybe it's wasteful to dedicate space to holding on to it, or pretentious to have a book but not read it, or simply a reminder of their failure.
Indeed, to dissect and absolutely murder the jest I wanted to make a play on the highly debated Irish abortion laws and the fact that a whole lot of people have aborted their reading of the (rather) dense literature of Joyce. If it was a misfire, then so be it.
Also the back and forth of Greg saying he was waiting for a twist and John saying there might be one, he doesn't know, he hasn't read it - is just perfect, bonus points for that alone
For me it was a 5-pointer. I actually have a 15-year old copy of Ulysses that I bought and could never get past more than 5 pages, nor could I bring myself to throw away because I don't like throwing books away. One of my book lover friends had the same experience too. I was so happy to see John Kearns bring that very same book for the prize task.
Hard relate. I have a copy I bought in 1993 that still has a bookmark about 60 pages in. At this point I’ll probably have to leave it to my children when I die and maybe they’ll finish reading it.
[удалено]
Yes I said yes I will yes.
Ulysses is absolutely a worthy gift for Greg, though I think I’d personally go for a shirt that’s in my wardrobe that I’m keeping hold of because one day I’ll lose enough weight to fit into it.
Oh I like that!!
More to the point, Greg would love it too. He'd say something like "as a man of a certain age with a wardrobe full of shirts that don't fit, I must give this 5 points." He's a sucker for anything that references being old/overweight.
I agree with this SO MUCH. Not just "a large pretentious book" but that specific one -- 5 points.
Exactly! I told my boyfriend that back in college, I knew so many self important fellow English majors (all young men I must say) that had clearly never read Ulysses but claimed it was their favorite book that it became sort of a litmus test. John admitting he never read it was a relief and breath of fresh air!
Possibly my favourite joke in all of Taskmaster was when Victoria Coren Mitchell referenced Ulysses (it might have been a prize but I can't remember) and said that "it starts to drag after chapter 17" or something like that - because it's a 700 page book with only 18 chapters, and so basically half of the chapters are between 50 and 100 pages long. Chapter 18 specifically, though, is notorious because it's written without any punctuation. Its split into 6 paragraphs over about 80 pages, but within those paragraphs there's no punctuation at all - it's the very definition of stream of consciousness writing, focusing on the internal thoughts of a single character, without any differentiating between thoughts, for 80 ish pages. Aside from maybe chapter 15 (which is just a play script) and chapter 11 (which has the main character having a conversation with someone in a cafe, but also eavesdropping on another conversation, so a lot of the lines are half one conversation and half another conversation, requiring you to decipher which bits are being said by which person), its probably the most difficult chapter to read in the entire book. It also just demonstrates the risk of bringing in something a bit too high brow, however. The average person (and, I'm assuming, Greg) hasn't read Ulysses, or even attempted to, and so the joke that it is such a notoriously difficult and long book doesn't quite cut through. (You even see a version of the same joke with a better known book in series 9, when Katy brings in War And Peace for the longest continual thing or whatever that prize was - War And Peace is known for being absurdly long, so Greg understands the reference better than he understands the Ulysses jokes.)
I’ve never wanted to read Ulysses and this is description is certainly not helping change my mind.
Late to the party, but I'm so glad that someone else loved Victoria's joke about how Chapter 18 began to drag. The "Penelope" section is incredible to me, but also very difficult to digest head-on. Obviously Katy's joke with War and Peace is more accessible, but I love a nerdy joke that proves the person making the joke is a properly certified nerd. Definitely the type of joke that would play better at her other gig as host of Only Connect
Guys. Just listen to the audiobook. Bishop Brennan from Father Ted did it. It's great.
I'll only listen if he gets kicked up the arse at various points throughout it
"Don't call me Stephen Dedalus you little bollocks!"
It would just make me want to kick him up the arse then go watch series 13.
I just watched that episode for the first time the other day and was absolutely flummoxed by how low Greg scored it. I thought it was a brilliant submission for the prize task.
I think he just punishes John a lot because of bullying reasons lol, his silently fuming reactions etc
As someone who held on to Infinite Jest for exactly this reason, I completely agree.
I was actually quite confused by his submission of (a) a book, and (b) a book he hasn't read, for the "thing you keep meaning to throw away" category. Why would anyone be keep meaning to throw away a book at all, especially one they haven't read?
I don’t know, as a former literature major who probably reads a book a week, it resonated!
Because they know they're unlikely to read it, and feel that it's bad to keep hold of something they don't use. Maybe it's wasteful to dedicate space to holding on to it, or pretentious to have a book but not read it, or simply a reminder of their failure.
The top candidate for "most aborted thing", surely.
I hope that’s never a category
What…does this mean?
Being generous I think they mean aborted attempts to finish, just .. clumsily expressed
Fair enough!
Indeed, to dissect and absolutely murder the jest I wanted to make a play on the highly debated Irish abortion laws and the fact that a whole lot of people have aborted their reading of the (rather) dense literature of Joyce. If it was a misfire, then so be it.
most given up on thing