The Road to Little Dribbling
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Description
WINNER: BOOKS ARE MY BAG READER AWARD FOR BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY OR BIOGRAPHY 2016
Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation's heart and became the bestselling travel book ever, and was also voted in a BBC poll the book that best represents Britain.Now, to mark the twentieth anniversary of that modern classic, Bryson makes a brand-new journey round Britain to see what has changed.
Following (but not too closely) a route he dubs the Bryson Line, from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath, by way of places that many people never get to at all, Bryson sets out to rediscover the wondrously beautiful, magnificently eccentric, endearingly unique country that he thought he knew but doesn't altogether recognize any more. Yet, despite Britain's occasional failings and more or less eternal bewilderments, Bill Bryson is still pleased to call our rainy island home. And not just because of the cream teas, a noble history, and an extra day off at Christmas.
Once again, with his matchless homing instinct for the funniest and quirkiest, his unerring eye for the idiotic, the endearing, the ridiculous and the scandalous, Bryson gives us an acute and perceptive insight into all that is best and worst about Britain today.
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The Good Bryson’s wit and cleverness are fully intact. His voice is distinctive, friendly, and unpretentious; reading this book is like having a conversation with your crotchety but loveable grandfather. His descriptions of walking around various parts of the countryside are so lovely that I could almost taste the fresh air and hear the birds chirping; I nearly booked a flight several times before remembering that no one was going to pay me to stroll around the Lake District at my leisure. The Meh Bill Bryson is a household name, or close to it, and perhaps that made his editor think that he ought to leave well enough alone with this book; it is my opinion that he was mistaken on this count. He talks at length about how beautiful the English countryside is and how it ought to be preserved (no argument there), but also complains, sometimes quite bitterly, about how much better things were when he first arrived in the 1970s, with no acknowledgement that it might not have been quite so idyllic for anyone who wasn't a straight white male; his impatience for “young people” sometimes makes him seem out of touch, which is a shame, as I’ve typically thought of him as the kind of older person who embraced change. He also rehashes the same list in almost every town he visits; if you are looking for an incomprehensive but impressive list of British towns that have lost their greengrocers in the last 20-40 years, you are in luck. The Not Cool At All, Grandpa There were quite a few jokes that startled my liberal 21st-century American sensibilities, including but not limited to a few fat jokes, one instance of referring to a Neanderthal woman as a bitch, a little "no homo" style bro humor, and an ugly transphobic joke involving Caitlyn Jenner (uncertain as to the timeline of the writing of joke re: news updates, but still).
Description
WINNER: BOOKS ARE MY BAG READER AWARD FOR BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY OR BIOGRAPHY 2016
Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation's heart and became the bestselling travel book ever, and was also voted in a BBC poll the book that best represents Britain.Now, to mark the twentieth anniversary of that modern classic, Bryson makes a brand-new journey round Britain to see what has changed.
Following (but not too closely) a route he dubs the Bryson Line, from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath, by way of places that many people never get to at all, Bryson sets out to rediscover the wondrously beautiful, magnificently eccentric, endearingly unique country that he thought he knew but doesn't altogether recognize any more. Yet, despite Britain's occasional failings and more or less eternal bewilderments, Bill Bryson is still pleased to call our rainy island home. And not just because of the cream teas, a noble history, and an extra day off at Christmas.
Once again, with his matchless homing instinct for the funniest and quirkiest, his unerring eye for the idiotic, the endearing, the ridiculous and the scandalous, Bryson gives us an acute and perceptive insight into all that is best and worst about Britain today.
Book Information
Posts
The Good Bryson’s wit and cleverness are fully intact. His voice is distinctive, friendly, and unpretentious; reading this book is like having a conversation with your crotchety but loveable grandfather. His descriptions of walking around various parts of the countryside are so lovely that I could almost taste the fresh air and hear the birds chirping; I nearly booked a flight several times before remembering that no one was going to pay me to stroll around the Lake District at my leisure. The Meh Bill Bryson is a household name, or close to it, and perhaps that made his editor think that he ought to leave well enough alone with this book; it is my opinion that he was mistaken on this count. He talks at length about how beautiful the English countryside is and how it ought to be preserved (no argument there), but also complains, sometimes quite bitterly, about how much better things were when he first arrived in the 1970s, with no acknowledgement that it might not have been quite so idyllic for anyone who wasn't a straight white male; his impatience for “young people” sometimes makes him seem out of touch, which is a shame, as I’ve typically thought of him as the kind of older person who embraced change. He also rehashes the same list in almost every town he visits; if you are looking for an incomprehensive but impressive list of British towns that have lost their greengrocers in the last 20-40 years, you are in luck. The Not Cool At All, Grandpa There were quite a few jokes that startled my liberal 21st-century American sensibilities, including but not limited to a few fat jokes, one instance of referring to a Neanderthal woman as a bitch, a little "no homo" style bro humor, and an ugly transphobic joke involving Caitlyn Jenner (uncertain as to the timeline of the writing of joke re: news updates, but still).