In a Sunburned Country
by Bill Bryson
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Book Reviews of In a Sunburned Country
Book Review: Absorbingly informative, but self-absorbed
Summary: 3 Stars
I just returned from a three-week jaunt through Australia and this book makes a very nice companion for the journey. It is layered with facts, anecdotes, and historical tidbits about the country and its teeming flora and fauna. I love the way Bryson presents it all ....his style is so effortless and casual that it reads like a conversation instead of a lecture. For this element of the book, I give 5 stars. Contained within are some fascinating and amusing stories about Australia's intriguing and unlikely history, its natural beauty, contrasting landscape and ecology. I tore through these paragraphs and pages with gusto....
....but filling the gap between these colorful anecdotes and tidbits are the stories of Bill's "adventure" in exploring, experiencing, and writing. These areas of the book are much less compelling. While some of the stories are particularly poignant and others are quite often amusing, they can be boring, seem like filler, and on one or two occasions (especially around Darwin), downright condescending and mean-spirited. While sarcasm and snark have become pervasive throughout popular media, they seem out of place here, and one gets the impression that Bryson can be, on occasion--how do I say this kindly--a bit of a jerk. Even when the locals seem to deserve it, I feel he goes too far in chastising them simply to show that he can write a witty and delicious put-down.
Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone travelling to Australia or simply interested in reading an interesting account of its history....the balance of narrative vs. content is a bit off as I mentioned, just breeze through the superfluous parts and concentrate on the superbly satisfying quick history lessons.
Book Review: "Monotremes Oviparous, Ovum Meroblastic"
Summary: 4 Stars
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.)
Book Review: Fantastic - that's all I'm saying...
Summary: 5 Stars
A fun re-read from one of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson. Any book that Bryson pens is sure to lead to uncontrollable laughter, snorts, chortles or gaffaws, so plan your reading time accordingly. Not recommended reading material for mime class, funerals, or anywhere quiet, confined and where you will be surrounded by strangers - trust me on this. Even your own family members (*ehem* teenage daughters) might have a tendency to think you finally, irrevocably lost it and look warily at you as if you have become possessed by demons or body odor.
But I digress. Anyway, Bryson makes the land Down Under come alive to armchair travellers everywhere, and if you're not aching to call your travel agent by the time you finish this book, then I don't think you have an adventurous bone in your body.
Australia is a big country, filled with stranger and larger then life flora and fauna then one can possibly imagine. In Bryson's deft and sarcastic way, he manages to poke fun of and fulsomely praise this place at the same time. This is a land where prime ministers go missing forever and no one else in the world knows it, where deadly critters line up on land and in the sea awaiting the unsuspecting human to stumble upon them, where some Australian cities are often closer to other countries then they are to each other and where you can travel 1,500 miles along a rugged, scenic coast highway and pass only 2 other cars...
Bryson brings this land, its history, its people and its magnificence to vivid life. You'll laugh, you'll gape in wonder, and you'll sigh that you either weren't born there or don't have the money to get there to see for yourself. Count me as both!
Book Review: LAUGH-OUT-LOUD FUNNY
Summary: 4 Stars
Bill Bryson once again enchants and hold us spellbound with his combination of delicious wit and irreverant humour. He brings us down under to Australia this time round and shares with us his exploits and travels in the country.If for no other reason, get this book just to laugh yourself silly. Bryson's imaginatively creative literary prowess is put to the test as he once again subjects us to his ridiculous re-enactments of incidents. He invests in his humour a great amount of liberty, to take a stab at anything and everything possible.
As he recounts his meetings with the people of Australia, the up-close-and-personal experiences with the dangerous fauna of the country as well as the absurdest of place names in the land, you cannot help but marvel at his ability to take you along with him on the ride.
Be warned. Reading this book in public may result in having people giving you strange looks when you double up in uncontrolled laughter, not to mention your contorted appearance should you decide to hold it in.
This book, however, is not just a bag of laughs. Bryson provides many glimpses into the history of Australia, including snippets of information of the politics and culture of the land. The world-famous landmarks like the Sydney Opera House and Uluru (better known as Ayer's Rock) are touched on and given a life of their own in his marvellous description. He even risks it by telling the stories of the native Aborigines.
Get this book if you have never read Bill Bryson. You'll want to read the rest after that. Get this book if you have read Bill Bryson. You wouldn't want to miss this installment.
Get this book. Period.
You won't regret it.
Book Review: Vintage Bryson
Summary: 5 Stars
Bill Bryson is a fantastic travel writer, probably the funniest travel writer out there. His wry comedic style and self-depricating humor make him as much a part of his travel narratives as the places he visits. His ability to find interest in the mundane, absurdity in the commonplace, and value in almost every aspect of his travels is wonderful. He has a particularly amusing knack for describing people, both historical figures and people he meets along the way. He has a great appreciation for the eccentricities of human behavior. He also seems to thrive on describing in great detail all the dangers of the world-things that could maim and/or kill you. While he has a great love for nature, he's also quick to point out that nature, more often than not, wants to kill and eat us. These make Australia perfect for Bryson. It's a land of eccentric people and dangerous animals and landscapes. It's like the entire country was made for Bryson's talents.
Bryson wanders well off the well-worn tourist trail, visiting small towns and unheard-of museums along the way. But in truth it doesn't matter where he goes because he could describe dirt for thirty pages and it would be entertaining. Still, his timing is perhaps his greatest strength. Just when you might be tiring of his day, he interjects some history or some interesting facts. He knows exactly how much is enough and not too much. While this isn't my favorite Bryson (A WALK IN THE WOODS), it's certainly right up there at the top. And I have yet to read anything by him that I didn't like. I was only in Australia once for a short time, but everything Bryson says rings true, and it makes me want to go back.