Childrens Toyshop
Welcome to The Childrens Toyshop, here you will find all the latest and traditional toys in our toyshop. You can search and locate the best selling Toys Games & Puzzles to purchase online and have delivered to the door. We have a large selection of Books with reviews.
Back to Home Page > Go back a page
Books : Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Rating: 
- Well written, enjoyable and informative
Overall I enjoyed reading this book and as others have said it certainly has inspired me to visit some of the places described. I liked the author's writing style and most of all I found most of the historical detail interesting and educational. However after reading through relatively huge sections on Liverpool, Manchester and Wigan I was disappointed to see places like Sheffield glossed over very briefly - surely Sheffield has more to offer than the time he spent discussing the National Museum of Pop Music?
Rating:
- YES THERE IS A NORTH - SOUTH DIVIDE: WE CAN LAUGH AT OURSELVES AND SOUTHERNERS CAN'T!
BRILLIANT READ. OK - if you know the places Stuart writes about (I know the exact chippy he talks about down the road from Crewe station!) it helps but even if you don't and have never ventured north of Chalfont St Witless, it's still a great read. The two one star reviewers from "Darn Sarth" are obviously miffed at the fact that no-one can be bothered to write about "southerners" because, as Maconie points out early on in the book, there is not the strong identification of "being a southerner" as there is for those of us north of..well, according to Stuart it's north of Stoke.
It pokes fun of the north and does ask some tough questions at times but more than anything else, it is a great travelogue. Strike a light, Guv, you can't ask fairer than that....
Rating: - Love and Hypocrisy : A Lancastrian View of the North
There were pages I skipped in this book out of sheer irritation at his socialist, BBC politics; and others I have marked up to remind me to visit or revisit some of the places in the North this southern girl loves.
His prejudice against the south is foolish and stereotyped; and his rants against middle class pursuits, whilst so obviously now being middle class himself, is blind hypocrisy. But, I would say it all adds to the charm of the book. If you want to get into the head of a northern working class lad, who became a middle class, southern media type complete with PC bias - then this is an illuminating piece of social history in its own right.
As a travel guide it is very patchy: it goes into great depth about West Lancashire - but he speeds around much of the north in a matter of pages, completely missing out some very obvious illustrative places like North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and York. However, when he goes into any depth he does make you want to go and explore the place for yourself - surely the objective of a travel book.
When he talks about your patch you notice the factual mistakes, and by the look of these reviews there are quite a number of them. All a little lax. However, the book has frequent 'laugh out loud' points, so if you treat it as a story a friend might tell in a pub, and not quite get his facts right, then that is really the tone of it. But where I am sure he will be factually correct, and was really rather interesting was in the musical background of Manchester and Liverpool - obviously a subject he does know.
All in all, worth a read on the train if you know the North, and can put up with the prejudice - and I think most can for the laugh; and the reminder that the north has a wonderful, rugged beauty that is quite different to the warm, charms of the south.
Rating:
- Nostalgia for Madchester..........
I loved this irreverent but nostalgic style of writing, it reminded me of the Manchester I grew up and worked in, and its description of Wilmslow perfectly matched the lunch I had enjoyed on a visit 2 weeks earlier. A great present for anyone who has lived in the NW in particular, although maybe better for those of us who have also lived away. I hadn't even realised some of the traits I share are northern!
Rating: - A great book, wherever you're from
Stuart Maconie has written a truly enjoyable book here. Always entertaining, always easy on the eye, Maconie's anecdotes are as insightful as they are wryly amusing. He does not attempt to lay on the comedy. Observations are always comparatively understated yet extremely perceptive being both culturally and chronologically bang on the nail. Maconie's wit is a dry one, yet it is also a friendly one. His descriptions of people are always affectionate and rarely malicious. As a social observer, Maconie is, I believe, as good as they get at the moment.
In this book, he attempts, within the confines of a relatively short book to revisit the places of his youth and other areas of "the North" of England, attempting to see the differences that exist between these areas and the South and indeed, from other areas in the North. He examines people, culture, architechture, and the general feeling of a town. His descriptions of Bury and Liverpool are particularly appealing. I love the story about black pudding consumption in Bury and its effect on stool samples ! The analysis of the Scouser as a collective personification is as pertinent as it is brutally honest. He stays well clear of self-satisfaction and smugness and is only judgemental when it is called for. It doesn't matter whether you're from the South or the North to be able to enjoy his book, although some experience of travelling in the North would be useful. It helps to be able to nod to oneself in recognition of much of what Maconie says.
