In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
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Book Reviews of In a Sunburned Country
Book Review: Read this book on my way to Australia
Summary: 5 Stars
I was on a cruise from San Francisco to Australia and received a Kindle for Christmas from my daughter. I thought I should know something about the country so I typed in Australia on Amazon's website and found a few gems. Best of all was Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country." It was enjoyable from the moment I began and quite informative. We were going to some of the places Bryson visited: Sydney, Adelaide, Alice Springs and Uluru (via the Ghan) and Cairns. Having read about his experiences made me want to see the places he mentioned and also made me wary of spider webs, lizards, jellyfish in the waters off the reef etc. I was constantly reading aloud many humorous passages to my traveling companion. The parts of Australia that we visited were magnificent, and his book gave me a greater appreciation and background for them. I want to go back and see the places we missed.
We seem to gravitate to Australians when we travel. On a visit to Europe the year before we met an Australian couple and spent our first weekend after the cruise with them at their home south of Sydney. We had a great time and they were fantastic hosts. We truly enjoyed all the Australians we met on our trip, especially on the Ghan (train) where you really have time to sit and chat (23 hours). I love their friendliness and lay-back attitudes. I got the feeling that Australians like Americans and the feeling is definitely mutual on our part.
Read Bryson's book and visit Australia.
Book Review: Laugh Out Loud
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my first Bill Bryson book and as a result of reading it, I have now read all of his books. It is informative and full of neat facts without being scientific or dull. And, as always with Bill Bryson, truly funny. I am always amazed at how a middle-aged guy travelling alone can make his days sound so interesting.I read this book before my husband had the chance and was constantly interupting him to read him passages, even though they were sometimes incomprehensible because I was laughing so hard!! The interesting thing is that once he started reading the book, he read the same passages aloud to me, even though he knew full well that I knew exactly what he was going to say. The best part was they were just as enjoyable the second time.
I love how Bryson seems to portray himself and his experiences honestly. Sometimes I am reading along thinking what a jerk he is for describing people or places with so little tact, but then I realize that he is only daring to write the things so many of us often think. I respect, too, that he applies those same critical eyes to himself and his own behavior.
There is one thing that ticked me off - this book is also published under the title "Down Under". So, I, of course, grabbed it off the shelf in the airport, thinking I was getting volume two of Bryson's escapes in Australia. It is a great book, but I don't need two copies!! Don't make the same mistake as me.
Book Review: My first Bryson. Definitely not my last Bryson.
Summary: 5 Stars
Being an Aussie, I was naturally interested to see what an American writer made of our fine country. And boy did I see. How can I describe Bill Bryson's writing? Take an American, who grew up in the Midwest learning all about morality, society and baseball. Stick this man behind the business desk of the London Times for several years, during which he'll have easy access to any of the numerous works of the Monty Python crew, Terry Pratchett novels before TP got famous over your side of the Atlantic, and other such examples of British humour.And then let the man loose writing travelogues.
What a brilliant, brilliant book. Having been to several of the places in the book - indeed, living in one of them - I recognised a lot, and the book was even better for the recognition. Even if you never saw the Alpine National Park in your life, or Uluru or Surfers Paradise or Canberra (which is just as tedious as Bill says)... you'll laugh out loud all the way through the book. And take the serious bits seriously, too. Australian history is doled out when Bill gets to the relevant bit of Australia. Stats about the loss of half a million hectares of national park - enough to cover four decent-sized US national parks - are written right alongside humorous conversations about eating bogong moths. And the book is even more all the better. That much more natural.
What a brilliant book.
Book Review: My new favorite writer!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was recommended to me by a family member who shares my sense of wonder with the world and also shares my sense of humor.
He recommended Mr. Bryson's books to me, and I feel like a kid who just discovered a new and grandiose candy store! I picked this book first since I have always been fascinated with Australia and do plan on visiting someday. Reading this book, I felt like I traveled there with Mr. Bryson and saw Australia with with him as my travel companion. You actually experience the country, and a the same time you have a lot of fun. The humor in this book, my kind of humor, had me laughing so hard with teary eyes that my kids are sure I need to be committed.
Bill Bryson has the ability to put together a travel book that reads like a novel with enough humor to tickle anyone's funny bone. Because it reads like an interesting story, you retain what you have read and understand it all with much greater clarity than a text driven, simple and dry travel book. Now I know I want to visit Australia. Too bad he couldn't go with me to keep me laughing along the way!
I will be reading all of his books. This wanna-be traveler is looking forward to each and every one! What a delightful way to take a virtual vacation.
I found this book absolutely delightful as well as insightful. Thank you Bill Bryson!
Book Review: A Travel Writer for Smart People
Summary: 5 Stars
Born and raised in Iowa, Bill Bryson spent 20 years in England before moving back to the United States to live in the perfect college town, Hanover, New Hampshire. A syndicated columnist, many of his columns about life in Hanover have been collected and published in "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," an enjoyable book, but because of the nature of its source material (syndicated columns) also a simple and highly sanitized one. At no point is the reader confronted by complex intellectual concepts or any obscenities."In a Sunburned Country" is a different matter. Written as an integrated book, it is a wonderful introduction to the more intellectually complex aspects of Australia, as well as the funnier ones, providing fascinating anthropological, botanical, geological, historical, political and sociological insights about our friends Down Under. Prior to reading it, I had dismissed Australia as being little more than a very dull version of America in the Fifties; Like Bryson, I now view it as the most fascinating place on earth. Similarly, I had viewed Mr. Bryson as being a male Erma Bombeck; I now view him as one of the more intelligent writers I have encountered.
The Australian Tourism Authority should consider licensing this book and either giving it away to prospective visitors or otherwise using it to promote the country. It is that good.