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Summary: Bryson's a Treasure, Wherever He Goes
Review: It can't truly be said about many authors, but Bill Bryson is laugh-out-loud funny. Especially if you like your humor with a little edge to it. "Neither Here Nor There," was one of his travelogs that preceeded his massively sucessful "A Walk in the Woods" (and is now a dozen years old). Yet it is not remotley dated. The book is basically Bryson doing what he does best, bumming around a particular countryside (this time all over continental Euroope) and commenting upon everything he sees, hears, smells, tastes and touches. He does not particularly seek out resort spots, nor would the typical tourist want to imitate his arduous treks (many of which involve endless walking). But that's what makes his work so charming. He travels the way most of us live, and his sense of humor is unsurpassed. Overall, another winning travel book from one of the most offbeat popular writers working today.
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Summary: Bryson's comedic travels
Review: Very funny travelog! Bryson retraces the steps of his summer trip in Europe in the late 1960s. Now he is older, and wiser, and offers a great deal of information about how Europe has changed, and how it has remained the same. Starting in Scandanavia, he travels around a great deal of the European continent. There were some countries he missed (I would have loved to hear what he said about Iberia, and Greece, and some more of the Eastern European states), but it was great fun to read. I found myself laughing out loud many times! Recommended for anyone who loves travel and humor.
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Summary: Kind of Funny
Review: This was a pleasant breeze of a book on European travel which I read in less than 2 days, actually while travelling back from London. I found some of Mr. Brysons observations on European societies to be insightful and on the money. I especially enjoyed his take on Italian drivers and the Scandanavian penchant for public drunkenness, however his classification of Germans as "fat and arrogant" is probably untrue. Surely Americans are fatter and the French more arrogant, but lets not split hairs. The greatest weakness of Bryson's writing seems to be his overuse of hyperbole in trying to get a laugh. Sometimes he connects, and I did laugh out loud many times in my reading, but most of the time it seems he is trying too hard to be funny. Bryson, being a travel writer, does not seem particularly adventurous or much of a risk taker. He generally sticks to well travelled, touristy places in very safe European cities. He seems to confine himself to museums, churches, city centers and the hotel bar and nothing else. Worst of all, he does not really interact much with the locals which he is making such broad observations about. Aside from ordering food and drink and checking in and out of hotels, Bryson overall seems a timid introvert writing smart alecky comments about people he is not truly trying to understand.
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Summary: These Books are Habit Forming
Review: I have read a number of Bill's books. My favorite is still his book on Australia "Down Under" but maybe it is because we are a bit more familiar with Europe. In any case he does not write bad books. This is just as engaging as the other books such as Small Island. This book is a nice tour of Europe with many laughs as he goes to places that we are too busy to see. Four stars. Jack in Toronto
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Summary: trés funny
Review: This may be the most funny book I've ever read. The best way to experience it is to have a glass of wine and read it aloud with a friend - certain parts will have you rolling. Seriously, it also turned out to be the most helpful book I had when I did my backpacking tour through Europe. His observations are not only hilarious but dead-on accurate most of the time. Visiting some of the out-of-the-way places he did will make your trip all the better, whether you agree with him or not. It's certainly possibly to satirize a place you love, as Bryson obviously does in all his books.
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Summary: Delightful read
Review: I have traveled extensively and while I don't always agree with Bryson's analysis of an individual locale, I did enjoy this book. An easy read, I was able to complete it on a flight and the return trip. If you have visited Europe, this book will be more enjoyable to you, however, I question its value as a travel guide to the first time visitor. I have not read any of Bryson's other travelogues, but I have put several on my Christmas list!
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Summary: Reader beware
Review: After the author began bragging about his lack of foreign language knowledge, I recognized a familiar type of traveller - opinionated, not interested in learning other peoples culture, ready for derision. That exactly what this book is about: derision and labeling of peoples and cities. Too bad, a city cannot sue for libel! That's Bill Bryson's characteristic of a wonderful German city of Cologne bustling with life, very comfortable to live, with beautiful scenery, lots of public spaces, museums, a famous opera, etc.: "Cologne is a dismal place, with its Cathedral occupying a huge ugly square similar to an empty parking lot". (something like that - I listened to an audio version). Bill Bryson is so sensitive - he left Cologne in disgust after a night stay since he happened to find a pornographic shop at the train station! How ironic - considering that his book is a fine example of pornographic writing - sexual remarks in bad taste on each page. He described a bad travel companion who annoyed him by categorizing his farts - I can describe his book instead as a collection of verbal farts. Who is it written for? I can imagine someone who hates travelling (especially because of all those foreign languages), so he enjoys Bill Brysons book, and thinks: "How wonderful this guy saved me the trouble of seeng all those disgusting European places, with all those French and Germans who want me to obey their stupid rules!". But someone who is open minded and curious please don't trust this bunch of lies and distastful jokes. Go and see by yourself, or read Mark Twain if you want a funny travel book.
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Summary: A Hysterical, Great Read
Review: It must be understood that this book was clearly never intended as a comprehensive view of Europeans (or Americans, for that matter). Simply put, I sat down to read for an hour or so one recent afternoon ... and saw my day swept away by what began as one of the funniest books I've read lately. Bryson's storytelling ability and wit left me in tears several times an hour. It's true that laughs became snickers (and rare at that) about halfway through the book. However, by this time the subject matter had deepened and could sustain my interest without lots of laughs. Don't worry about gleaning a history lesson from this book. It's a great, informative read, and a must for any Bryson fan! I'd recommend it to anyone.
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Summary: Also laughable for Europeans!
Review: I read this book whilst on a small trip to Australia, and I fondly read about the curiousities and peculiarities of the people I know so well in Europe. I laughed out loud, reading about the stern French (so they really can be!), the friendly Northern people etc etc. Sometimes people are ridiculed in a very funny way that even Europeans themselves can laugh about. Nobody writes as witty and funny about travel as Bill Bryson. If you have never read one of his books before, this one is very good to start with and it also teaches you a lot of nice dinner-party facts about my strange continent....
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Summary: Vintage Bryson In Europe
Review: NEITHER HERE NOR THERE is one of Bryson's earlier travel books, conceived somewhere around 1991. It is a tour of Europe, excluding Spain, Portugal, and Greece. Bryson's method of operation is to steer clear of tours and find lodging and food as needed; his planning is in maps and cultural background reading. He travels by foot, train and bus. This formula produces more winning museum visits and views than desirable rides,lodging and food, but he is not a glass half empty kind of guy. He voices his opinion about bad food and attitudes but he is generous with praise when it is deserved. There is much to enjoy in this book: Bryson's style of humor, often bratty and tear-inducing in its hilarity, is full throttle. While it is not a muse or a sentimental journey, his travels coincide with the 1973 itinerary of his hitchhiking days with pal Steven Katz, the memorable sidekick from A WALK IN THE WOODS. Bryson sprinkles this book with memories and lessons learned from that first foray. The one thing NEITHER HERE NOR THERE lacks is the degree of information with which he packs his later books, particularly IN A SUNBURNED COUNTRY. As he sets off in Paris, he visits a musty old bookstore called Shakespeare & Company and says nothing--c'mon, Bryson, think Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein, Joyce! He does get better as he gets into the trip, though, and refuses to let Austria and Kurt Waldheim off the hook for their roles in World War II. One last note: it is interesting to see Europe before the Euro and Sarajevo and Belgrade in that sliver of time between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the devastation of the 1990s. This book is at once very contemporary (American fast food chains everywhere) and yet historic.
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