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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
A strange combination of endless rants and magical descriptions of Britain that make this island the unique place it is, such as:
There isn't a landscape in the world that is more artfully worked, more lovely to behold, more comfortable to be in, than the countryside of Britain. It is the world's largest park - it's most perfect accidental garden. It think it must be the British nation's most glorious achievement.
He describes the place with such reverence at times, it makes the complaints he makes that much more off-putting. That, combined with the disorganization of the book and the long tangents on random subjects, made this my least-favorite Bryson book thus far. Thankfully, it ended on a strong note - and I'm not putting down his books anytime soon. I still have At Home on my shelf, and I've heard that's one of his best.
There isn't a landscape in the world that is more artfully worked, more lovely to behold, more comfortable to be in, than the countryside of Britain. It is the world's largest park - it's most perfect accidental garden. It think it must be the British nation's most glorious achievement.
He describes the place with such reverence at times, it makes the complaints he makes that much more off-putting. That, combined with the disorganization of the book and the long tangents on random subjects, made this my least-favorite Bryson book thus far. Thankfully, it ended on a strong note - and I'm not putting down his books anytime soon. I still have At Home on my shelf, and I've heard that's one of his best.
"In countless small ways the world around us grows gradually shittier" sums up a good portion of this grumpy travelogue. When I first received this book as a gift (Bryson is one of my favorite authors), I set it aside after reading a few chapters consisting almost entirely of complaints about everything encountered, including people. But some months later I picked it up, because if you embrace the grumpiness, you are rewarded by sharp, laugh-out-loud observations only Bryson can formulate + quirky historical anecdotes. Might be a sign of the age, but I wished that Bryson could have taken some photographs and provided a map per chapter (ridiculous request since none of his other books have any such thing).
3,75*.
The humor is at places dated, but it's still a funny light read.
The humor is at places dated, but it's still a funny light read.
Disappointing. I have generally enjoyed Bryson's books, and the parts of this that resembled his previous travel writing (interesting little-known historical anecdotes, loving descriptions of scenery, etc.) were good, but I was frequently thrown out of my enjoyment by a weird rant about how some person or group of people is terrible and should preferably die a painful death, particularly young people, people who like things that Bryson doesn't like and Katie Price.
I especially disliked the story about his "most outstanding moment of manliness in life", in which, after telling some guy to stop yelling at a female bookshop employee, he heroically did not hit on her because "unfortunately, she was only about four feet tall and nearly spherical".
(also, at one point he wrote "I like Norfolk", which is plainly ridiculous. ;p)
I especially disliked the story about his "most outstanding moment of manliness in life", in which, after telling some guy to stop yelling at a female bookshop employee, he heroically did not hit on her because "unfortunately, she was only about four feet tall and nearly spherical".
(also, at one point he wrote "I like Norfolk", which is plainly ridiculous. ;p)
Fantastically funny, full of the joys of the quirks and oddities of Britain and it's people. Bryson's writing is great at capturing the essence of a nation as he travels along the "Bryson Line" and his research into all manner of subjects is diverse and deep. A complete joy to read.
I like the running joke about stale cake. An easy read. Effortlessly amusing and entertaining.
Just what I needed. Joyful, funny, and thoughtful. Now I need to plan a trip to England.....
I love Bill Bryson and the UK, so I was pretty excited to read this book. Despite having some good parts, it mostly is a an old man complaining that things aren't the way they used to be. There's also a surprising amount of casual misogyny and classism. I was considering a 3 star rating, but the ignorant comment about Caitlyn Jenner was the final nail in the coffin. Disappointing.
I didn't finsh this one, and I usually like Bill Bryson books. I tried reading it and I tried listening to it, but after a while I just got bored with the lovely landscapes. In fact, I started noting the number of times that word, "lovely" was used. It still had Bryson's dry sarcasm and humor, so I stuck with it for a while, but about 60% of the way through decided to abandon it.
Lots of little facts and stories I didn’t know, which I always enjoy, but his attitude towards...everything? Modern Britain in general? ...is awfully grating. I used to be a big Bryson fan but the last couple I’ve read have rubbed me the wrong way.