Notes from a Small Island (1995)

The second Bryson book I've read, I looked forward to his acerbic view of Britain and its inhabitants. It was standard Bryson fare - some caustic comments on various cities, and some delightful descriptions of hotel rooms. He painted a good but tatty picture of Liverpool, and was enchanted by Port Sunlight (and the art gallery is open all year round now!).

A nice distraction from fiction, and an easy and entertaining read! ( )

My third try at reading something by Bill Bryson and -- like the last two -- I was unable to get more than about 50 pages into it before losing interest. He thus joins Kim Stanley Robinson and a select few others on my list of "authors who, despite their obvious talent and enormous popularity, do nothing for me."

Bryson's signature travel-writing style strikes me as a blend of three things: 1) A "game-but-hapless schlub" persona that may be the real Bryson or may be a put-on; 2) Elaborate, almost Dickensian descriptions of colorful characters and settings he encounters along the way; 3) Comic exaggeration that starts where Mark Twain went in his more unbuttoned moments and winds up somewhere on the far side of Dave "I am not making this up" Barry . . . and that, I think, is why I find his work off-putting.

Game-but-hapless schlubs and cringe comedy (in which Bryson often traffics here) are, for me, anti-entertaining. Dickens-style baroque characters with improbable names are marvelous if done well, but (again, for me) they only work if the author, and all the characters around them them, treat them as essentially normal . . . but Bryson-the-author always feels like he's waving and pointing from the margins, saying: "Look! A caricature!" I'm always up for a well-done example of the comedy of overstatement -- Twain's "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" remains the funniest thing I've ever read -- but outside of a novel it is (last time: for me) virtually impossible to carry off at book length. What's funny in a 1,000-word column or 3,000-word article goes flat in a 100,000 memoir.

If you've never read Bill Bryson, don't let this put you off. Millions of people love his books, and--statistically speaking--your literary tastes are more likely to align with theirs than mine. If, however, you've tried reading him and can't figure out why he leaves you cold . . . maybe this is why. ( )

Maybe the funniest book I've ever read. Very well done. ( )

Maybe the funniest book I've ever read. Very well done. ( )

Bryson relates tales of his travels across Britain, making witty and self-depreciating comments along the way. At times it made me laugh and I wanted to share his wit with others. After a while it started to get a bit repetitive. So a book of ups and downs for me but I appreciated most of all the look at another culture from a fellow American's point of view. I'd recommend this most to people who are really interested in British culture and landscapes. ( )