Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
House style: Bill Bryson writes amusingly and fluidly about domesticia, based loosely on his own home (a former rectory in Norfolk) but expanding voluminously on the various rooms - hall, study, pantry etc - to create a history of the house and person from earliest times. It’s comprehensive, informative and fun.
Bryson has his demographic - Radio Times-reading, Prosecco-swilling, National Trust-joining, Waitrose-shopping Middle Englanders (so I should be target market really) and his schtick - a light touch with facts (cavalier at times), and a fondness for lists that makes the reader reflect he’d not do badly on Just A Minute. Not that this is bad, in fact at his best he’s very funny and informative indeed although stretched over 600 pages you do need to like his style to pull through. His audiences flock to his outsider’s take on We British (aren’t they a funny lot rather than anything too critical). I last read him about 20 years ago: having enjoyed Notes From A Small Island I somewhat overdosed on the BB œuvre, and took to fasting thereafter. You see, the archness is catching.
If you can forgive him a little literary mansplaining, At Home is a specimen work - there’s an exhaustiveness to its scope and it’s jam-packed with detail, wit and characters. Dulce domum indeed.
Bryson has his demographic - Radio Times-reading, Prosecco-swilling, National Trust-joining, Waitrose-shopping Middle Englanders (so I should be target market really) and his schtick - a light touch with facts (cavalier at times), and a fondness for lists that makes the reader reflect he’d not do badly on Just A Minute. Not that this is bad, in fact at his best he’s very funny and informative indeed although stretched over 600 pages you do need to like his style to pull through. His audiences flock to his outsider’s take on We British (aren’t they a funny lot rather than anything too critical). I last read him about 20 years ago: having enjoyed Notes From A Small Island I somewhat overdosed on the BB œuvre, and took to fasting thereafter. You see, the archness is catching.
If you can forgive him a little literary mansplaining, At Home is a specimen work - there’s an exhaustiveness to its scope and it’s jam-packed with detail, wit and characters. Dulce domum indeed.
oh my god, i loved this book. it seemed to take me forever to read but that was completely okay. i loved learning all these facts about history. i can only imagine what others on the subway thought of my disgusted faces as i read the chapter about the bathroom. love love loved this book.
I quite enjoyed this book, and learned a lot of interesting - - if not particularly useful - - facts! Example: that whole thing about back when corsets were big that ladies had ribs surgically removed to decrease their waistline is a myth. Apparently the surgeons of that time wouldn't have been able to do that, plus there is no documented case of it. Lots of other stuff makes me very very glad I was born in these times and not back a hundred years ago or so.
I like the way the book was arranged by rooms in a house, although he did go off on tangents a fair bit. Still, I would read books by him again. His research is extensive, and the book is written in a way that is not hard to read.
I like the way the book was arranged by rooms in a house, although he did go off on tangents a fair bit. Still, I would read books by him again. His research is extensive, and the book is written in a way that is not hard to read.
A little disappointing as Bryson goes. This was another history of life and language, this time based on our homes and the activities we perform therein. But his opening conceit was forced. He used his own home, a converted 19th century rectory in England, built for a childless bachelor as the basis for his examination. The result was the analysis of a house and its rooms, many of which never saw their "intended" use (according to the original plans of the house). Further, his anecdotes seemed to ramble off in directions that didn't make sense. Final complaint, since the movers and shakers were mostly men, it felt to me that Bryson largely ignored the female half of the population. This was exacerbated by the lack of a partner in the household in question (save for the housekeeper). It felt like a history of rich white men.
On the other hand, the book was filled with historical anecdotes that were by turns amusing, fascinating and horrifying. It was a fascinating read but works best as a book to pick up and read a bit at a time instead of cover to cover as I've read most of Bryson's books.
On the other hand, the book was filled with historical anecdotes that were by turns amusing, fascinating and horrifying. It was a fascinating read but works best as a book to pick up and read a bit at a time instead of cover to cover as I've read most of Bryson's books.
informative
slow-paced
I learned a lot and got a new look on a lot of everyday things, like rooms in a house, cutlery, staircases, plumbing, etc.
The book really did something to my appreciation of all things sanitary that we take for granted today. I actually smiled when I opened a tap after reading a part about the Victorian period.
Exceptionally good book, very well written!
The book really did something to my appreciation of all things sanitary that we take for granted today. I actually smiled when I opened a tap after reading a part about the Victorian period.
Exceptionally good book, very well written!
informative
medium-paced
I really enjoyed this rambling history of daily life and the evolution of the home. I did feel like there were times Bryson made intention based assumptions of historical people in a way that I personally wasn’t convinced of.
informative
slow-paced
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced