Krishna
This is the first book written by Bill Bryson, an author of many talents. I have not read this book, but after reading his fabulous book A Short History of Nearly Everything, I could not wait to read this one. But this book is a lot different from that one is all I can say now. Read on for more details.
Bill, alone and young, in London and lost, not rich and so sleeps on a bench. Goes on his journey to see places in his native England.
Gets a boarding room full of rules on what not to do. He describes the British propensity, amusing to Americans, of being fascinated with the weather, being jogged into high levels of excitement and fervour by a hot beverage (tea of course, what else), thinking their country is so large that going from a place to another (as the author put it ‘the distance an American would drive just to get a taco’) requires discussion of alternate routes etc for hours.
We see that he has the gift of tickling your funny bone from this (very first) book. Other authors could learn a thing or two from Bill on how to write about almost anything in an interesting way that keeps you chuckling through the book. Well, parts of it, anyway.
Fun description of Calais, where, going to France, he finds only Englishmen (and Dover is visible from across the water) and where he buys a tacky angel that sheds seashells and glitter constantly, are humorous. So is his description of the vastness of London.
The picture at the Times before Rupert Murdoch’s takeover and professionalization is interesting.
So where is the beef? Mostly it is all about descriptions of places like a travelogue and so there is a lot of limpness in the descriptions and books. He viscerally hates conservatives (and Thatcher especially) – it is obvious. He thinks all public services will be destroyed by the Tories but reading it several decades later, you see how wrong he was.
He goes on wandering and noting the changes ten years later with his witticisms about how jolly Englishmen really are and other notable things. Not great reading but manages to keep you amused for a while.
He goes on to describe various cities in England and the changes wrought in them in his ten year absence and also makes some wry observation about the sunny disposition of the English, the inexplicable perplexity of women when faced with payment at the cash counter of any supermarket, the fact that Chinese have not figured out that a pair of what looks like knitting needles (chop sticks of course) may not the best device to hold and eat food etc.
I cannot honestly say that his descriptions bring the place alive in front of you, as it all reads, at least in parts, like a diary entry of an elderly traveler.
Then comes his notes about men and women, which seem to more belong on a stand up comic’s repertoire than an author – of a travelogue or any other book. He talks about declining industry, how the town has gone to seed, what he personally thinks is good taste and what he does not. It is all so slow and boring, and rather than experiencing Britain through his eyes, you feel chained to him and dragged to places you do not wish to go by yourself.
It is all about what he likes and what he hates, his preferences and misplaced priorities in many cases. His writing is highly prejudiced with his preferences and the humour that is sprinkled amid these ramblings is also sometimes juvenile. Is this the same author who later wrote ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’, one of the best pieces of scientific writing? Amazing!
Want a sample of his humour to judge for yourself? “…. is more a hamlet than a village. Do you know the difference between a village and a hamlet? One is a place where people live and the other is a play by Shakespeare’. (Me : Groan….)
And it is all about his personal quarrels over trivia with employees with a huffy ‘Honestly.’ at the end. And tiresome trivia quoted from what seems like travel brochures. Always with ‘Do you know….?’ which is even more annoying. A sample : “Did you know that Scotland produces more college graduates per capita than any other country?”
Not bad but not what I expected either from the fame in the book. Supposed to be the best book too from user rankings. What am I missing?
I would say a 4/10
– – Krishna