Notes from a Small Island
After being gone for over a month, I've read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies. And I feel like doing reviews, so. First up?
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is an American travel writer. In the 1970s, he backpacked around England before settling down and living there. Twenty years later, he's decided to move back to the States. Before he leaves, he decides to, more or less, retrace his steps from when he backpacked in the 70s. Notes from a Small Island is the result of that second expedition. Bill Bryson is an engaging author with a great sense of humor. He truly does love England and it shows, but he doesn't spend the book spouting unadulterated praise. And, having lived in the country for so long, he's picked up on some of the nuances of British culture and is able to explain them to an American reader. Because, yes, England is a foreign country.
An except from the book:
There are certain idiosyncratic notions that you quietly come to accept when you live for a long time in Britain. One is that British summers used to be longer and sunnier. Another is that the English soccer team shouldn't have any trouble with Norway. A third is the idea that Britain is a large place. This last is easily the most intractable.
If you mention in the pub that you intend to drive from, say, Surrey to Cornwall, a distance that most Americans would happily go to get a taco, you companions will puff their cheeks, look knowingly at each other, and blow out air as if to say, "Well, now, that's a bit of a tall order," and then they'll launch into a lively and protracted discussion of whether it's better to take the A30 to Stockbrindge and then the A303 to Ilchester, or the A361 to Glastonbury via Shepton Mallet. Within minutes the conversation will plunge off into a level of detain that leaves you, as a foreigner, swiveling your head in quiet wonderment.
So I recommend this book. It's fun, it's not difficult, and you can learn a bit of culture while reading it.
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is an American travel writer. In the 1970s, he backpacked around England before settling down and living there. Twenty years later, he's decided to move back to the States. Before he leaves, he decides to, more or less, retrace his steps from when he backpacked in the 70s. Notes from a Small Island is the result of that second expedition. Bill Bryson is an engaging author with a great sense of humor. He truly does love England and it shows, but he doesn't spend the book spouting unadulterated praise. And, having lived in the country for so long, he's picked up on some of the nuances of British culture and is able to explain them to an American reader. Because, yes, England is a foreign country.
An except from the book:
There are certain idiosyncratic notions that you quietly come to accept when you live for a long time in Britain. One is that British summers used to be longer and sunnier. Another is that the English soccer team shouldn't have any trouble with Norway. A third is the idea that Britain is a large place. This last is easily the most intractable.
If you mention in the pub that you intend to drive from, say, Surrey to Cornwall, a distance that most Americans would happily go to get a taco, you companions will puff their cheeks, look knowingly at each other, and blow out air as if to say, "Well, now, that's a bit of a tall order," and then they'll launch into a lively and protracted discussion of whether it's better to take the A30 to Stockbrindge and then the A303 to Ilchester, or the A361 to Glastonbury via Shepton Mallet. Within minutes the conversation will plunge off into a level of detain that leaves you, as a foreigner, swiveling your head in quiet wonderment.
So I recommend this book. It's fun, it's not difficult, and you can learn a bit of culture while reading it.