I find Stuart Maconie's writing style eminently readable and appealing. The book flies by and, most importantly, in my opinion, it leaves one with a warm feeling.
- Well written, enjoyable and informativeOverall I enjoyed reading this book and as others have said it certainly has inspired me to visit some of the places described. I liked the author's writing style and most of all I found most of the historical detail interesting and educational. However after reading through relatively huge sections on Liverpool, Manchester and Wigan I was disappointed to see places like Sheffield glossed over very briefly - surely Sheffield has more to offer than the time he spent discussing the National Museum of Pop Music?
Rating:
- YES THERE IS A NORTH - SOUTH DIVIDE: WE CAN LAUGH AT OURSELVES AND SOUTHERNERS CAN'T!BRILLIANT READ. OK - if you know the places Stuart writes about (I know the exact chippy he talks about down the road from Crewe station!) it helps but even if you don't and have never ventured north of Chalfont St Witless, it's still a great read. The two one star reviewers from "Darn Sarth" are obviously miffed at the fact that no-one can be bothered to write about "southerners" because, as Maconie points out early on in the book, there is not the strong identification of "being a southerner" as there is for those of us north of..well, according to Stuart it's north of Stoke.
It pokes fun of the north and does ask some tough questions at times but more than anything else, it is a great travelogue. Strike a light, Guv, you can't ask fairer than that....
Rating:
- Love and Hypocrisy : A Lancastrian View of the NorthThere were pages I skipped in this book out of sheer irritation at his socialist, BBC politics; and others I have marked up to remind me to visit or revisit some of the places in the North this southern girl loves.
His prejudice against the south is foolish and stereotyped; and his rants against middle class pursuits, whilst so obviously now being middle class himself, is blind hypocrisy. But, I would say it all adds to the charm of the book. If you want to get into the head of a northern working class lad, who became a middle class, southern media type complete with PC bias - then this is an illuminating piece of social history in its own right.
As a travel guide it is very patchy: it goes into great depth about West Lancashire - but he speeds around much of the north in a matter of pages, completely missing out some very obvious illustrative places like North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and York. However, when he goes into any depth he does make you want to go and explore the place for yourself - surely the objective of a travel book.
When he talks about your patch you notice the factual mistakes, and by the look of these reviews there are quite a number of them. All a little lax. However, the book has frequent 'laugh out loud' points, so if you treat it as a story a friend might tell in a pub, and not quite get his facts right, then that is really the tone of it. But where I am sure he will be factually correct, and was really rather interesting was in the musical background of Manchester and Liverpool - obviously a subject he does know.
All in all, worth a read on the train if you know the North, and can put up with the prejudice - and I think most can for the laugh; and the reminder that the north has a wonderful, rugged beauty that is quite different to the warm, charms of the south.
Rating:
- Nostalgia for Madchester..........I loved this irreverent but nostalgic style of writing, it reminded me of the Manchester I grew up and worked in, and its description of Wilmslow perfectly matched the lunch I had enjoyed on a visit 2 weeks earlier. A great present for anyone who has lived in the NW in particular, although maybe better for those of us who have also lived away. I hadn't even realised some of the traits I share are northern!
Rating:
- A great book, wherever you're fromStuart Maconie has written a truly enjoyable book here. Always entertaining, always easy on the eye, Maconie's anecdotes are as insightful as they are wryly amusing. He does not attempt to lay on the comedy. Observations are always comparatively understated yet extremely perceptive being both culturally and chronologically bang on the nail. Maconie's wit is a dry one, yet it is also a friendly one. His descriptions of people are always affectionate and rarely malicious. As a social observer, Maconie is, I believe, as good as they get at the moment.
In this book, he attempts, within the confines of a relatively short book to revisit the places of his youth and other areas of "the North" of England, attempting to see the differences that exist between these areas and the South and indeed, from other areas in the North. He examines people, culture, architechture, and the general feeling of a town. His descriptions of Bury and Liverpool are particularly appealing. I love the story about black pudding consumption in Bury and its effect on stool samples ! The analysis of the Scouser as a collective personification is as pertinent as it is brutally honest. He stays well clear of self-satisfaction and smugness and is only judgemental when it is called for. It doesn't matter whether you're from the South or the North to be able to enjoy his book, although some experience of travelling in the North would be useful. It helps to be able to nod to oneself in recognition of much of what Maconie says.
I find Stuart Maconie's writing style eminently readable and appealing. The book flies by and, most importantly, in my opinion, it leaves one with a warm feeling.