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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Disappointing. Quit after a few chapters. The first bill Bryson book I haven't liked. Not enough travel tales. Several instances of him being grumpy and rude to young people unnecessarily.
This book is a very entertaining read. It made me want to leave for England and never come back (a frequent thought of mine these days).
Bill Bryson is a rather enjoyable writer and does a rather good job of writing a generally positive and amiable book while complaining about a lot of things that aren't like they used to be. Like most of he's not a huge fan of austerity and the struggle against poverty in many places. I have to admit however that there were odd points at which his outrage skirted the bounds of elitism and at one point made a rather horrible transphobic statement that quite took me out of the book. Enjoyable but perhaps one should not revisit places you know have likely declined in health.
It was lovely to read a Bill Bryson book again – I read Notes on a Small Island several times the most recent being 10 years ago). I find his books laugh out loud funny in places and so informative. I’m always a little embarrassed about how little I know about my country and how few places I’ve visited. In this book Bill decides he is going to follow what he calls the Bryson line which will take him from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath via a few other places in between. My home town gets a brief mention as he is passing through and I wish he’d visited as I think he would have liked it! His observations are amusing and despite having now lived in the UK for many years, he still finds the little oddities that make us British (without offending)!
Mr B at his best. A bit more grumpy with age but hugely entertaining. One wonders why any Brit holidays abroad at all!
This is apparently book #2 to Notes From A Small Island. Which I have not read but mean to read someday. Luckily, you don't need to know the first book to enjoy this one.
I always enjoy Bryson's books and this one was no different. You get entertainment, interesting history, and a lot of information that you can spring on people out of the blue, which, frankly, is my favorite part about Bryson's books.
Before heading back to America, Bryson sets out on a road trip around his beloved adopted country and takes us to some tiny little villages and big cities. If you like to armchair travel, pick this one up! And, I'm guessing, pick up the first one too!
I always enjoy Bryson's books and this one was no different. You get entertainment, interesting history, and a lot of information that you can spring on people out of the blue, which, frankly, is my favorite part about Bryson's books.
Before heading back to America, Bryson sets out on a road trip around his beloved adopted country and takes us to some tiny little villages and big cities. If you like to armchair travel, pick this one up! And, I'm guessing, pick up the first one too!
Twenty years ago Bryon wrote Notes from a Small Island, a hilarious account of his journey round the coast of Britain. Now he writes about the country again, this time following "The Bryson Line" from Bognor Regis in the south to Cape Wrath, the northern-most tip of Scotland. I thoroughly enjoyed being in his company - he's both funny and erudite. He is enough of an outsider to see the British clearly, and enough of an insider to understand it. He has a sincere appreciation for the countryside and all the things that make the country special. He is appropriately grouchy about all the things that make the country crap (like bad service) and you just hope that the right people have the folly of their ways pointed out to them with this book.
The audiobook is also very good.
The audiobook is also very good.
I've read a few of Bill Bryson's books now and have often found them hilarious. This had bouts of that but it felt more like a whinging old man than anything comedic. It read more like a history of Britain, and to be honest, in some places, none too friendly.
Notes From A Small Island, the first instalment, was far funnier. This was just, well, a little dribbling of Bryson's best.
Notes From A Small Island, the first instalment, was far funnier. This was just, well, a little dribbling of Bryson's best.
Let me say up front that I’m on Team Curmudgeon. Although that’s a label that’s mostly slapped on males, I’ve considered myself a proud curmudgeon since I was in my twenties. But Bill, you’re inconsistent in your curmudgeonry, and it drives me batty.
I read your books because they allow me to experience places in England that I will likely never see myself. Then you go and ruin it by bullying the poor kid working the counter at McDonald’s. Really? You believe that the fact that he asked you if you would like french fries is a signal of the end of civilization, and that you are accomplishing something noble by telling him that if you’d wanted french fries, you would have asked for them? Write a scathing letter to corporate, if you must, but don’t blame the guy on the front line for company policy. I found the employee’s method of revenge superbly well-played, if not brilliant.
Likewise inexplicable is your attitude about shopkeepers. You stand behind a till for 20 years and answer the ridiculous questions of people who wander in with no intention of buying anything (and perhaps with the intention of robbing you blind), and see how cheery and chatty you feel then.
When you visit a town, and encounter traffic jams and masses of people there, you are annoyed. When you visit a place that you believe is worthwhile and find that there are only a few other people there, you are annoyed, because you think the place should be more appreciated.
Then you tossed in a gratuitous hate-filled mention of Indianapolis in the last chapter. You’re from Iowa, buddy, and the vantage point from there isn’t high enough to look down one’s nose at Indiana. If I ever find myself in Des Moines, I’ll be sure to drop you a line about everything I found to be sub-par.
Rating: the parts that were actually about England—5 stars. The grumpy-pants stuff: 0 stars. Because in Indiana we are taught to be nice, I will round up the 2.5 to three stars.