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A review by seclement
Icons of England by Bill Bryson
3.0
Sadly, I was quite disappointed in this book. I read the reviews before purchasing it, and they generally weren't good. However, the book only cost 1 pence, so how could I go wrong? I also figured that people who reviewed it were just careless, as most of them felt ripped off that this book is merely edited by Bryson. I thought they either didn't understand edited books, or that they just didn't read the description closely enough.
I don't think the fact that Bryson didn't write this book is the reason this is a poor book. It's a poor book because the content is poor. Now, it's not all bad. The book is full of interesting facts and musings about England. But the essays are highly variable, with some being quite intriguing, some painfully boring, some terribly written, some beautifully composed, and many being utterly pointless. I would much rather have had a book full of longer, better chapters than the book of very short and variable chapters. The chapters are so short that you don't even have the chance to get engaged in the particular musings of the author before you move onto the next. Rather than acting as a taster that entices you to seek out more information, I found that it just left me disappointed or not engaged/interested at all. The worst chapters were rants about what ticks people off - most of which had to do with something in their own back yard. Now, NIMBYs aren't bad all of the time, but if you're going to be a NIMBY and write a chapter about it (in a book that's meant to be celebrating England, mind you), then you'd better be either witty or clever. Unfortunately they were none of those things.
The illustrations for each chapter are beautiful, and there are a few worthy chapters in the book. The concept of the book is brilliant, but it's just been poorly executed. I also would have liked a map for many of the chapters, as there are a lot of little places in this country, and it can be hard to keep track.
I don't think the fact that Bryson didn't write this book is the reason this is a poor book. It's a poor book because the content is poor. Now, it's not all bad. The book is full of interesting facts and musings about England. But the essays are highly variable, with some being quite intriguing, some painfully boring, some terribly written, some beautifully composed, and many being utterly pointless. I would much rather have had a book full of longer, better chapters than the book of very short and variable chapters. The chapters are so short that you don't even have the chance to get engaged in the particular musings of the author before you move onto the next. Rather than acting as a taster that entices you to seek out more information, I found that it just left me disappointed or not engaged/interested at all. The worst chapters were rants about what ticks people off - most of which had to do with something in their own back yard. Now, NIMBYs aren't bad all of the time, but if you're going to be a NIMBY and write a chapter about it (in a book that's meant to be celebrating England, mind you), then you'd better be either witty or clever. Unfortunately they were none of those things.
The illustrations for each chapter are beautiful, and there are a few worthy chapters in the book. The concept of the book is brilliant, but it's just been poorly executed. I also would have liked a map for many of the chapters, as there are a lot of little places in this country, and it can be hard to keep track.