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In a Sunburned Country |
List Price: $49.95
Your Price: $32.97 |
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Product Info |
Reviews |
Rating: Summary: Fantastic Read; Witty and True Review: My wife and I just got back from our honeymoon in Australia and we had this book recommended to us. I'm reading it aloud to her and I can tell that we're going to like this book when the author, in the acknowledgments, says that he would like to thank the entire country of Australia because they're all just so wonderfully nice and helpful. That resonated so very true to our experience that we've been hooked on the book ever since. Now that we're in a few chapters, it's easy to make comparisons between Bryson's writing style and that of the late Douglas Adams in Last Chance to See (esp. the "Here Be Chickens" chapter) -- his persistently chipper and witty writing in the face of more venom and teeth than most of the world has seen makes this a highly entertaining read.
Rating: Summary: A Must Reading Before Going to Australia Review: Bill Bryson has written a very entertaining and very informative travelog about Australia. He begins with an analysis of just how neglected this country is from our current media. Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw an article in the newspaper about Australia. Fortunately, Bryson has set out to do justice. While relating his adventures wandering around the country on long drives that most of us would fly over, he also fills us in on the history of this island/continent, beyond the commonly known convict dumping ground part. Despite being keenly aware of all the dangerous and deadly snakes, spiders and jellies, Bryson manages to make it through unscathed, despite the hunger of some very mean dogs. He also discusses the unique ecology of the land, and the various problems caused by introduced species: rabbits, foxes, camels and others. This is all done with great humor, and his description of cricket radio commentary had me roaring with laughter. Equally interesting are Bryson's descriptions of Australians, contemporary individuals he meets on his wanderings as wel as the famous and infamous from history. For those who wish to explore some more of Australia, there is a valuable bibliography at the end.
Rating: Summary: Quick Praise for Travellers and Leisure Readers Review: I'm headed to Australia in a couple of months and generally don't care to add to my heavy university reading any labor-intensive books, but Bryson's In a Sunburnt Country both gave me the vocabulary to talk about and further explore Australian literature and entertained me. I would highly recommend this book to anyone but xenophobics and illiterates. It's a comfortable adventure through a decidedly uncomfortable land. My only ciriticism is that, as someone who plans to backpack into the outback, it lacks in description of the excitement of the more athletic endeavors that Australia has to offer. But that is a small concern in light of the depth of factual and whimsical information conveyed without alerting the reader that he or she is consuming a lot.
Rating: Summary: Read and Go Review: I bought a copy for my wife and I to read on our trip to Australia. It was so fun to read it together on the plane and really gave us a great perspective of this long ignored country. Bill Bryson is a great writer combining factual information with the humor of his adventures in researching for this book. Through this you gain a love for this country and the people within.
Rating: Summary: All the fun without the jetlag Review: While I enjoy a nice road trip up to the mountains now and then I cannot say that I am really struck with wanderlust. Travel, especially to unfamiliar locals, always seems to require more effort than I am willing to expend.
Will I ever make it down to Australia? ...I dunno, but if I don't then at least I will have gotten to experience the country through Bill Bryson's account In a Sunburned Country. I didn't expect too much from a book in the travel writing field but after reading it I not only was pleasantly surprised by having my expectations exceeded but I realized that I should have had a greater appreciation of the idea of travel writing from the beginning because it so greatly combines two of my favorite things: reading & having other people do work for me.
Do I think it would be great poking around all over the world? Yes!
Do I want to always put forth the effort, deal with the expense and risk the possible discomfort of a sunburn? No!
So what is a guy to do... have someone else do the exploring and write about it!
This was far more than the boring travel log which I was expecting, Bryson really delves into the cultural, historical and natural fabric of Australia. My head is so full of interesting Australia now that I find myself just trying to smoothly slip them into everyday conversations (often not too smoothly) but the book does not read anything like a textbook. This is due in large part to the great skill with which Bryson crafts the narrative. Topics and related encounters are not only expertly approached in there own right but are also brought together to form a strongly unified book. The talent that goes into the of writing such a seamless book should not be understated but in this instance it is easy to overlook it because of the effortlessness with which it comes off.
(Also Bryson avoids the pitfalls of other writers who employ the first person- he doesn't come off sounding like a pompous jackass)
Rating: Summary: "Monotremes Oviparous, Ovum Meroblastic" Review: My title refers to a quote from a biologist regarding that most unusual of all Australian creatures, the platypus. The quote is symbolic of the entire book for me, in that it tells the casual reader little by itself, but forms part of the overall tapestry of odd facts, trivia, stories, and downright weird vocabulary that together make this book a delightfully entertaining, informative, and insightful read.
In preparation for this book Bryson visited Australia several times, and covered an amazing (some would say crazy) amount of territory, most of it far, far off the beaten path. I greatly admire his characteristic ability to put interesting sights into historical perspective, although in my mind, he never really did answer the conundrums he posed early in the book about the Aborigines. I particularly enjoyed the sections devoted to the amazing ecosystem of Australia (and the subsections on the amazing number of things in Australia that can kill you), the number of silly museums and sites ("The Big Lobster") Bryson visited, and most charmingly of all, the seemingly endless topic of curious (if not downright eccentric) people that call themselves Australians.
This is a great book, which I recommend highly to anyone interested in Australia. My only minor critique of the book would be its occasional redundancy (I understand it is hot, and that the Outback is large after the first one hundred or so mentions, for instance), but this is a small price to pay for an otherwise exquisitely entertaining travelogue.
I have always wanted to visit Australia, and after reading this book, have redoubled my resolve to go there (despite the number of things waiting there to kill me.)
Rating: Summary: Beautiful Review: I have listened to this book twice. I have just started to read it, but I think listening to it is so much better. While I struggle with words like Nothomyrmecia macrops and other tounge twisting Australian words, Bryson makes it sound like poetry. I laughed so hard listening to this book.
Rating: Summary: fantastically short but thorough Review: Australia is commonly overlooked. This is a point made exceptionally clear in Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country, the definitive underground guide to understanding Australia's history (white and aboriginal), slang (norks = breasts), toxicity (ten of the top ten deadliest snakes are Australian), and everything else. Bryson seems to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the land Down Under. Off-hand quips about the Harold Holt (the 1967 Prime Minister who went for a swim in the ocean and never came back) make the book a very enjoyable and very quick read. Accurately conveying the thoughts and feelings of traveling through the vast, vast expanses of Australia is a tough job, but Bryson does a remarkable job. In short, there isn't much to say about In A Sunburned Country, except that it's a fantastically agreeable read. Fit for anyone who's thought twice about any aspect of Australiana and especially for those who may be going there sometime soon.
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