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Mr. McGreevy's Absolute Howlers #2
Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren
During his years as a teacher, Norman McGeevey has enjoyed collecting the worst or perhaps best, efforts of schoolchildren struggling with the banana skins of the E the English language.
Here are gems on many topics, from history ('Rome was overthrown by invasions of the Huns, Visigoths and Osteopaths') to religious instruction ('Solomon had 300 wives and 700 cucumbers). Many have an uncanny ring of truth - 'matrimony is a place where souls suffer for a time on account of their sins'.
A priceless collection, guaranteed to bring tears (of laughter) to your eyes.
Here are gems on many topics, from history ('Rome was overthrown by invasions of the Huns, Visigoths and Osteopaths') to religious instruction ('Solomon had 300 wives and 700 cucumbers). Many have an uncanny ring of truth - 'matrimony is a place where souls suffer for a time on account of their sins'.
A priceless collection, guaranteed to bring tears (of laughter) to your eyes.
- GenresHumorNonfiction
125 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2007
3 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 19, 2024
Honestly, I am rather disappointed regarding Norman McGreevy's 2007 Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren (which I have found and am reading on Open Library). Because yes and in my not so humble opinion, compiler and chief editor (and supposedly former teacher) McGreevy shows especially with his introduction to Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren a rather intense and all emcompassingly dislike and snarkily negative attitude towards all, or at least towards most children.
Sure, Norman McGreevy might want to use the fact that he is supposedly curmudgeonly by nature as an excuse and that he is also legitimately concerned and troubled by how today's children are not being adequately educated, how they spend far too much time watching television, using social media, texting etc. But for one, Normal McGreevy should be putting his proverbial money where his mouth is so to speak, he should not be a former but a current teacher and educate children regarding proper usage and not just collect bloopers to ridicule and to shame (and yes, the introduction to Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren is from where I am standing, is to and for me rather hugely the latter, has a nasty and offensively shaming sound and feel to it, as while very many of the collected and presented error of usage examples found in Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren are of course very much humorous, sorry and most certainly, the holier and better than thou and than everyone attitude, the often quite nasty judgement of children that Norman McGreevy displays in his opening words, this has certainly bothered and also angered me in a very huge and massive manner). And for two, and for me even more of an issue and as such a major faux pas, why does Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren ONLY provide bloopers from children? I mean, does Norman McGreevy really think that adults make no mistakes, that only children have potential issues with errors of usage? I guess so, sadly, as Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren is annoyingly and totally one-sided (and that I personally tend to majorly prefer German language collections of so-called Stilblüten, of grammar and stylistic mistakes which feature not only children but also adults screwing up and saying, writing embarrassing and unintentionally funny things).
Now (and finally), with regard to the actual examples encountered in Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren, some and actually even quite many of them are absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious (such as for example that a finishing school is for finishing off girls) and some in fact even seem to make sense in a warped and wonderful manner (like how fairy tales never happened a long time ago). But truth be told, far too many of the comments and descriptions chosen by Norman McGreevy for Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren seem a bit artificial to and for me, and not to mention that one example after the other of schoolchildren blooper galore does tend to get a bit stale and dragging, and that this combined with McGreevy's above mentioned rather child unfriendly and even rather despicable attitude have very strongly and negatively affected potential reading joy and entertainment value, and that thus, my rating for Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren can and will only be two stars (and that I am also not going to bother with reading and reviewing Norman McGreevy's other two student blooper tomes, as they will likely be pretty much the same as Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren and also thus present the same issues and bones of contention).
Sure, Norman McGreevy might want to use the fact that he is supposedly curmudgeonly by nature as an excuse and that he is also legitimately concerned and troubled by how today's children are not being adequately educated, how they spend far too much time watching television, using social media, texting etc. But for one, Normal McGreevy should be putting his proverbial money where his mouth is so to speak, he should not be a former but a current teacher and educate children regarding proper usage and not just collect bloopers to ridicule and to shame (and yes, the introduction to Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren is from where I am standing, is to and for me rather hugely the latter, has a nasty and offensively shaming sound and feel to it, as while very many of the collected and presented error of usage examples found in Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren are of course very much humorous, sorry and most certainly, the holier and better than thou and than everyone attitude, the often quite nasty judgement of children that Norman McGreevy displays in his opening words, this has certainly bothered and also angered me in a very huge and massive manner). And for two, and for me even more of an issue and as such a major faux pas, why does Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren ONLY provide bloopers from children? I mean, does Norman McGreevy really think that adults make no mistakes, that only children have potential issues with errors of usage? I guess so, sadly, as Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren is annoyingly and totally one-sided (and that I personally tend to majorly prefer German language collections of so-called Stilblüten, of grammar and stylistic mistakes which feature not only children but also adults screwing up and saying, writing embarrassing and unintentionally funny things).
Now (and finally), with regard to the actual examples encountered in Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren, some and actually even quite many of them are absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious (such as for example that a finishing school is for finishing off girls) and some in fact even seem to make sense in a warped and wonderful manner (like how fairy tales never happened a long time ago). But truth be told, far too many of the comments and descriptions chosen by Norman McGreevy for Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren seem a bit artificial to and for me, and not to mention that one example after the other of schoolchildren blooper galore does tend to get a bit stale and dragging, and that this combined with McGreevy's above mentioned rather child unfriendly and even rather despicable attitude have very strongly and negatively affected potential reading joy and entertainment value, and that thus, my rating for Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren can and will only be two stars (and that I am also not going to bother with reading and reviewing Norman McGreevy's other two student blooper tomes, as they will likely be pretty much the same as Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren and also thus present the same issues and bones of contention).
