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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Love Bill bryson - what a witty writer, who can make most anything interesting to read. This book covers a huge breadth of topics. Based on a room in his house he covers the history of that room -- the nursery chapter covers childbirth, life for the poor, and what life was like 100 years ago for wealthy children and life at boarding school. It at times seems all over the map, but found it engaging and interesting.
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
This book is very easy and pretty entertaining to read. It is basically trivia in paragraph format. It is not really a history of the home or of private life. It is really just a collection of interesting facts about the history of things than can somehow be related to features of or objects in a home. However, the facts are indeed mostly interesting. Almost all of them focus on the history of the 19th century with some brief forays into the early 20th century.
I have two complaints. One is that the book sometimes lacks momentum to keep you really motivated to keep turning its many pages. Without a true plot or even a thesis to really unify and drive the book, it falls far short of ever becoming a page turner. However, it was entertaining enough that I never dreaded picking it up again. I just had to "push through" a few parts.
The other problem is that Bryson's prosy, conversational style feels a little inexact at times. This is a non-fiction book, but there are several places where it feels like he is taking just a hair of poetic license that overstate facts. One small example is that he claims colonial America lacked a domestic supply of building materials except wood. He cites the fact that George Washington had to order flagstones from England. While it may be true that George Washington ordered his flagstones from England, that does not necessarily imply that there were no stones suitable to this purpose in America as the author implies. In fact, Washington ordered essentially everything from England because it was required by the fashion of his society (as the author actually explicitly discusses this in another part of the book). Also, whether or not a flagstone quarry existed in America at the time is a far cry from demonstrating whether or not America had an ample supply of stone suitable for building. Maybe others would think that I am reading too much into this particular illustration, and I admit I may be. However, I had a suspicious sense that Bryson was overstating the facts in a few places through the book. That is a shame because in many areas with which I was independently familiar with the facts, he does them justice, but it only takes a few questionable assertions to cast doubt on all of them.
I have two complaints. One is that the book sometimes lacks momentum to keep you really motivated to keep turning its many pages. Without a true plot or even a thesis to really unify and drive the book, it falls far short of ever becoming a page turner. However, it was entertaining enough that I never dreaded picking it up again. I just had to "push through" a few parts.
The other problem is that Bryson's prosy, conversational style feels a little inexact at times. This is a non-fiction book, but there are several places where it feels like he is taking just a hair of poetic license that overstate facts. One small example is that he claims colonial America lacked a domestic supply of building materials except wood. He cites the fact that George Washington had to order flagstones from England. While it may be true that George Washington ordered his flagstones from England, that does not necessarily imply that there were no stones suitable to this purpose in America as the author implies. In fact, Washington ordered essentially everything from England because it was required by the fashion of his society (as the author actually explicitly discusses this in another part of the book). Also, whether or not a flagstone quarry existed in America at the time is a far cry from demonstrating whether or not America had an ample supply of stone suitable for building. Maybe others would think that I am reading too much into this particular illustration, and I admit I may be. However, I had a suspicious sense that Bryson was overstating the facts in a few places through the book. That is a shame because in many areas with which I was independently familiar with the facts, he does them justice, but it only takes a few questionable assertions to cast doubt on all of them.
First of all, there was a lot of interesting information in this book. Hopefully enough of it will stick in my brain for me to use it in future trivia contests. However, the task Bryson sets out to address feels like a scenario I frequently encounter at the reference desk when freshman composition students ask for help with a paper on something like "the Holocaust" or "the history of drums"-- it's just too broad. Granted, Bryson has more than 10 pages to devote to his subject, but his coverage of topics often seems tangential and uneven. Sometimes he traces things back to prehistoric or medieval times, other times he sticks with the Victorians. His style is conversational and readable enough, but I often found myself wondering, "Where is he going with this? How on earth is he going to tie Darwin's inbred family lineage to the house's attic?"
not related to the book per say but im so glad bill did not narrate a walk in the woods because his voice is way to calm for that
An avalanche of random facts, superficially researched... much use made of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. There are some interesting things here, but some real sources of annoyance, including the tone (basically, authoritative rewording of other people's research), and the obsession with men (inevitably) who made some kind of industrial breakthrough and then *gasp* didn't become millionaires, and the fact that it's all very limited, focussing as it mostly does on 1) Bill's parsonage 2) great English houses and 3) excesses of the American ultra-rich, with a bit of 'in Henry VIII's day...' thrown in, plus some other chunks of barely-relevant anecdote that presumably were languishing in his filing system looking for a book to live in.
There are a few interesting stories, but mostly along the lines of a Ripley's Believe It or Not. It's like a lunch of Quavers - floaty light.
Obviously, I don't like BB much - but this is irritatingly pointless. There is at least a very full bibliography, although having read some of those books, I could see where he basically just reduced and reworded bits of them.
There are a few interesting stories, but mostly along the lines of a Ripley's Believe It or Not. It's like a lunch of Quavers - floaty light.
Obviously, I don't like BB much - but this is irritatingly pointless. There is at least a very full bibliography, although having read some of those books, I could see where he basically just reduced and reworded bits of them.
I gave up on this book. It could not keep my interest. It's rare that I give up on a book. My husband is trying to finish the book and has informed me not to waste my time.
A bit hard to follow - I love Bryson's eclectic topics, but sometimes it was hard to keep track of everything. Still, an interesting peak into some fascinating bits of history told with Bryson's trademark humor.
Great read, tons of really cool fun facts to know and share.