Scan barcode
somanybookstoread's review against another edition
3.0
Generally, I like Bill Bryson a lot. I think he has a strong personality that comes through as a distinct and accomplished writer's voice. I think he's funny and clever and I admire how prolific he is and the range of topics on which he writes.
This book, however, is definitely a young and not yet fully developed Bryson as a writer. While the personality was very much there on the page and there were some passages that made me laugh out loud, the book was largely incoherent. Bryson came across as a whining tourist who didn't leave me with a distinct impression of any of the places he visited. He also seemed like a pervert and the multiple references to animal cruelty (wanting to shoot poodles, leaving a cat in a pantry for three weeks, a few others) did not sit well with me.
Will I read more Bryson? Yes. Do I think he's likely embarrassed by this work from more than 20 years ago? I hope so.
This book, however, is definitely a young and not yet fully developed Bryson as a writer. While the personality was very much there on the page and there were some passages that made me laugh out loud, the book was largely incoherent. Bryson came across as a whining tourist who didn't leave me with a distinct impression of any of the places he visited. He also seemed like a pervert and the multiple references to animal cruelty (wanting to shoot poodles, leaving a cat in a pantry for three weeks, a few others) did not sit well with me.
Will I read more Bryson? Yes. Do I think he's likely embarrassed by this work from more than 20 years ago? I hope so.
mmariericker's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
3.75
I like that this is in 1992 because things (and travel) were so incredibly different logistically. And it’s funny because he notes feeling like America has infiltrated everything even back then. There are some comments about weight and women I could’ve lived without that make it so clear this is the 90s but overall it’s a good vacation or arm chair travel read.
kelest92's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.75
jon288's review against another edition
3.0
Not bad, and with some of his flair, but not that insightful or compelling. A bit superficial
eriynali's review against another edition
1.0
Truly a rough read. 1 or 2 funny paragraphs per hundred pages. Several completely inaccurate things thrown in by bad editing (names of cafes spelled wrong, foreign languages butchered without adding humor) ... Some of the most laughable bits unfortunately at the expense of some poor overused stereotype or other. I think I put more effort into finishing reading this than he put in writing it.
Really has not aged well:
"Late in the evening, when Katz and Trudi had gone off for pees, Marta turned to me, abruptly pulled my head to hers and swabbed my throat with her tongue. It felt as if a fish were flopping around in my mouth. She released me, wearing a strange, dreamy expression and breathed, 'I'm fool of lust.'
I couldn't find words to communicate my appreciation. Then the most awful thing happened. An abrupt startled look seized her, as if she had been struck by a sniper's bullet. Her eyes snapped shut and she slid bonelessly from her chair.
I gaped for a long moment and cried, 'Don't do this to me, God, you prick!' But she was gone, as dead to the world as if she had been hit broadside by a Mack truck. I looked at the sky. 'How could you do this to me? I'm a Catholic'
Trudi reappeared, tutting in a sudden maternal fashion and saying, 'Well, well, well, we'd better get this one to bed.' I offered to carry Marta to their hotel for her, thinking that at the very least I might manage to lay my tingling mitts on her splendid buttocks - only for a moment, you understand, just a little something to sustain me till the end of the century...."
Oh fond memories of youth, right? Truly delightful, right?
Really has not aged well:
"Late in the evening, when Katz and Trudi had gone off for pees, Marta turned to me, abruptly pulled my head to hers and swabbed my throat with her tongue. It felt as if a fish were flopping around in my mouth. She released me, wearing a strange, dreamy expression and breathed, 'I'm fool of lust.'
I couldn't find words to communicate my appreciation. Then the most awful thing happened. An abrupt startled look seized her, as if she had been struck by a sniper's bullet. Her eyes snapped shut and she slid bonelessly from her chair.
I gaped for a long moment and cried, 'Don't do this to me, God, you prick!' But she was gone, as dead to the world as if she had been hit broadside by a Mack truck. I looked at the sky. 'How could you do this to me? I'm a Catholic'
Trudi reappeared, tutting in a sudden maternal fashion and saying, 'Well, well, well, we'd better get this one to bed.' I offered to carry Marta to their hotel for her, thinking that at the very least I might manage to lay my tingling mitts on her splendid buttocks - only for a moment, you understand, just a little something to sustain me till the end of the century...."
