In a Sunburned Country
by Bill Bryson
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Book Reviews of In a Sunburned Country
Book Review: more of a witty fun history lesson, than a travel guide
Summary: 3 Stars
Well, I have mixed feelings. While I found it a fast read once I got into it, I also found myself constantly watching the pages waiting for it to be over. 2.5 stars?
PROS: I thought that it had some really witty funny moments, and it was certainly an interesting read. I even laughed aloud at a couple parts!
- I learned a whole lot of history (I hope that it's true though; I don't want to be stating wrong facts in the future). It doesn't bother me that much of the book is a retelling of history books that he read, because frankly he puts it in a much more accessible writing style, and makes these history lessons fun to read.
- I also found out about several spots that I didn't know about (even in cities I've traveled, like across the Sydney harbour) and are now on my "to-visit" list for future trips.
CONS: He can be a little over-dramatic. His descriptions of things sometimes elicited eye rolls, and it ended up getting on my nerves.
- It also often seemed like he was trying too hard to be funny, and that ended up taking me out of the moment and just saying "oookay, I think that you went a little overboard now." (He made many things sound much worse than they are. Granted he's doing it for humor, I get it, but he over-milked it)
- I also feel that he didn't actually report much in terms of what to do in each city. Aside from a few destinations, he was either incredibly vague about what he did in a city he liked (Adelaide he seemed to really enjoy, but mostly just reported walking around and being at a park) or extremely specific about boring trivial details of a place he didn't like (such as the full day's report of hotel conditions, pubs, gift store, boring museum/landmark, pub again).
- I don't believe he gave each city enough time to really enjoy and explore it. Of course, some towns are so small they don't need that much time, but he certainly missed many key points. His trips seemed very rushed...pretty sure much of it was spent driving through nothingness, which made his time in the cities lessened.
- Also would've been nice if he'd spent more time with Australian people, experiencing Aussie things (sporting event....backyard bbq...) He did virtually zero reporting on their food!
Book Review: Australia in a nutshell. A very large, very empty, very beautiful nutshell.
Summary: 5 Stars
I like to equate "In A Sunburned Country" to Australia itself. It seems to go on forever, and at some points you just want to stop, but when it is finally over you are pining for more.
I'm reluctant to give this five stars, only because I don't want to seem like "that guy" who gives everything five stars. But what the hell, it deserves it.
What made this book so excellent is Bryson's perfect blend of wit, wonder and historical facts. He never overwhelms the reader with too much dry information, his humour isn't derived from negative Australian stereotypes and he always brings to life what a wonderful, strange country it really is. The cast of characters, so to speak, are simply superb and I'm glad that Bryson decided to include them in this book.
Some people might criticize the fact that Bryson didn't spend a lot of time in each location, or that he missed some really good locations, but I think this is entirely fine. One of the main themes of this book is that Australia is simply huge and the spaces between civilized areas are massive. If he decided to spend more time in each location, why, he would still be there today.
Bryson's sense of humour in this book is just phenomenal. His conversations with his friends, his mental dialogues and the commentary about Australia's strange history will make you chuckle delightfully, if not laugh out loud.
This book isn't a comprehensive history of Australia, nor would I want it to be. What Bryson does instead of boring us to death with a dry revival is pick out some of the most interesting little tidbits of Australian history and present them to us in a way that really gives us a greater understanding of the country. He often uses the historical examples to prove a point, such as the poor sod Harold Holt and the dangers Down under, and the Japanese atomic bomb that nobody noticed because Australia is so big and empty.
As a recent resident of Australia, I can personally vouch for the claims that he makes about the country. It is outstandingly beautiful, the people are unfailingly laid back and accommodating, and you will die if you aren't careful.
This book was an absolute treat to read.
Book Review: One of Bryson's best books
Summary: 5 Stars
Bryson's best book is "Notes From a Small Island," about traveling in Great Britain. It's one of the funniest books I've read. The British are funny, and Bryson knows them well after living in Britain for 20+ years.His book about Australia, "In a Sunburned Country," is also entertaining. He studied Australian history, met many interesting locals, etc. After reading it, I feel like an expert on Australia and its people.
His book about Europe, "Neither Here Nor There," isn't so good. The problem is that he speaks no languages other than English. He didn't talk to anyone on this trip. Wwithout any characters (other than Bryson) the book isn't engaging. The book has only one joke, which he repeats: "The waiter/hotel clerk/taxi driver didn't speak English so I tried to make him understand that I needed..." Some of these moments are quite funny, but they don't constitute a book. Bryson didn't study the places he visits. Unlike the Australian book, you learn almost nothing about the countries he visited.
