Fry's English Delight (BBC Audio)

S Fry simply showing how clever he is! Although undoubtedly well researched and delivered in his usual erudite manner it had neither wit nor warmth and constantly left you wondering what on earth he was talking about. As a purely academic study of the idiosyncrasies of language it is probably very good but as a form of entertainment (which it is billed as) it was far too verbose and portentous for any but the most studious of audience.

The first section, on puns, was very entertaining, and I was really looking forward to parts 2,3 and 4. Usually, I thoroughly enjoy Fry's original approach, but he seemed to have lost interest in this after the first few minutes and it was downhill all the way with a few strained attempts at humour. Listen to part 1 and stop there!

I caught one of the radio programmes by accident, then my brother-in-law asked for this CD for a birthday present. I just need to wait a while before I can borrow it from him! If the rest of the programmes are as good as the one I heard, I'm in for a treat!

For all those who lost interest in grammar long before a GCSE (or O Level) this is a vital brush up on our language and how important or not it is in how we deal with one another. Fry turns his illuminating and engaging mind to a subject that I and I am sure many others wished they knew more about and had paid more attention to when at school. Puns and Cliches, Metaphor and Quotations. After listening to this I loved finding the second series on the radio and will be adding that to my must haves as soon as it appears on CD. Well worth a listen.

Stephen Fry is a joy to listen to. Aposite and yet informative to the nth degree at the same time.