Notes from a Small Island

Rating:
Summary: A must for the Britain bound!
Review: Bill Bryson has a way with words that keeps your attention in an extremely pleasant fashion. He is delightfully charming in the way he describes his homeland and I found myself laughing out loud as I read. It's his subtle humor that wakes you up and will keep me reading his other books...

Rating:
Summary: Funny for an Anglophile
Review: Bill Bryson is a funny guy. And this book is hysterical in spots. However, I think I didn't get quite as much out of it as I could have because I don't really know all that much about Britain or the culture. I definitely missed out on some appreciation of the book. So if you're like me and don't have a great knowledge about the English, you might be better off with one of his books about the US and Americans. But for a certain audience, Notes from a Small Island is a great and fun read. Oh, one more thing. I could have done with about 75% less of the f-word. Sometimes it is well-placed and adds to the humor, but in spots it's a little gratuitous

Rating:
Summary: Interesting take on Blighty
Review: As I have stated before, I am not a Bill Bryson fan, unlike probably every other reader out there. So I come to this review with an admittedly jaundiced view.

Notes from a Small Island is an okay book. But the things that I don't particulary like about Bryson's writing - how he can be so petty for the sake of forcing a laugh, his need to be cynical - are what lets this book down. Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of cynicism. But sometimes it just seems a bit forced with Bryson.

This is Bryson's farewell story, as he travels around the British Isles (though not in one complete journey) before returning to the United States. Some of his insights are particularly clever (his reference to the 'Festival of Rubbish' is just so accurate - I am sure that most of you who have already read the book laughed at that point), and you get a feeling that Bryson really does care for his adopted home. But I found his never-ending details of his breakfasts and facilities boring (he is not a great food writer), and it sometimes feels like "It's Thursday, must be ..." as opposed to a good look at an interesting (or even boring) part of Britain.

As another 'outsider' who has been in and out of the UK since the beginning of the year, there were some points in this book that struck me as being insightful comments on British culture. But they were hidden in a pretty average book.

Rating:
Summary: Truly laugh out loud funny look a England
Review: I really enjoyed Bryson's other book, "I'm a stranger here myself" which pokes fun at Americans. This one attmpts to clobber the British. the thing about Bryson is he has a way of making the mundane sound so exhilerating and hilarious that even his everyday foibles become reasons to laugh out loud. Even when he's laying the mockery on pretty thick, you get the sense it's all in good fun, and he truly respects the subject of his playful smiting.

This book goes down like Nestle's Quick... I just devoured it. very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Bryson disappointment
Review: After reading Sunburned Country, Stranger Here and Walk in the Woods, this book was an astounding disappointment. I expected the same sarcastic wit Bryson is famous for, but instead I found myself reading a depressing list of gloomy towns in the UK with unending descriptions of rain and fog and how the names of British towns and streets are more entertaining than those in the US. After reading this book, I could tell why this was not one of his more famous ones. If this had been the first book I read by Bryson, I may have enjoyed it, but from reading his other books, I came to expect from him more than the average author.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful read
Review: I brought this book, while touring UK on business. Bryson is clear in the fact that he loves Britain and this is one huge nostalgic trip he is taking before returning back to the US. The book has typical Bryson trademarks - witty, funny, racy with the odd insights, offbeat info which a traveller to the country would find useful. Even as i was touring britain, this book kept me company in the long (and fun) train journeys in the country.

Do not miss to check this book, in case you have plans to visit UK or even if you have visited it. One special note i need to make is Bryson's lavishing praise on Durham. That's exactly the way i felt when i was passing by Durham on the way to Scotland.

-raj

Rating:
Summary: True Brit
Review: As a Brit myself I read this book with a view to seeing the British character from another point of view. That's just what I got. An affectionate but honest portrayal of the best and worst of Britain and the British. I laughed outloud as I recognised myself, friends and other family members amongst the characters that Bryson meets along the way. Living in the States temporarily I read this book when I'm feeling particularly homesick because it's so accurate.

Not a travel book so much as a book about the British themselves. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes to laugh at themselves ie most Brits.

Rating:
Summary: The new American pilgrim
Review: A wide gulf separates the "travel writer" from those who keep journals of their rambles. The former wishes to entice you to visit the places he's seen - indeed, he's generally paid to accomplish that end. The travel journal is often a pure record of sights, events, people encountered. It is also an honest record of what is experienced. Bill Bryson writes journals of his travels. His accounts are forthright, often with scathing wit, but devoid of malice, even when deeply critical of their subjects. In this book, mainly a walking tour of England, Wales and Scotland, he writes a valedictory to his years in Britain. A delightful read, Notes provides rich entertainment with a serious look at the current British scene.

