| Product: |
Down Under - Bill Bryson |
| Date: |
16/01/02 (169 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Bright, Outlandish And Most Of All An Entertaining Read.
Disadvantages: Perhaps A Little Too Historical.
It takes a lot for me to laugh out loud at a book. Perhaps it's because slapstick appeals more and it is just so much easier to be wooed by visual comedy. Bill Bryson has changed all this forever. He writes as if he is talking directly to you, as if having a one to one conversation in a bar. Within the first 2 pages of 'Down Under', his description of his own sleeping patterns had me rolling out of my hammock.
As you might expect, 'Down Under' is a travelogue of a trip (several trips in fact) Bryson took in Australia. The journey took him from Sydney in the south east to Perth on the other side of the world's largest island and back again. He travels to the continent on several occasions each time mapping out a different corner in his own inquisitive way. It is obvious from his writings that the man loves the place and that it loves him back. What better partners to have than two self depreciating, humorous yet extremely warm and spirited entities.
Bryson's journey initially takes him on the fabled Indian Pacific train. The Indian Pacific line is the second longest in the world after the trans-Siberian with a normal journey time of 3 days. For Bryson and his photographer there would be several side trips into the outback to see the real Australia.
The first adventure would begin a day into the journey at a town called Menindee built on the Darling river. From there Bryson travelled into no-mans land to a town with a population of eighty called White Cliffs. Its remoteness is easily illustrated by the fact that the inhabitants of White Cliffs only got electricity in 1993. The luxuries of expensive hotels is something that Bryson is accustomed to so it is rewarding to see him recoil in horror when he is met with below 3 star accommodation.
After his railroad experiences Bryson, as his nature, sets about journeying again from Sydney, but this ti
me by car and working his way along the south east coast. Along the way he spends time in Canberra and rather typically finds the place to be as flat as a glass of ribena. If you were to take his acerbic comments at face value then a duller capital you are unlikely to find anywhere in the world.
Bryson is more stimulated by the cities of Adelaide and Melbourne however. He cites his love for the latter because this is where he landed on his maiden voyage. At the time he had braced himself for a type of southern California but his preconceptions were smashed almost straight away. He was so taken by the place that he pined for a more thorough visit.
With his friends Alan and Carmel Howe the author spends time in the lush countryside that lies in Eastern Victoria where the couple have a country retreat. From there the threesome decide to spend a day in Glenrowan, the place where the infamous insurgent Ned Kelly was killed. One local attraction, a puppet show, called Ned Kelly's Last Stand turns out to be monumentally bad. Bryson's observations are infectious. I read the page several times, each time giggling at what the trio had to go through.
Bryson is a man for whom the words laid back could be redefined. He can happily sit alone in a crowded Adelaide bar while reading such obscurities as 'Crocodile Attack In Australia'. His conclusions on how the Oz psyche should work based on the dangers that lay under every desert rock are outlandish to say the least. Truth is he is just being himself, the amusing armchair psychologist.
Bryson's adventures are broken up by sojourns spent at home and in Britain on business. Each time he returns he decides that another patch of the continent must be conquered. The biggest challenge arrives as he tackles Australia's vast deserted interior. A place so hot that people have been known to cook while trying to make it b
ack to humanity. As it happens the worst rain in 30 years had him holed up in Cairns for longer than expected giving him ample time to frighten the bajasus out of his travelling partner with ravenous tales of attacks on people by Australia's most feared predators.
For Bryson's, at times morbid, imagination Australia is a heaven sent barrage of deadly killers. From the man eating salt crocodiles to the poison tentacled box jellyfish this is one place where it would seems that each step should be taken with precision and the utmost of care. The author delights in the danger and spends an inordinate amount of time digging out nuggets of nastiness from long lost tomes.
Before making the journey to Darwin Bryson takes a side trip to the Great Barrier Reef and is swept aside by its greatness. From Darwin he decides to rough by car to the centre of the continent Alice Springs fully 1,500 Kilometres away. Along the way the bleakness of the red earth is only rarely shattered by a passing juggernaut. The town at the centre of Australia holds much to sway the attention of the author including the magnificent Uluru (Ayers Rock).
Bryson is a very well read traveller. His accounts of the histories of many of the small communities he visits are fascinating. Once there he finds countless other things to investigate, explore and finally come to an hilarious conclusion that it is either dead in the water or downright breathtaking. This is the motivation of the man, why be middle of the road when either extreme is much more interesting and ultimately funnier to read.
Bill Bryson is a vivid and imaginative writer. 'Down Under' not only recounts the story of his travels but is punctuated by many historical accounts and facts. Some of his knowledge would probably even be new to Australians. For example he tells of ex prime minister Harold Holt's untimely death in the late
50's while swimming at Cheviot Beach (near Melbourne). The death shocked the nation so it was decided that a memorial would be built in his memory. To this day you can still swim in the Harold Hot swimming pool in Melbourne!
The underlying humour that colours Bryson's adventures is fuelled by a boyish sense of curiosity (he is in his early fifties) to look beyond what is in front of his nose. He is a studied people watcher with a keen eye and love for the quirkier amongst us. He has an obvious talent for mingling and never provides anything less than engaging tittle tattle.
'Down Under' is an zany, yet informative read that provides the best endorsement of their country that the Australian tourist board could ever have hoped for. Bryson is such an enthused traveller he is likely that he has shunted more people to the southern hemisphere that any Oz soap ever has.
Summary:
|
|
