Tuesday 18 August 2015

Bryson, Bill "Notes from a Small Island"


Bryson, Bill "Notes from a Small Island" - 1995

In preparation of Bill Bryson's next book "The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island", I just had to reread his first book about my beloved island, Great Britain. It had been far too long that I had picked it up.

I should remember this and will give you this peace of advice: Always pick up a travel book by Bill Bryson when gloomy. It is the best remedy against depression, even if he describes a place I miss so much that it might have started the depression. He is better than any psychologist. Will go and get more of his travel books because I realized that I haven't read all of them, yet.

I have talked about this book before here.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2023.

From the back cover: 
 
"After nearly two decades spent on British soil, Bill Bryson - bestselling author of The Mother Tongue and Made in America - decided to return to the United States. ('I had recently read,' Bryson writes, 'that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another,so it was clear that my people needed me.') But before departing, he set out on a grand farewell tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home.

Veering from the ludicrous to the endearing and back again, Notes from a Small Island is a delightfully irreverent jaunt around the unparalleled floating nation that has produced zebra crossings, Shakespeare, Twiggie Winkie's Farm, and places with names like Farleigh Wallop and Titsey. The result is an uproarious social commentary that conveys the true glory of Britain, from the satiric pen of an unapologetic Anglophile."

I love all of Bill Bryson's books. Find a link to my reviews here.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good one. I put it on my reading list. I just finished “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson and loved it!! He is so funny! I didn’t realize that they were making a movie of “A Walk in the Woods”—to be released Sept 2 here in the U.S. Can’t wait to see it. I also didn’t realize Bryson had so many books until I looked at your link. “A Walk in the Woods” is the first of his that I’ve read. Now I’m looking forward to reading more of his books.

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    Replies
    1. I'm so happy I could tell you about it. That's what I love most about blogging, finding new books and recommending the great ones I have found.

      This was the first Bryson I ever read and I still love it most, probably because I used to live in the UK, I think most people like him best when they recognize something. He is such a crative writer and knows so much about almost everything. It's always a pleasure to read his books.

      I'm also looking forward to "A Walk in the Woods". I'm sure it's going to be great.

      Hope you'll enjoy the other books by this wonderful author as much as I do.

      Happy Reading,
      Marianne

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