Sunday, April 14, 2013

Review: Notes from a Small Island


Author: Bill Bryson

Title: Notes from a Small Island
Description: Bill Bryson was an Iowan who took a trip to England, met a girl, married her, and stayed. After quite a few years there, the family decided to move to the United States. Bryson decided to take a trip around Britain, sort of by way of saying good bye.   
Writing style: Bryson has become quite a well-known author since he wrote this book, and I’ve read and enjoyed several of his other books (A Walk in the Woods, In a Sunburned Country). He is sort of a humorist, but not a laff-a-minute guy like Dave Barry. One thing I didn’t enjoy about this book is that Bryson made lots of in-jokes and references that only British folks would get.  The book has also become dated.
Audience: English people.
Major ideas: England is a small island with some very polite people, but it is being destroyed by commercial development.
Wrap-up: I was disappointed with this book, but looking back, I probably expected it to be as good as the others that I mentioned. As an earlier effort, and maybe with a very specialized intended audience, it just didn’t live up to the others. 2/5*

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