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Summary: A SUPERBLY FUNNY ROMP
Review: The book originally started as a diversion but then I discovered the beauty of Bill Bryson's humour and his descriptions of places involuntarily painting pictures in my head, I knew I had to continue. I was rewarded with a stupendously entertaining, light book. It makes a great holiday read. At times, you simply have to burst out laughing. People who read the book in public should stick a large sign on their heads reading, 'I AM NOT DEMENTED, I'M JUST READING A F***ING FUNNY BOOK'. I'm not being rude, but to those who are offended easily, the F word is used many times in the book. Read the book, you'll love it. And Brits, you'll love it even more.
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Summary: Thank God for Bill!
Review: There are very few writers of whom you think, I'd like to have a beer with that guy.. Bill Bryson is one such however. His ability to poke fun at us all, Brits, Americans, Europeans, and any number of other nationalities, is remarkable... and yet he does it with a kind of wicked charm that makes it nigh on impossible to take offence. Bryson caused me great embarassment when I read this book on a south-bound train from Leeds, as I kept emitting snorts of laughter which resulted in my fellow passengers moving to other carriages. I love this book, and I love its American successor, *Notes from a Big Country* too. In this one, his whimsical tour through Britain and his reflections on what makes us the people and place that we are is truly hilarious. In *The Lost Continent*, Bryson does the same to small town America as he subjects his dear mum's old chevette to long, long journeys east and west of his home in Des Moines, Iowa. Bryson has respect for those things which are most valuable in any country, but little respect for the traditional tourist trail and sentimental tripe. He can surely claim honorary Brit status, should he and the family (Mrs Bryson and the children, including "little Jimmy", the child that never was) ever plan to return to the UK. *A Walk in the Woods* is also well worth a read, for those who got to know Bryson's old school friend Stephen Katz in the chronicle of their adolescent meander through Europe, *Neither Here Nor There*. In *A Walk in the Woods*, Bryson and Katz walk the Appalachian Trail, aka the AT, together over the summer. Bill is a hardier man than he looks! But of them all, *Notes from a Small Island* remains my favourite, because it reminds me why despite all my moans, I still love this country. Those who say Americans have no sense of irony have obviously never read Bill Bryson's books; he has it in buckets.
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Summary: The funniest book I have ever read!!
Review: This book had me laughing out loud from page one and I cried with homesickness, mourning the end of the book and pride at the end. I am British and have lived in the US for nearly 20 years. Bill Bryson captures Britain in the way that only someone who had lived there could, yet not being British he has a keen eye for the absurdities. It is a love story - a man in love with his adopted country yet not blind to her faults. A must for every Anglophile!!
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Summary: England an island!?
Review: The island Bryson writes about is called Britain. It has NEVER been called England in its entire 5000+ year history!! England is part of Britain, a bit like Illinois is part of the USA. Still a good book mind.
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Summary: A walking tour through England
Review: This is a true story of the author's's walking tour of England. Mr. Bryson is essentially a walking travelogue (except when he gets tired and decides to hop a bus or train....). You will feel as though you are with him every grueling, wonderful, step of the way. If you never thought about England as being "different", then this is the book that will make you want to travel to this wonderful island.
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Summary: Correction to last review
Review: Bryson visits Asquith's grave at Sutton Courteney, not Churchill's. Asquith was the Prime Minister who apparently had no jurisdiction over half of Britain.
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Summary: A fantastic, hilarious read - I couldn't stop snorting!
Review: It started off when my mum bought my my Dad a copy for his birthday. Since then, all of our family has read it and we all agree that it is fantastic. Since I live in Dover, the first mentioned destination of the novel, it made me realise what a dull, wet and downright dead town it actually is! Anyway, carry on composing, Bill-you're the best!
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Summary: Another reader from Wales
Review: The last Welsh reviewer is a little hard on Bill Bryson. This is a very funny book which does reflect aspects of Wales and Scotland as well as England. Perhaps Bryson didn't do enough to emphasis the fact that the United Kingdom is made up of four states, one of whom is in Ireland. The island of Britain that he writes about in a very amusing and frank way, is the home to England, Scotland and Wales (the latter two now having their own governments). This is a geographical and political fact that most people in North America and Australia/New Zealand have no concept of whatsoever. This is mainly due to the efforts of the English over the years to sell the idea to the world that Britain is exclusively English. In fact Bryson picks up this point by referring to Churchill's grave that he visits just outside Oxford. The gravestone announces that Churchill was the Prime Minister of England!! QED.
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Summary: Britain is in fact more than just England
Review: Whilst this book details the character of English people and their surrounding it does not convey the character of BRITISH people. Once again we have a well educated author forgetting (after 20 years in Britain) that the Small Island he refers to is actually made of 3 nations as opposed to one. Britain is in fact a combination of diverse cultures and languages from Wales, Scotland and England. This book, albeit stunningly well written does not cover the diversity of Britain, but concentrates on England. All too often, foreigners consider England and Britain to be one, mainly due to authors forgetting any Geography lessons they might have had at school. I admire Bill Bryson's wit, sharp eye and commentary but this time I do believe he has chosen the wrong title for his book.
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Summary: often touches the peculiar isolationist attitude of Britain
Review: 'When I arrived in Liverpool they seemed to be having their annual festival of litter' The coming together of the well-heeled and the lunatic in Virginia Waters is so believable that it could be true ( it was ) Read the book some time ago so my quotes may not be exact but it beats 'lonely Planet' by a country mile ( about 125 metres in England )
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