Oh fond memories of youth, right? Truly delightful, right?
seclement's review against another edition
3.0
I was really disappointed in this book. I love Bryson. He's hilarious and a bit grumpy but also informative (usually). This book has its moments, and those moments are funny and mildly interesting . But it hasn't aged well, and the complaining is next level. Normally you get glimpses of his moments of delight, but this book really seemed to focus on what he found annoying, his judgments of people, anecdotes that are almost satirically stereotypical, etc. It reminded me too much of British people who go overseas, only to expect countries to fit the idea they had of that country, and get annoyed when it doesn't. The fact that he's an American who has lived in Britain, and spends a lot of time distancing himself from those American tourists whilst also complaining, also made me a bit uncomfortable. (I say this as an American who hasn't lived in America for half my life and also lived in Britain for many years....thus understanding how you'd be embarrassed of tourists from both countries. I am sure I have also fit the stereotype in my bad moments, but luckily I didn't write about those in a book.).
If you haven't read a Bryson book, please don't start with this. It's not him at his best, and it is also a bit uncomfortable at moments when read in 2023. Maybe it would have been equally uncomfortable 10 or 20 years ago, too. You won't learn as much as you do in the other books, and you might laugh a bit, but I would move it to the bottom of your reading list, even if you're a huge Bryson fan.
If you haven't read a Bryson book, please don't start with this. It's not him at his best, and it is also a bit uncomfortable at moments when read in 2023. Maybe it would have been equally uncomfortable 10 or 20 years ago, too. You won't learn as much as you do in the other books, and you might laugh a bit, but I would move it to the bottom of your reading list, even if you're a huge Bryson fan.
monicadee88's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know why I keep coming back to and expecting more from Bill Bryson. Of what I've read of his so far, this one is by far the worst. It has his usual candor and dry humor, but too much whining and self-importance. Here, he is more often insulting, demeaning, and downright rude in his observations of different people and cultures. The upside, and what kept me going, were the too-brief moments of peace and acceptance.
lydalbano's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
erboe501's review against another edition
5.0
Game for a few weeks of European mishaps, Bill Bryson leaves the comforts of home to retrace the steps of his youthful trek through 1970s Europe. From the Northern Lights to the Bosphorus Sea, Bryson manages to meet some bizarrely friendly, hostile, and apathetic characters. There are the waiters who patently ignore Bryson when he eats, the hotel workers who overcharge him, the tourist office workers who pretend they don’t speak English. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that these people and situations actually occurred. Part of the beauty of Bryson’s writing is that the frustratingly mundane–waiting in one line after another for a bus ticket–turn hilarious under Bryson’s pen. Even if you haven’t traveled abroad, everyone has experienced the circuitous bureaucracy of state-run facilities and bad hotels. You sweat and labor right along with Bryson as he catches a train here and a bus there.
Many of the places Bryson returns to in the 1990s have changed significantly in his twenty year absence, thanks in a large part to the increase in tourism. I’d imagine that, if Bryson took a third trip around Europe today, another twenty years later, the landscape would appear even more altered. Bryson, a successful white American male, manages to be both irreverant and diplomatic in situations that might call for cultural sensitivity. He says it like it is: Naples is a filthy city; Austria is still pretty anti-Semitic. But he never assumes a superior, greater-than-thou tone, which makes his commentary feel authentic. He’s a foreigner in these countries, and his writing evokes this ‘fish out of water’ impression.
By candidly showing the beautiful and ugly aspects of travel, Bryson makes a strong case for the rewards of travel. You adapt to cultural challenges and experience other ways of life. And in the end, you become more grateful for your own bed back home.
Many of the places Bryson returns to in the 1990s have changed significantly in his twenty year absence, thanks in a large part to the increase in tourism. I’d imagine that, if Bryson took a third trip around Europe today, another twenty years later, the landscape would appear even more altered. Bryson, a successful white American male, manages to be both irreverant and diplomatic in situations that might call for cultural sensitivity. He says it like it is: Naples is a filthy city; Austria is still pretty anti-Semitic. But he never assumes a superior, greater-than-thou tone, which makes his commentary feel authentic. He’s a foreigner in these countries, and his writing evokes this ‘fish out of water’ impression.
By candidly showing the beautiful and ugly aspects of travel, Bryson makes a strong case for the rewards of travel. You adapt to cultural challenges and experience other ways of life. And in the end, you become more grateful for your own bed back home.