Bryson deserves full marks for courage. He walks. He covers vast distances in weather that would dismay a seasoned fisherman. He risks his life along wind-blown cliffs, looking down for surf lost in driven fog or slashing rain. No-one wet, cold and hungry can maintain their humour long. Bryson conveys his feelings with honest vigour, but veneers his stress with vivid descriptions of the environment he traverses. He struggles to make sense of British Rail [something even the natives have abandoned hope of achieving], more than once falling back on irregular bus services. He suffers a day's dogleg travel to cover a twenty mile distance because no connecting line exists. Still, he persists and is often enough rewarded to make the effort worth the time. And his descriptions of these events rewards the reader through sharing his reactions yet not pointing an accusatory finger. It's "the system" that's at fault.

As an American from Iowa, Bryson may be relied on to take a detached view of Britain. He's no royalist, but he has a strong affinity for the traditional. He admires old buildings and wants money spent to keep them intact. He grieves volubly over the supplanting of "heritage" buildings by modern steel and glass monuments to capitalism and modernity. In this vein, perhaps the best chapter is on Oxford - the town and the uni. He virtually takes you by the hand, leading you about the town, up one charming street or along "some forgotten lane." Regrettably, you emerge in a desolate square swamped by parked cars. Grungy shopping centres abound, and he [and you] find little refuge unless you choose the right pub. His anguished cry for Oxford, " . . . there is so much that is so wrong. How did it happen?" is
repeated throughout the book as variations on a theme.

His tour completed, he returns to his family in preparation for a return to America [he's now in New Hampshire - not Iowa - a telling point]. His British home in Yorkshire seems unsurprising in view of his travails in the South. He likes the North's warm-heartedness, although he admits it is manifested only over a long duration. He adores the scenery, but has never had to make a living from that land. His favourite town names are Northern ones and he'll leave with more than mild regret. Yet, at the end of this book, as he declares his bliss at returning to Yorkshire, one cannot but wonder whether the long journey was worth the effort [other than to produce the book]. Because this book is a journal of a pilgrimage, it fails to entice the reader to duplicate it. Bryson's superb wit and descriptive powers hold you to his side as he journeys. But on closing the pages, this reviewer felt no compulsion to emulate the tour. There are other places that appeal more and Byson's otherwise admirable account doesn't evoke a desire to divert from them. A wonderful book to read, but only once.

Rating:
Summary: Brit Bill
Review: I've gone through Bryson's travel narratives in no particular order. "Notes From a Small Island"is the most recent I've read. Other than a not short enough changeover in Heathrow, I have not yet been to England. However, I've met several British tourists abroad, as well as other travelers who have been to the U.K. So I thought I had enough knowledge to tackle this book, though honestly, you don't need a cup of tea to go through "Notes". Bryson rushes you along on a whirl of words, generally with enough humor, insight, and true experiences to let you gladly follow him almost anywhere. One of my favorite scenes is late in the book where Bryson defends the US against two Whinging Pohms (to borrow a sometimes dead on phrase) Fortunately not everyone fits this stereotype. As with any personal travel narrative, some things are left out and this account focuses mainly on Britain with a small part of Scotland. Ireland isn't included at all. If you like Bryson's other books this won't disappoint. If you are looking for an amusing read, Notes from a Small Island is an excellent choice.

Rating:
Summary: Very Amusing
Review: Bill Bryson worked for some years in Britian. Prior to returning to America to live he went for one last trip around Britian and he wrote this book.

Bryson clearly has an immense affection for English people and he has captured what they are like. The fear of undertaking a road trip of more than three miles, yet the inherent sense of humour that they have.

Bryson is a person who has an immense knowledge of the history of England. He has written popular books on the development of the English language. As a result he is able to talk about the history of the towns he visits and to give a depth to the places he visits which has not been so much a part of his other travel books.

However it is the stories again which make his writing unique. His stories of waiting in the queue at McDonalds, the story of getting directions on short cuts. All are immensely funny and are laugh out loud humour. Bryson is without doubt one of the more amusing writers around. Yet his humour in this book is of the gentle and affectionate kind.