On 2010-03-03 D. Blankenship, The Ozarks wrote: There is one thing about Bill Bryson; you either like him or you don´t. Just reading the reviews here on Amazon and several other sites prove that. It is not just this work in question though; it is all of his work. I note that drifting from site to site that he, Bryson, has a small cadre of ´haters,´ and all of their reviews sound sort of the same. And this is book after book....same reviewers, different books. You would think that after a few reads, and that if you found you did not like a particular author, then you would simply ignore his work. Not so with this author...go figure. This small group seems to hound his every work. Anyway, I personally like his books. I grant you I like some better than others, but that is only natural to my way of thinking. This work being reviewed here is one of his books that I particularly enjoyed.
To begin with we need to look at what this book is not. First, it is not an anthropological study of the Aborigine tribes of Australia. Yes, he does address them and their historical and tragic plight, but this is hardly the purpose of the book and no, he does not interview any of them. Secondly, this is not an all encompassing travel guide to all of the thousands of places to visit in this wonderful country. That would be an impossible task in a volume of this size. Thirdly, this is not a rough and tumble survivor type of trip (or series of trips, as the case is here) made by an intrepid survival type guy roughing it in the Outback...hey folks, this is Bryson. A cold beer, swimming pool and a good meal are relished by this guy.
What this work is, is a rather amusing and at times downright funny account of the author´s trip, or to be precise, ´trips´ through various parts of the largest island country in the world. His travels, tribulations, adventures and encounters with various individuals are told in his normal understated and humorous style. I think one of the strong points of Bryson´s writing is the ability to make fun of himself and to recognize his own short comings as a traveler, and indeed, a human being.
Unlike his work `A Walk in the Woods,´ the author has kept his caustic remarks about the people he encounters to a minimum and only dealt out his understated sarcasms when they were richly deserved. The author has the ability to articulate, in a very funny and amusing way, what many of us are actually thinking when we encounter rude hotel staff member, encounter bad meals and or are bored to distraction with a place or area.
The author has filled his work with wonderful bits of trivial and not so trivial history, pieces of information we normally would not be exposed to without a great amount of research, and I must say I picked up a wealth of knowledge of geography, plants, animals, history, fish, snakes, insects, plants, minerals and people through reading this work. Yes, I know that some find his including these bits and pieces of his research into his work annoying and less than honest, but for me this is one of his strengths in presenting a very readable and interesting subject. Of all his works, this one included, I have yet to find an inaccuracy in his reporting, and I can assure you that I have made plenty of spot checks.
For a light read that is bound to entertain you, unless you are in the ´I hate Bryson´ camp, I cannot think of a better way to spend several evenings. On the other hand, if you have found a number of his books to not be up to your standards, then I suggest you skip this one. I personally eagerly await each and every book the man works on.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
. And summed up by saying I HAVE TO SAY THAT I ENJOYED EVER WORD OF THIS ONE. Currently In a Sunburned Country has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
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Broadway claimed Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion up, down, and over the Appalachian Trail (well, most of it) resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. Now he has traveled across the world and all the way Down Under to Australia, a shockingly under-discovered country with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet. In a Sunburned Country is his report on what he found there--a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiosity.Australia is a country that exists on a vast scale. It is the only island that is also a continent and the only continent that is also a country. Despite being the most desiccated, infertile, and climatically aggressive of all inhabited continents, it teems with life. In fact, Australia has more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else: sharks, crocodiles, the ten most deadly poisonous snakes on the planet, fluffy yet toxic caterpillars, seashells that actually attack you, and the unbelievable box jellyfish (don´t ask). The dangerous riptides of the sea and the sun-baked wastes of the outback both lie in wait for the unwary. It´s one tough country.Bill Bryson adores it, of course, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond the beaten tourist path. Here is a place where interesting things happen all the time, from a Prime Minister lost--yes, lost--while swimming at sea to Japanese cult members who may have set off an atomic bomb (sic) entirely unnoticed on their 500,000-acre property in the great western desert.Wherever he goes (and Bryson goes just about everywhere) he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted, and unfailingly obliging--the beaming products of a land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant sunshine. On occasion the Aborigines, a remote and mysterious race with a tragic history, make a haunting appearance in this book. But by and large Australia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson its perfect guide. Published just in time for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, In a Sunburned Country offers the best of all possible introductions to what may well be the best of all possible nations. Even with those jellyfish.
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