Books he HASn't read :P :P

Spasho, both are perfect English. Books he didn't read (pronounced REED), or books he hasn't read (pronounced RED).

Great stuff :P ... I actually did not read this post but I like to comment.. :)

Both are perfect English constructions but one is more appropriate in this context, in my opinion. See http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-preper

I think it becomes clearer if you say in your head:
"He reviews books he didn't read"
"He reviews books he hasn't read"

However I'm being exceedingly pedantic and in fact recognise that even by my standards (I have a history of blogoscoped pedantry), this wasn't worth mentioning.

LOL @rxbbx

Ah, apparently its a difference between American and British English http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa110698.htm . So, in American English its entirely correct, so I'll shut up now. :-)

Splasho: plz do not shut up, because for us, non-native english speakers, it's great to see some english grammar discussions. We may hope that it improves our english. (My opinion...)

I actually haven't read the discussion here but it seems very lively and the people here are surely very friendly.

This John Swift is perfect fun. Congratulations. Now that the idea is in the open many others will copy but those copycats will fail miserably because they have to read the reviews first to review themselves.

I enjoyed this blog for its brief life. Not sure if it predates John Swift, but similar idea.

http://moviesididntsee.blogspot.com/

Agreed, for non-native speakers these grammar discussions are very interesting :)

LOL!!!! The reviews on evil, comunism and porn are unbelievable!
Sounds like Bush himself under a nickname.

Another review (removed from amazon)

http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2006/01/politically-incorrect-guide-to.html

LOL!

you always have those issues with british and american english.. in holland we learn british english. i always have to check twice before posting..

I find it more worrying that so many people find his 'reviews' useful...

<<you always have those issues with british and american english>>
I made a English (aka British) to American "converter" (words sorted by English (UK) with American words next to them) Although this wouldn't help with the above example.
http://mrrix32.googlepages.com/en-am.xls

John emailed me to tell us about his blog :)
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/

funny stuff

As long as Jon doesn't read books that he hasn't reviewed. That wouldn't be swift.

And isn't it past time to refer to varieties of English as American or British... or Aussie or Kiwi? Listening to a TV program about tourism in Queenstown NZ, my and son's American ears distinguished nary a word spoken by the Kiwi speed boat operator.

Mrrix32, I've got the british – american translator. it goes both ways:
http://www.translatebritish.com

Swift Review:
   I am against evil, January 19, 2006
I have not actually read this book but I agree with Mr. Hannity that evil is bad. I am against all evil whatsoever, whether it is in an axis or solo. Liberals are always making complicated distinctions between things that are a little bit evil and things that are moderately evil and things that are very evil. Not Mr. Hannity. Everything to him is either good or evil, period. I think that's a much easier way to view the world and it saves a lot of time.

this guy has got a gift – he is into time saving, like not reading the books he reviews saves him a lot of time – what is the point of this? so people google his name? or just to "get his name out there"?

I have mailed John as I write here:

Marco V***** <*********yahoo.it> wrote:
have you ever read a book?
all your comments start with: "I have not actually
read this book but.."
che cazzone sei :D

M.V.ok

the Re is:

Dear Mr. V*****,
Thank you very much for writing. I find that I don't really have time to read books because it takes up time that could be better spent reviewing them. And most of the rest of my time is taken up with my blog which I am sure you'll enjoy as much as you have enjoyed my reviews. You can find it here:
  
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/

It's absolutely nosense!

Mr Swift's blog is a great find; many thanks, Philipp.

As he explains, 'I am a reasonable conservative who likes to write about politics and culture. Since the media is biased I get all my news from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno monologues';

Here's an extract of his comments on how President Bush Is Doing a Heck of a Job in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, one year after the floods, to give folks a flavour:

'There has also been criticism of the deliberate pace of the clean-up. Some impatient people believe that we should have rushed into putting everything back the way it was without analyzing the situation first. By taking things slowly it gives us time to consider whether it might be preferable not to rebuild certain neighborhoods, especially the poorer ones. Perhaps a smaller, more compact New Orleans would work better. Some are even suggesting that we think about whether we should even rebuild New Orleans at all, especially since it was always a socio-economic drag on the rest of Louisiana anyway. We might also think about moving it somewhere safer, far away from water, perhaps to a place like like Kansas. Instead of seeing Hurricane Katrina as a negative thing, some people are looking at it as an opportunity.'

http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2006/08/president-bush-is-doing-heck-of-job-in.html

Great stuff!

so you think he is like a "Stephan Colbert" wannabe?

i mean it has to be right?

its difficult to tell good satire from real punditry beacause the only real difference is usually the inflection in the voice...

so is he pointing out the inanity of extremism or is he an inane extrmist – maybe the real question is does it matter? perhaps i am just rambling, but I think this must boil down to "ceci n'est pas une pipe"... kinda in some sort of way – but actually its more like the inverse of that "this is a pipe" – which is in fact the same statement – well in Magritte's case it is anway

I hope you will review the boook I am writing on the management at Google or, rather, on how google changed the way one thinks about management. :))))

Not Too Swift, the excellent Mr Jon Swift has a piece about Stephen Colbert at http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2006/05/liberal-media-attacks-stephen-colbert.html

Someone called Josh in the comments tried to set him right by explaining

'You do realize that Colbert, as he always does, was actually making fun of all of those people.

'That he was actually lashing out against the administration, as well as the media, and everyone else he cracked jokes about.
'You do realize that his whole conservative republican persona is fake, and that the only thing he said in which he may have not been kidding was when he said he would be great at the press secretary job because he had "nothing but contempt for these people."

'It's an act. He despises Fox news, for good reason, and is as far from a conservative republican as Al Franken.

'Just didn't seem like you realized that from the post.'

This prompted the following two comments:

Don said...

   '... his whole conservative republican persona is fake'

   Who could sink so low?
   9:48 AM

Jon Swift said...

   Josh, I have to agree with Don. Although I think it's an interesting theory, I can't imagine someone going to all that trouble to fake a conservative persona. What would be the point?