|
He describes his experiences, often going back and forth from the first trip to the second, in hilarious detail. Since being introduced to "In A Sunburned Country", I have been a big Bill Bryson fan. I laughed out loud through almost every chapter.Yes, he is quick to point out what he doesn't like about various locations. Although seen as a travel book, it truly isn't in the strictest sense. Bryson wanted to revisit many of the places that he had as a much younger man, and see it through more worldly eyes (and with a fatter wallet, perhaps). However, even when he's completely charmed by a city, as he is in Rome, he still describes the insanity of the Roman's driving and parking habits in a refreshingly truthful and very funny way. Obviously, there are people who found his candor distasteful, but I thought this was one of his best books.
waaaah, waaaaah, waaaaaah. no. it might be the locals are mean, some parts of the cities are dreary and could be so much more beautiful, the trains run too slow, god forbid a local that can't help him because he doesn't speak english, or things are just too expensive. i found this book to be such a downer. he should feel lucky to even have the privilege to travel and probably be paid for it at the same time. so what, florence can be hot and crowded in the summer, but is that what i want to remember.
i've been to many of those places he wrote about and have really great memories and i don't focus on the negative.
you know what.
why do i want to read about someone bitching and complaining about how traveling can sometimes be work and things don't always go the way we want.
almost every new location he visits there's always something wrong.
i want to remember seeing the duomo for the first time or walking the boboli gardens.
how about trying to find the positive things when you travel and write about those.
use the negative things that happen as anecdotes but not the focus.
that's part of traveling.
the book is in the recycle bin.
It should be illegal to make someone laugh so hard she wets her pants. I'm the one who couldn't understand the English language the way the English speak it, who thought they were angry when they said they were "pissed" and didn't know it meant "drunk." I'm the one who spent the night trying to figure out what I was supposed to do with the window because the innkeeper told me, "Fold the pane." Bryson stole all my material. I should complain,deride and denounce this book because every time I read it, I wet my pants laughing. I shouldn't like this book. Send him back to Europe, but please let him pack his pencil and his sense of humour before he goes. I should also be mad because Bill Bryson clearly stole all my experiences of travelling to Europe for the first time.
It's humiliating to be standing in a bookstore with your legs crossed and a warm stream of pee tickling down your thighs because you can't stop laughing.
It's embarrassing.
I denounce Bill Bryson.
I should hate this book.
The only reason I'm not mad is because he writes it all so beautifully, weaving the jokes into the story into the irony into the drama into the comedy, and does it so beautifully that this book disappears in hours when by rights it should take days to read because it is so full of experiences.
This book is so addictive that I tend to pick it up wherever I see it.
Since I am an avid reader, I pick it up in book stores and libraries.
Off with his head.
He is a national treasure.
Part of that probably is that he doesn't speak a foreign language well.- Not terribly informative.CONCLUSION: Don't expect to learn that much about Europe, but do expect to laugh out loud. PROS:- Bryson's writing style is fluid and funny.- Good coverage of Western Europe: 19 out of 22 chapters are on it.CONS:- The subtitle of the book is, "Travels in Europe", but it should have been called "Travels in Western Europe" since that's where 90% of the book takes place.- Bryson has minimal interaction with Europeans, only interacting with the locals briefly, even though he traveled alone. He seems to travel with his guidebook in hand, looking at buildings, but not really spending much time getting to know the people. If those are your expectations, then you will love this book. I gave it 4 stars because it was so funny, so entertaining, that it overcame the flaws I listed.
ALL OF BILL BRYSONS BOOKS TEND TO BE THE SAME SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE d) (above), YOU WILL BE VERY UPSET.f)Points b) to e) (above) are written in the style of Mr Bryson, so if you don't like this review, you are unlikely to like the book. a)This book does not (well, the version I read 12 years ago did not) present itself to be some sort of travel guide to Europe. It spoils the book if you actually try and recreate it by going to see the things that he describes. b)Mr Bryson whilst raised in Des Moines, Iowa, lived in the UK for 20 years, latterly near Settle in North Yorkshire, where I oft saw him leaning over dry stone walls, swinging on gates, or drinking a quiet cup of coffee at the Old Naked man café.c)The above establishment, despite its name does not guarantee any sightings of old men, naked or otherwise.
If that sentiment mirrors your own thoughts and attitudes, then I welcome you to the world of Bill Bryson, you will have a wonderful time. You have to go to the Golden Lion pub for that.d)C) (above) was mild sarcasm, a very British trait and which is you don't appreciate or don't "get" means that no matter which BB book you read, you are going to end up disappointed. e)This is very important. Ok, let me make some things clear for some readers. All of the hotels I stayed in were really brilliant offering huge rooms with wonderful views, the food was amazing in all of them, and every restaurant and café, I had no problems at all with public transport and found every local I met totally helpful, and eager to present the fascinating cultural and historical aspects of their city/country in all of their splendour and in such a way that I could find no humour in it, just a further respect for my European brothers and sisters.Chapters 2- 34 contains a detailed list of hotels I stayed in, the names and addresses of friendly locals and GPS co-ordinates of places I visited that have faithfully promised not to have changed in the intervening 16 years since I visited them in-case it offends your enjoyment of this book. Maybe its an English thing.
It is more fun to not go there, and imagine that that's how those places and people actually are, and that amusing and gently madcap adventures follow him around. You will find that should you follow in his footsteps, madcap adventures are unlikely to follow in yours.I think that BB explains his mindset best in his Down Under book, where he explains his best introduction to a new place is to have a cup of coffee and read the local paper.
I thank you. If you want a recommendation for the best coffee shop in Rome or the nicest phone both in Hammerfest, buy a Lonely Planet Guide or something like that.
For some others, I can save them some heartache by (forgive me Bill) offering you this abridged version. So, if you are still with me, BB rambles around Europe in a hap-hazard way, making wry observations.
The thing is this, and I suspect that many readers don't get it. "Neither Here nor There - By Bill Bryson (abridged by Pastor of Disaster).Chapter 1 - I visited every country in Europe (East and West even though the Berlin wall is still up and travel to some eastern-European countries can be rather difficult).
|
