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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
2.5 stars. Not what I expected but there were some enjoyable parts. The author travels about the UK, looking at the last places he visited in a previous book as well as new ones. The scenery descriptions are enough to make me swoon. I liked reading about the bits of the world I have seen. There were a lot of bits outside of travel, including historical stories, I’m a grouchy old man, and things that make him mad. I giggled a few times. He uses some salty language and I learned some new British slang.
So this is a book about England, not Britain. Wales an Scotland deserve more than perhaps five pages each. And just because you don't like haggis with neeps and tatties, Mr Bryson, doesn't mean that serving it on a train is anything but a delightful idea. :-p
[Prtf]
[Prtf]
7/10 a very enjoyable and quick easy read - thanks to my book group for picking it, as I would never have read it from choice.
I've read three or four of his other works, and they were all great- funny, interesting, easy to read. And, in places, this was- but only a few places. The book mostly consists of Bryson going to a town, talking about how lovely it used to be, then getting angry because it's dirtier. Once or twice, this format would be fine, but it's every chapter. There is very little fun in reading an old man complain about Britain. Although, I'm not sure whether it really is Britain- he devotes most of the book to the south, then skips through the north, pausing occasionally to express his disgust at the pollution in some towns. Honestly, don't bother reading this unless you desperately want to know about how awful Britain is in Brysons eyes.
I've long listed Bill Bryson as one of my favorite authors, but this book is a little too "Old Man Yells at Cloud" for my taste. Bryson shines when he is sharing interesting historical anecdotes about the places he visits, and quite frankly I could read about interesting historical anecdotes all day, but where he loses me is the constant complaining about today's youth and stupid people and modernization. Plus, it annoys me that he makes a point of saying he wanted to avoid the same places he visited for Notes From a Small Island (one of my all -time favorite books, for the record) and then goes ahead and visits a whole bunch of the same places. I enjoyed the book, yes, but I would have enjoyed it so much more of Bryson didn't come off as a crotchety out-of-touch old coot at least a third of the time. I hope he goes back to writing about history or science for his next venture.
This is a sequel to Bill Bryson's extremely popular first travel memoir Notes From a Small Island that was published twenty years ago. This time, rather than follow the traditional Land's End to John O'Groats route to traverse Britain, he works out that the longest straight line one can follow is Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath (however he only loosely follows this, diverting in order to visit places he hasn't been to before).
Overall this a very enjoyable sequel with lots of typical laugh out loud Bryson moments. I did feel however that he seems to have become more grumpy and negative about Britain as he's got older. This may be as he's lived here for a long time now and things aren't as new and exciting as they used to be for him, but he talks a lot throughout the books about the good old days of Britain and the ways in which it has deteriorated. The book does become more optimistic as it goes on however, and despite the rose tinted nostalgia I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the original and Bryson's writing.
Overall this a very enjoyable sequel with lots of typical laugh out loud Bryson moments. I did feel however that he seems to have become more grumpy and negative about Britain as he's got older. This may be as he's lived here for a long time now and things aren't as new and exciting as they used to be for him, but he talks a lot throughout the books about the good old days of Britain and the ways in which it has deteriorated. The book does become more optimistic as it goes on however, and despite the rose tinted nostalgia I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the original and Bryson's writing.
Another clever Goodreader left a really apt review for this latest effort from Bill Bryson which included this apt image to sum up the spirit of this book:
I don't know if Bill Bryson is not getting enough sleep or enough fiber these days, or if he has just suddenly aged 20 years, but until now his personality has always come across as humorous and pleasant, with a dash of stoicism despite the odd situations he often finds himself in as he goes about in the world. In Dribbling, as he travels the length and breadth of England, what takes up so much of his attention is how much it costs now to get a coffee these days, or how people now are so stupid and rude. He also drops a lot more F-bombs than I am accustomed to seeing in a Bill Bryson book. I'm fine with that type of language in general. I mean I'm a grown-ass man and all, it just comes as a bit of a culture shock seeing this come from this usually mild-mannered voice.
I'm not totally down on this book, and when he leaves behind the Get-Off-My-Lawn-You-Damn-Kids-Back-In-My-Day attitude there are some wonderful descriptions of the gorgeous, charming, and sometimes mysterious English countryside. It gets more positive in the final third or so, it seems, with a return to the Bill Bryson I have loved reading lo these many years. Next trip he should leave the grumpy guy back at home.
I don't know if Bill Bryson is not getting enough sleep or enough fiber these days, or if he has just suddenly aged 20 years, but until now his personality has always come across as humorous and pleasant, with a dash of stoicism despite the odd situations he often finds himself in as he goes about in the world. In Dribbling, as he travels the length and breadth of England, what takes up so much of his attention is how much it costs now to get a coffee these days, or how people now are so stupid and rude. He also drops a lot more F-bombs than I am accustomed to seeing in a Bill Bryson book. I'm fine with that type of language in general. I mean I'm a grown-ass man and all, it just comes as a bit of a culture shock seeing this come from this usually mild-mannered voice.
I'm not totally down on this book, and when he leaves behind the Get-Off-My-Lawn-You-Damn-Kids-Back-In-My-Day attitude there are some wonderful descriptions of the gorgeous, charming, and sometimes mysterious English countryside. It gets more positive in the final third or so, it seems, with a return to the Bill Bryson I have loved reading lo these many years. Next trip he should leave the grumpy guy back at home.
I probably should've stopped listening to this after the author's extended rant/tantrum about being asked if he wanted fries with his meal at McDonald's, but I somehow made it all the way to the end. It's a frustrating book because there are some really interesting tidbits about British history and culture peppered throughout, but you have to get through a lot of ranting and stories about how the author is disdainful of pretty much anyone he encounters working in retail. In a Sunburned Country is still my favorite Bryson book. This has become my least favorite and really makes me second guess reading anything else he has written recently.
Bill Bryson's becoming a bit of a cantankerous old man, and I'm mostly fine with that, because he's not lost his wit or sarcasm yet. Not his best work, though.