Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson

I have to say I am not a massive fan of Bryson, I found a lot of his stuff condescending (the European book), boring (Walk in the Wood) or rather adolescent (flatulence based humour); but this was the first book of his that I ever read and it my mind remains his best one (I use it as my bath/toilet book a lot). 'Notes' is essentially an account of a journey that Bryson makes round Great Britain some time in the early 90's after deciding that he will leave UK and go back to the United States. He starts with a recollection of his first arrival in Dover good 20 years before (this *IS* truly hilarious, had me actually laughing out loud, even at the adolescent ...  Read the complete review

This sort of book would not be my first choice of material, but finding myself away from home with Tonsilitis and a limited choice of reading material available I reluctantly picked up what I considered the best of a bad selection, and was very glad I did. Not knowing much about the author, the thought of an American writing a travelogue of our green and pleasant frankly seemed daunting. After all England is a place of subtlety and reserve, and most of the people that were born here dont really understand it, how would a stranger from the colonies understand our ways. The answer is of course, exceedingly well. Bill Bryson first came to England in 1973 and ...  Read the complete review

It would be fair to say that my knowledge of the UK doesn't extend much beyond the Midlands. No, scratch that, it doesn't extend much beyond Birmingham to be honest and even then north Birmingham is a blank in my mind. So when reading a book of travels round the UK I could just as easily be reading about some foreign land. Bill Bryson is an American, having lived in the UK for almost twenty years he decided to move back to America to give his family the chance of living in another country (and a very good idea that is to). But, before he went he embarked upon one last trip round the UK to remind himself what it is he likes about it anyway. Notes from a ...  Read the complete review

For the most part, Notes From a Small Island is a subtle piece of observation. Bryson’s themes are understated, except when building to an exaggerated denouement to one of his manufactured skits. His criticism is often a work of subterfuge, and you find yourself reading between lines of what purport to be praise or fondness to discover a disquiet heart to a theme. I felt it important to remind myself whilst working through the text that it remains a book of travels, not a travel guide. A personal odyssey of a latter-day Gulliver - although where Swift used fantasy and satire to smite the population, Bryson’s monologues are born through anecdotes and gentle ...  Read the complete review

At the heart of this book is the knowledge of an American who, upon arrival in Dover in the 1970s, thought he had arrived in the most cold-hearted, stern country in the world. Months later he still felt this way. However, Britain grew on him, and he settled here for over twenty years, in time becoming the world’s most read travel author. The man? Bill Bryson. The book? ‘Notes from a Small Island’. Rather than being a patronizing account of how Britain is ‘so quaint’ and ‘full of castles’ (as one might expect an American description of the country to be), this is a highly amusing, well-informed, and above all, accurate ...  Read the complete review