Reviews

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

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jphoffman's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

2.5

2nd read, at least, May 2024. 2 1/2 stars 😬. I know I listen to this 20 some years ago on cassette tape before I was keeping track of books well. Overall I enjoy Bill’s writing and dry borderline mean humor. But upon this reading, he’s over the line mean. I think it hasn’t aged well, and also, he’s perhaps edited differently now? And 3rd, maybe it’s me?? I did still find myself LOLing at parts. Some jokes I understood better than I could have at 20 something. Downgrading the stars due to the mean-spirited commentary of the mid 1990s.

lilylottle's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

4.0

Laugh out loud funny
He’s also a bit of a twat.
Interesting reading it almost 30 years after it was written

nikkit_nzl's review against another edition

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2.0

I’ve read a few BB travel books and this is the first one where I felt like he was a grumbling old man waffling on about the good old days and telling boring stories. Yes, he describes things fantastically and has a way with words, but this book just annoyed me overall!

ian230's review against another edition

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1.0

This has been the only Bill Bryson book that just did not click with me. Seemed very dated and I just didn't care about it.

rainynook's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

I liked this book, & overall I enjoyed it, but one has to warm up to Mr. Bryson's particular brand of cranky curmudgeon-ness, especially when it comes to describing people who don't thrill him. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author himself. His style is not unlike Paul Theroux's. He is very good at describing places, & usually gives them a great deal of credit, just not so much the folk of the place. But there are some great laugh-out-loud moments, & some clever insights about "This other Eden, demi-paradise...this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England" not to mention Scotland and Wales. If you love England, this is a good book to have in your repertoire of reads.

phoenix2's review against another edition

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2.0

The begining of the book seemed interesting, however the rest wasn't that exciting as i thought it to be. I couldn't understand when he was honest, ironic or synic. It wasn't boring, but it's luck of freshness made it dull.