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A review by ashugirl
A Tall Man in a Low Land by Harry Pearson
3.0
Somewhat dated, somewhat scattered, and somewhat charming account of Harry Pearson's summer spent traveling with his wife and daughter around Belgium. I read this in the hopes of gaining a light-hearted insight into the country I will soon call my home. Pearson's telling, however, is a bit all over the place and even he seems bored by his own writing by the end of the book, which ends fairly abruptly. He can be witty, but although some of his prose made me smile, it was not as funny as I had hoped. The book also lacks a consistent narrative thread and I found myself on more than one occasion turning back one page to try to figure out why on earth he was suddenly writing about a cafe in Ghent a paragraph after arriving in Brussels.
The good: some amusing anecdotes, some interesting and informative tidbits about the Flemish/Walloon divide, and just enough history to make me want to read more about Belgian history.
The bad: written in the late 90s and thus relatively dated, scattered narrative, and (for my tastes) far too many pages devoted to sport. (He devoted 10 pages to the Tour of Flanders, for example, many more than to any other subject, including prominent artists, writers, and historical figures.)
The good: some amusing anecdotes, some interesting and informative tidbits about the Flemish/Walloon divide, and just enough history to make me want to read more about Belgian history.
The bad: written in the late 90s and thus relatively dated, scattered narrative, and (for my tastes) far too many pages devoted to sport. (He devoted 10 pages to the Tour of Flanders, for example, many more than to any other subject, including prominent artists, writers, and historical figures.)