About this title: Before returning to the United States after 20 years in England, Bryson embarks on a farewell circuit of the country. He integrates history and reflections of his own debut tour of England in this valediction.
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Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"I like Bill Bryson quite a bit -- he's very informative and funny, even if sometimes you have to check to see if he's pulling your leg. This is about traveling through Britain circa mid-90's -- the good, the bad, the ugly. An American who married an Englishwoman, he'd lived in England a good many years at that point, and was doing a farewell tour before uprooting the family and going to live in America for a few years -- Hanover, New Hampshire, to be exact. Currently he's Chancellor at Durham University -- and I wonder if the kind words he says about Durham in the book made them think of him when they were looking for a new chancellor. He travels by train and by foot, and only occasionally by car. He has a funny run-in with a train enthusiast, and stays in hotels and guesthouses by turns grand and dingy. He clearly loves Britain and in the manner of those you love, finds it equally infuriating. He rails against the stupidity of planning commissions who approve the tearing down of everything old and beautiful and replacing it with all that is concrete, ugly, and disfunctional. This is the Bryson book that made the BBC's list of 100 must read books: I quite liked it, but enjoyed "neither here nor there" - about traveling through Europe a bit more. Probably because I've been to more places in Europe than in Britain. But he goes to places in Britain that I've never heard of, and travels to Wales and Scotland -- going to the northernmost end of Scotland. He walks in the rain and muck, stops for drinks in pubs great and awful, and cannot understand anyone in Glasgow. Its all quite fun."
"My first exposure to Bill Bryson was "A Walk In The Woods" which is about his desire to leave modern America behind and go for a stroll along the Appalachian Trail. I love that book and found it to be hysterical and at other times very sensible in his commentary about the world around us.
"Notes From A Small Island" also reflects his desire to stroll through countrysides and insert some social commentary about the communities he encounters. But this time his location is Great Britain and it is a farewell tour of the country he called his home for over 20 years.
Not being British and having never been to any part of Britain I must admit I was at a total loss for many of the references he makes about the culture (pop to political) and the language. I constantly felt like a bit of an outsider listening in to some great inside jokes that flew right over my head.
But the sections where he described human nature in general, or the portions about Scotland where I did have some personal frame of reference thanks to a Scottish roommate in college, I found to be very funny and entertaining. It is obvious this book was written about Britain for a British audience and because of it I had a nice descriptive tour of the geography, the people and, of course, the wet weather.
I was a little surprised by the sudden brash insertions of vulgarity and showy tell-offs of people who happened to annoy him. I don't really recall that style from my reading of "A Walk In The Woods" but maybe I just don't remember it because I was laughing too hard. I swear myself all the time so it wasn't offensive personally, but it felt like it was thrown in there purposefully to fit in or something.
I also tired of his constant criticism of the architectural horrors - even though I agree with his frustration and anger about it. Just hammered that point a little too often for my tastes. I get it - stupid architects destroyed pieces of history left and right for shopping plazas which is blasphemy. More about the human interest please, which he writes very well.
Overall the book was an easy read that could be picked up and put down without problem so it would be great to read on a commute or in between other books. It was entertaining enough but I would recommend more for people not completely clueless like me about Britain - the humor would be appreciated much more."
"Bryson observes a culture that should be so much like ours (in the US) but just isn't. He writes, as skillfully and hilariously as ever, with the special insight of someone who understands and loves the country, having lived there 20 years with his English wife and 4 children, but has the eye of an outsider. This book made me want to get up and plan a trip to England. Follow this with his next book, "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" in which he copes with adjusting to a country (The US) that is different from the one he left 20 years earlier."
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