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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
This is a scholarly, yet surprisingly accessible description of home. Bill Bryson is perhaps the best narrative nonfiction writer writing today. What could be boring, why-would-I-want-to-read-this history is really interesting. He moves from room to room examining why a house is structured and labeled the way it is today. He goes back to the Stone Age and through many ages thereafter. Many words are explained. Example: a drawing room actually used to be called the "withdrawing room", or a place to get away from others. Always wondered about all that 'drawing' going on.
I wouldn't call this easy reading, but it has a friendly tone. While a large book, it can easily be picked up and put down as desired without being disoriented. This is also good for those who like inventions as he shows how people like Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin profoundly changed our homes, and thus our time, tasks and social roles.
I wouldn't call this easy reading, but it has a friendly tone. While a large book, it can easily be picked up and put down as desired without being disoriented. This is also good for those who like inventions as he shows how people like Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin profoundly changed our homes, and thus our time, tasks and social roles.
Bill Bryson tiene que ser la mejor persona del mundo para tomar un café. Anécdotas y curiosidades se deslizan sin fin a partir del más tenue hilo conductor. En este libro: su propia casa. Según nos dice en la introducción lo que que quiere es explorar como llegó a ser la casa en la que vivimos, como lo cotidiano se estableció en la visa se los seres humanos. A partir de esta premisa va haciendo un recorrido por las habitaciones de la vieja rectoría en la que vive y deja fluir un mar de pequeñas minucias históricas sin demasiada hilazón. El libro es caótico y no termina de conseguir su objetivo de manera que a mitad del capítulo sobre el pasillo te preguntas cómo empezó hablando de la torre Eiffel y por qué estás leyendo ahora acerca de Thomas Edison. Pero al final se lo perdonas porque en los libro de Bryson no importa el destino, lo que mola es el viaje.
I really enjoyed this book. If you like odd bits of trivia about common day to day objects-then this is definitely the book for you. It does tend to meander at times and sometimes it's not obvious how the anecdote relates; but they are interesting nonetheless!
fast-paced
I loved the other books of Bryson's that I've read so when I saw this I had to read it. I greatly enjoyed this history of private life organized according to rooms. I love the tangents about things like the spice trade and the Eiffel Tower. A lot of this was also stuff I already knew but the tapestry of private life as a whole made for an interesting read.
One of the best Bryson books. History, horticulture, humor... And climate change? A great read.
This book isn't so much a book about the home, although there is certainly a great deal about homes in the book. But the home, or more precisely Bill Bryson's home in England, provides the framework for a discussion on a seemingly limitless number of topics: archaeology, architecture, landscaping, nutrition, agriculture, labor laws, childhood, social classes, economics, burial customs, household pests, communicable diseases, sewer treatment, medieval halls, medicine, and more. He spends most of the book "in England" with occasional jumps to America. There is a good deal left out of this book from a worldwide perspective, but there so much packed in as it is, I think some allowances can be made.
There's also a good deal of discussion on scientific discoveries and inventions, linguistics and Shakespeare which should be expected given Bryon's prior works such as: [b:Shakespeare: The World as Stage|2792136|Shakespeare The World as Stage|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255770379s/2792136.jpg|892448], [b:The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way|29|The Mother Tongue English and How It Got That Way|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042888s/29.jpg|2170063], and [b:A Short History of Nearly Everything|21|A Short History of Nearly Everything|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255682270s/21.jpg|2305997]
What I enjoy most is that Bryson doesn't dwell to long on any one subject. Within a few paragraphs he gives just enough information to be interesting without boring the reader. If there is a topic that catches your interest it would be easy enough to explore the topic further based on the names, dates, and other information he provides.
If you have any interest in British Literature, I highly recommend this book to help understand the setting and daily life of the characters.
There's also a good deal of discussion on scientific discoveries and inventions, linguistics and Shakespeare which should be expected given Bryon's prior works such as: [b:Shakespeare: The World as Stage|2792136|Shakespeare The World as Stage|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255770379s/2792136.jpg|892448], [b:The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way|29|The Mother Tongue English and How It Got That Way|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042888s/29.jpg|2170063], and [b:A Short History of Nearly Everything|21|A Short History of Nearly Everything|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255682270s/21.jpg|2305997]
What I enjoy most is that Bryson doesn't dwell to long on any one subject. Within a few paragraphs he gives just enough information to be interesting without boring the reader. If there is a topic that catches your interest it would be easy enough to explore the topic further based on the names, dates, and other information he provides.
If you have any interest in British Literature, I highly recommend this book to help understand the setting and daily life of the characters.
I found this book absolutely fascinating. It touched on all the right historical aspects for me and actually helped put a lot of things I learned in school in a larger context for me. Very easy to read, too.
This wasn't my favorite Bill Bryson book, so I wouldn't recommend it to a reader looking to check him out for the first time, but as a big Bryson fan, I definitely enjoyed his characteristic wit as I learned the history of so many things about which I hadn't previously thought much. I was less interested in learning the history of his house, in particular, which is the frame that the rest of the book hangs on, but I love seeing how his home sparked his curiosity seemingly mundane features of domestic life. Having just bought my first house, the timing of my read couldn't have been better.
Bill Bryson’s insatiable curiosity and wry perspective is as always a wonderful guide through what might otherwise be a mundane topic. Among other things, I learned more about rats than I might have wanted, I have a new appreciation for bats, and I am grateful to know of an ally in my desire that everyone learn to put the dang toilet lid down before flushing.
This is, let’s be clear, a very British American view of the topic. I couldn’t help but cringe when he used global superlatives about British inventions or homes when the book itself seems to give the world outside of Britain and the United States very little attention. I understand that the conceit of the book is based on a very particular English dwelling. Having limited himself that way it might have been best that he refrain from “most important in the world” kinds of remarks.
And that unanesthetized mastectomy scene - yes, it is as traumatic in this book as it was when I read The Body. It may even be what I think of first when I think of Mr Bryson. Nonmatrer how good his writing is, I’m not sure if I can read much more of his work if he is going to continue returning to that story.
This is, let’s be clear, a very British American view of the topic. I couldn’t help but cringe when he used global superlatives about British inventions or homes when the book itself seems to give the world outside of Britain and the United States very little attention. I understand that the conceit of the book is based on a very particular English dwelling. Having limited himself that way it might have been best that he refrain from “most important in the world” kinds of remarks.
And that unanesthetized mastectomy scene - yes, it is as traumatic in this book as it was when I read The Body. It may even be what I think of first when I think of Mr Bryson. Nonmatrer how good his writing is, I’m not sure if I can read much more of his work if he is going to continue returning to that story.