April 19, 2024
As the blurb for the book says, this is 'the worst, or perhaps best efforts of schoolchildren struggling with the banana skins of the English language'. Best or worst is an adequate description depending on how one views the results but some of those efforts could arguably belie the fact that they are the efforts of 'schoolchildren'.
For example I wonder if a 'schoolchild' ever wrote 'A sinner is a republican mentioned in the bible', 'Laisssez-faire meant "let the farmers pay the taxes"', 'Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He was Donkey Hole' (just possible I suppose!) or 'In Ibsen's Ghosts , Oswald dies of congenial syphilis'. I am afraid these all seem rather too adult for me to accept otherwise. However, I could be wrong. I accept things have changed since my days but my school and student friends would not have been writing such things.
However, there are one or two amusing ones in the book that can be accepted as from schoolchildren and are therefore perhaps more amusing. 'She worked herself up into an inarticulate comma' is something that could be inadvertently produced as a slip of the finger can soon add an extra 'm'. Similarly one can accept 'Later on the doctor gave him piles to relief him his pain' as once again a slip of the finger results in an 'e' instead of an 'l'.
And here are plenty of other such howlers, amusing or not, packed into the book's mildly entertaining pages.
For example I wonder if a 'schoolchild' ever wrote 'A sinner is a republican mentioned in the bible', 'Laisssez-faire meant "let the farmers pay the taxes"', 'Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He was Donkey Hole' (just possible I suppose!) or 'In Ibsen's Ghosts , Oswald dies of congenial syphilis'. I am afraid these all seem rather too adult for me to accept otherwise. However, I could be wrong. I accept things have changed since my days but my school and student friends would not have been writing such things.
However, there are one or two amusing ones in the book that can be accepted as from schoolchildren and are therefore perhaps more amusing. 'She worked herself up into an inarticulate comma' is something that could be inadvertently produced as a slip of the finger can soon add an extra 'm'. Similarly one can accept 'Later on the doctor gave him piles to relief him his pain' as once again a slip of the finger results in an 'e' instead of an 'l'.
And here are plenty of other such howlers, amusing or not, packed into the book's mildly entertaining pages.
August 4, 2018
DNF
I have never given up on a book and usually love these type of silly little ones. Not this one. It feels like a chore to read and most of them are not even that funny. I understood 80% of them but didn’t laugh once. Must try harder indeed...
I have never given up on a book and usually love these type of silly little ones. Not this one. It feels like a chore to read and most of them are not even that funny. I understood 80% of them but didn’t laugh once. Must try harder indeed...
January 23, 2010
This book was much funnier than F in Exams! I laughed out loud a couple of times and I would recommend it!
June 15, 2021
Didn't laugh once and I understood 90% of the jokes. I'm glad this only took me half an hour to read bc I ain't getting it back
October 31, 2024
Light fun read
July 29, 2024
An amusing quick read.
December 26, 2011
This is probably one of the funniest books ever. It's so funny, I would strongly advise you not to read it in public. The book is a collection of funny things schoolchildren wrote in their exam papers and student essays, innocently. This is about how they were struggling with the banana skins of the English language. Mr. McGreevy collected them during his years of teaching. I can only imagine the amount of smiles, chuckles and laughter he must've had during those years.
"When Elizabeth exposed herself before the troops, they all shouted 'hurrah.' Then her navy went out and defeated the Spanish Armadillo."
That, I think, is one of the funniest ones. The book made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes.
"When Elizabeth exposed herself before the troops, they all shouted 'hurrah.' Then her navy went out and defeated the Spanish Armadillo."
That, I think, is one of the funniest ones. The book made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes.
April 5, 2012
Ok another quick read - there is something to be said about avalanches of books caused by over curious cats. This was one that I found as I was clearing up the debris. Small book full of simple little quips and quotes. Fun to read and yes there are more than enough of these little snippets of humour at the expense of other ignorance but still this is a fun book to read - thats 15 mins taken care of!
January 30, 2010
As a "Best of" book, Must Try Harder draws quite heavily on howlers that have been published before -- most notably, in the Howlers books by Cecil Hunt and the books by Alexander Abingdon and Dr Seuss in the 1930s. But the drawings are a fresh addition. And if you're new to howlers collections, then this book is a good introduction to the popular genre.
January 2, 2012
This compilation highlights that some children are getting a terrible education and also that some mistakes are made under examination conditions. Mainly the former I feel.
Amusing at times but there are too many homonyms (? words that sound the same but are spelt differently) or similar that it feels like a lazy compilation.
Amusing at times but there are too many homonyms (? words that sound the same but are spelt differently) or similar that it feels like a lazy compilation.
June 17, 2015
they warned me not to read it in one sitting, and while I've read the firsts half back in november when my friend gave it to me, i technically just read it all in one sitting and was cry laughing the whole. damn. time
January 22, 2016
Sommige dingen waren echt wel grappig, maar de meeste waren gewoon. Zoals met de andere boekjes: ik heb het al een keer gezien op het internet..
(Wel leuker dan die boekjes van Richard Benson vind ik persoonlijk.)
(Wel leuker dan die boekjes van Richard Benson vind ik persoonlijk.)
December 26, 2013
Exactly as it says - and it kept my daughter and I much amused as we dipped in and out of it as we did our Christmas preparations.
November 10, 2016
Post-election reading.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews