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marybethorama's review against another edition
Made me laugh. The chapter on Sarajevo was heartbreaking because I knew what was shortly to come.
brinysea's review against another edition
3.0
Outdated since it describes a Europe of the early 1990s but still has Bryson’s dry wit.
jeffrosa's review against another edition
5.0
Another great Bryson book that’s a quick read. In these times of quarantine, these travel books might be the closest I’ll get to international travel for a while.
sevenworlds's review against another edition
3.0
I've read and loved many, many Bill Bryson books but this simply falls short. There are some characteristically pithy moments, but a number of his comments are so biting that they left me with a sense of aversion through most of my reading. Some of the jokes truly did not age well and are pretty offensive.
I think my problems with the book stem from the too-brief nature of each city summaries. It's 'I arrived here by train, I liked these two things, I hated these ten things, I left' repeated ad nauseam. He doesn't capture the heart of each place, and I began to wonder why he was traveling at all. It's a slim, short volume that is mildly entertaining, but certainly not one of his best.
I think my problems with the book stem from the too-brief nature of each city summaries. It's 'I arrived here by train, I liked these two things, I hated these ten things, I left' repeated ad nauseam. He doesn't capture the heart of each place, and I began to wonder why he was traveling at all. It's a slim, short volume that is mildly entertaining, but certainly not one of his best.
carrieprice78's review against another edition
5.0
This was a funny book. Of course it was, it was Bill Bryson. I enjoyed it, but wondered how much things had changed in the time since he's been there until now. I think a lot has probably changed, all over Europe. Nevertheless, it was a joy to read and gave me some good ideas of places I'd like to visit someday. It also led me on to Philip Ziegler's "The Black Death," which he mentioned several times in the book. Bryson's a good summer read, but he can be quite intellectual too. A couple of the scenes made me laugh out loud, for example, waiting in a ticket booth line somewhere in Sweden. A must-read for Europhiles.
Merged review:
This was a funny book. Of course it was, it was Bill Bryson. I enjoyed it, but wondered how much things had changed in the time since he's been there until now. I think a lot has probably changed, all over Europe. Nevertheless, it was a joy to read and gave me some good ideas of places I'd like to visit someday. It also led me on to Philip Ziegler's "The Black Death," which he mentioned several times in the book. Bryson's a good summer read, but he can be quite intellectual too. A couple of the scenes made me laugh out loud, for example, waiting in a ticket booth line somewhere in Sweden. A must-read for Europhiles.
Merged review:
This was a funny book. Of course it was, it was Bill Bryson. I enjoyed it, but wondered how much things had changed in the time since he's been there until now. I think a lot has probably changed, all over Europe. Nevertheless, it was a joy to read and gave me some good ideas of places I'd like to visit someday. It also led me on to Philip Ziegler's "The Black Death," which he mentioned several times in the book. Bryson's a good summer read, but he can be quite intellectual too. A couple of the scenes made me laugh out loud, for example, waiting in a ticket booth line somewhere in Sweden. A must-read for Europhiles.
kit_fox's review against another edition
1.0
I normally like Bill Bryson's writing, but this book falls utterly flat for me. It's like those black comedies that seem to miss out on the "comedy" part and just end up being bleak; Bryson's point in this rambling narrative appears to be that travelling is enjoyable enough as a pastime, it's just the people, the places, the languages, the cultures, the food, and the actual travelling itself that spoil it.
Halfway through the book, I wondered whether I was interrogating the text from the wrong perspective, and tried to frame it as a commentary on nostalgia and memory - on how going back was not the same as never leaving, and on whether renewed experience will ever stand up to the rose-tint of memory.
It didn't work, though.
Halfway through the book, I wondered whether I was interrogating the text from the wrong perspective, and tried to frame it as a commentary on nostalgia and memory - on how going back was not the same as never leaving, and on whether renewed experience will ever stand up to the rose-tint of memory.
It didn't work, though.
wanderlustqueen's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining at points, but a lot of this did NOT age well...
marinamy's review against another edition
2.0
DNF. This book was a serious disappointment to me. As a fan of Bill Bryson’s books and current resident of Europe, I was looking forward to reading this. It was occasionally funny, but mostly attempted to be funny at the sarcastic expense of others and is one of the most unPC books I have read in a long time, even taking into account the age of the book. He lecherously leered at women, whined about Europeans and generally didn’t have anything complimentary to say about the entire European continent. If you want to read a good Bryson travel book, stick with “In a Sunburned Country”.
anticonstitutionnellement's review against another edition
3.0
thoroughly enjoyable, somewhat dated but still has the same charm as always.
ketchikrista's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book very difficult to get through. There is not enough information given or stories entertaining enough to really make this worth your while. I had one quote I enjoyed and that was in the first 30 pages.