Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
It was time to read more Bill Bryson, and when I found that parts of Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe included his friend Stephen Katz from A Walk in the Woods, it was the clear choice. This book primarily chronicles Bryson's travels around Europe in 1990, but includes flashbacks to two previous European rambles, by himself in 1972 and with Katz in 1973.
I really enjoy Bryson's writing style: blunt, sardonic and funny. One of my favorite things about his writing is the way he'll casually drop the most ridiculous exaggerations into ordinary observations. For example, describing a French bakery, "In halting French, you would ask for a small loaf of bread. The woman would give you a long, cold stare and then put a dead beaver on the counter." There are better examples, but I unfortunately resisted the urge to underline my favorites (a habit of my dad's that always seems sort of destructive to me), and now I can't find them. His habit of exaggeration reminds me of the way my friend J gives directions: "Stay on that highway until everybody dies or you get to Kentucky."
Anyway, this was a good story, and I particularly enjoyed the flashbacks to his trip with Katz. I look forward to reading everything else Bryson has written. I'm especially excited to borrow The Lost Continent from atomgal.
It's a gray, drizzly day, so after I got up and ate breakfast, I crawled back into bed and finished the book with one cat asleep on my pillow and the other at my feet. I think I spent most Sundays of my childhood like this (sadly, without the cats), but these days, I usually feel too guilty to spend whole days or even mornings reading in bed. But today, it was awesome. So, having been delightfully lazy this morning, I'm going to go make lasagna.
I really enjoy Bryson's writing style: blunt, sardonic and funny. One of my favorite things about his writing is the way he'll casually drop the most ridiculous exaggerations into ordinary observations. For example, describing a French bakery, "In halting French, you would ask for a small loaf of bread. The woman would give you a long, cold stare and then put a dead beaver on the counter." There are better examples, but I unfortunately resisted the urge to underline my favorites (a habit of my dad's that always seems sort of destructive to me), and now I can't find them. His habit of exaggeration reminds me of the way my friend J gives directions: "Stay on that highway until everybody dies or you get to Kentucky."
Anyway, this was a good story, and I particularly enjoyed the flashbacks to his trip with Katz. I look forward to reading everything else Bryson has written. I'm especially excited to borrow The Lost Continent from atomgal.
It's a gray, drizzly day, so after I got up and ate breakfast, I crawled back into bed and finished the book with one cat asleep on my pillow and the other at my feet. I think I spent most Sundays of my childhood like this (sadly, without the cats), but these days, I usually feel too guilty to spend whole days or even mornings reading in bed. But today, it was awesome. So, having been delightfully lazy this morning, I'm going to go make lasagna.