James May (1) (1963–)

After finishing a fiction book midweek I was looking for something a bit different to read. Carbolics is a collection of articles James May (of Grand Tour, Top Gear and ‘Bim’ fame) wrote for DriveTribe. It was a fantastic website and a good place to read car information. But on the internet, my attention span is a lot less hence why I’m much happier to read away from a screen lying on the couch.

Carbolics is kind of a Fiat Panda sized book – it’s smaller than your average book but show more it is a cheery yellow. However, the ideas inside are much more interesting and varied. There’s the technical stuff that you would expect from James May – changing gears, stop-start motoring and the easiest explanation I’ve read on power and torque. But it’s not just supercars, hybrid vehicles, motorbikes and even bicycles are discussed. The articles are generally quite short (3-4 pages of the smaller format book) so if something doesn’t grab your fancy, you can skim read and move on. This shorter format also really suits May’s sense of humour. I think I laughed more during this book than the other books of his that I’ve read. (Or, perhaps I’ve just read his more serious books). For fans, there are multiple jibes at Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson.

Overall, it’s a good read to pick up and put down when busy, or during the holiday period. It’s got James May’s distinctive way of explaining things and you might even learn a thing or two (like the longest car name ever).

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less

Modern gadgets and machines are designed to have almost no user serviceable parts, even a washing machine these days will need a technician to plug in a laptop to verify the fault before he is able to repair it. Gone are the days where most things could be repaired, though James May argues that this was because products were expensive, not particularly well made, often went wrong and so needed repairing and routine maintenance. He prefers modern gadgets that don’t need repairing or show more fiddling with to function. For May, reassembling items is a form of therapy; the act of creation calms and stimulates at the same time. That, and he has a thing about having the correct tools and screwdrivers in particular.

This is a nice tie into the series with lots of colour pictures from the workshop that he used on TV as he takes a pile of nicely laid out parts and makes a lawnmower and a guitar and an old Bakelite telephone. It is full of his rambling philosophy and dry sardonic wit, with short essays explaining how a specific item works, though sadly there is not as much text as I’d like. I completely get why he needs to assemble things, it is a theme that seems to be gaining traction elsewhere that using our hands to make and create is good for the soul. As an engineer (electronics and mechanical) I would have liked more detail on the items he was reassembling, but this an ideal book for the general reader. show less

I am a huge fan of the ‘old’ Top Gear (the one where there were only three presenters, not 32237980 of them) and after meeting James May last year, I realised I hadn’t read any of his books. Clarkson and Hammond, definitely but never May. There really wasn’t any reason why, so because it’s so damn easy in these internet days I went and ordered up a storm of the trio’s books. First on the pile was this heavy tome (naturally I went for the illustrated edition), which is both a show more great accompaniment to the TV series and an interesting history of popular toys.

In the book, May covers plasticine, Meccano, Hornby model trains, Airfix models, Scalextric slot racing cars and Lego. The only one I can say that I played with in my youth was Lego (we did make-your-own playdough) but for older fans, all of the toys are likely to be familiar. (And set off discussions about how rich your family was, depending on whether you had a train set or a mega Meccano box). The history of all the toys was fascinating, and the majority of them interlink with each other through buy outs and takeovers of companies.

Each chapter is devoted first to the history of the toy, how it was originally crafted and then on to how they are manufactured today. We then move on to James’ task for the TV show (e.g. building a life size Lego house, making a plasticine garden for the Chelsea flower show) and how it was achieved. In some cases, it’s pretty short but for other toys (e.g. the Scalextric and Hornby races) it’s a gripping tale. (I haven’t seen all of the shows in this series, so I automatically assumed that everything would go perfectly. But James May is one third of the ‘ambitious but rubbish’ team, so it’s not that straightforward.)

For me, this wasn’t a book I could read cover to cover in one sitting. I liked to pick it up, read a bit and when it got too heavy, check out some of the history online. Some of those Meccano sets are worth a fortune and there are so many books, magazines and websites devoted to model trains! I still enjoyed the Lego section best. Due to space constraints, it isn’t a comprehensive history but it gives you the main points. Plus you get to look at all the great things that were made for the house in detail!

I felt May’s writing was a bit more serious than those of his colleagues, but it’s difficult to make comparisons because Clarkson and Hammond’s book are usually 50% jokey. The subjects are researched well and the writing contains the typical British lingo of James May. If you’re a fan, or interested in the history of toys, it’s worth checking out.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less

A fun read that is a series of articles by James May mostly about cars and driving. He comments about his co-presenters on Top Gear. It's an interesting read, even for a non-driver like me. James writes like he speaks on the show and you can almost hear him talking as you read. Yes I disagreed with him on several occasions nut still it was a fun read.