Bryson's book about America, "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," failed to make me laugh. It reads like a series of Erma Bombeck columns. Bryson comments about various aspects of his life in a small town in New England. Not other people's lives, which might have been interesting, but only about his domestic life.
I got only a few chapters into his book about the Appalachian Trail, "A Walk in the Woods." I wasn't amused that two people with no backpacking experience would attempt a six-month hike. After several chapters of Bryson repeating one joke -- "I know nothing about any of this!" -- I stopped reading.
This suggests that the old advice "write about what you know" is worth following. It also made me realize that traveling is only enjoyable if you do two things: meet interesting people, preferably by speaking their language; and studying the area you're visiting.
Review by Thomas David Kehoe, author of "Hearts and Minds: How Our Brains Are Hardwired for Relationships"
Book Review: Traveling red-faced
Summary: 1 Stars
Bill Bryson explains in the first two paragraphs that the title of his latest work - "In a Sunburned Country" - should have been "In a Sunburnt Country," a line of familiar and well-loved poetry borrowed from Australia's own Dorothea Mackellar. It should have been, but isn't. "I know it should," he writes, "but it isn't." And there you have it.Released to coincide with the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the book was intended as travel literature. Again, it isn't. It is, more than anything else, a vague and vaguely dispiriting record of Mr. Bryson's hop-scotch across the southernmost continent, which, he notes at every turn in the road, is very big, very hot and very far away.
There IS much to learn - to be fair - about Australian pubs, and Bryson's energetic eating and drinking habits. Tourist sites are well documented, degrees of tackiness carefully noted. Museums of every size and purpose proliferate like Australian rabbits. Motels emerge as major metaphors.
Not nearly as common are Australians - real people with real names and stories to tell. That is particularly true (and egregious) if they are black. Aboriginal Australians are most commonly described as being out of sight. A result, perhaps, of being out of Mr. Bryson's mind.
Mr. Bryson has taken earlier shortcuts with readers. He continues to contend, even in the flyleaf of "Sunburned Country", that he walked "most of" the Appalachian trail, an adventure he captured in "A Walk in the Woods". The truth is that, by his own reckoning, he walked 870 miles. The trail stretches out over 2200 miles. That works out to a little less than 40 percent. Which is, of course, no small accomplishment. But most of it? No. It isn't.
There are also the matters of tortured syntax (alternating American and British idiom), an unfortunate affinity for the vulgar anecdote and Mr. Bryson's general unpleasantness in the company of hotel and pub employees. None of that adds much.
Altogether an unfortunate outing for Mr. Bryson.
Book Review: Super-entertaining and informative
Summary: 4 Stars
I almost forgot how much fun it is to read books about foreign countries and cultures. As soon as opened In a Sunburned Country, memories of reading travelogues about U.S. rushed back to me. Oh, how amazed I was those years ago to learn that apparently many Americans put their T-shirts on to swim in the pool and wear extra underwear underneath their swimming trucks (I am originally from one of those speedo countries) or that to go to a school dance you just have to have a boy-friend who is obligated to bring you a corsage or that American toilets already have water in them so that when you... no, I am not going to elaborate on this one.
What I am getting at is that Bill Bryson's book about Australia is full of entertaining facts like that plus more - he also introduces a lot of information about history of Australia, its landscape, nature, etc. Basically, tons of information for us, people completely unfamiliar with this distant country, to finally learn something, anything about it beyond what's written in The Thorn Birds.
What especially stood out for me:
1) Australia in fact was originally forcefully populated by criminals from England.
2) The country/continent is a dangerous place where you can expect to be poisoned by any insect and jelly fish or eaten by a crocodile.
3) Australians love building big things in the shapes of other things - Big Lobster, for instance.
4) How Aborigines found their way to the continent of Australia tens of thousands years ago is still a mystery and they weren't even considered people worthy of being mentioned on Australian census up until 1970s.
5) Non-whites weren't allowed to immigrate to Australia until the same 1970s.
... and much much more.
All in all, Bill Bryson succeeds in drawing a comprehensive picture of Australia, a vast, unexplored, beautiful, dangerous, young, distant country with some unattractive spots in its past (and maybe present).