Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very informative, telling you many things no ordinary travel book does, 3 Sep 2006
Bill Bryson is best known for writing very humorous travel books, and "In a Sunburned Country" is indeed a funny account of his travels in Australia. Those who love Bill Bryson's books for their humor won't be disappointed.
But unlike most people, I like Bill Bryson best when he's NOT trying to be funny, and my appreciation of this book is mostly due to the great amount of very interesting information presented.
Bill Bryson amazes you with loads of information about the geology, the animal life, the plants and insects, the history, the statistics, the folklore, etc., etc. The many dangers: poisonous snakes, poisonous insects, poisonous jellyfish, crocodiles, sharks, and rip currents - they're all out to get you. The inhospitable deserts, the beautiful beaches, the huge distances; Bill Bryson gives you a feeling of what it's all like.
The book goes into detail about many aspects of Australian life that are fairly unknown, including the discovery (and re-discovery) of Australia, the settlement by British prisoners, the early expeditions to explore the interior, the gold rushes, the outlaws, and the devastation caused by rabbits and other imported animals and plants. Bill Bryson talks about the many unusual animal species found only in Australia, including giant earthworms that grow up to 1 meter (and can be stretched to 4 meters) and the platypus, a cross between a reptile and a mammal. He talks about Australians and the Australian society, and the situation regarding the native people, the aboriginals.
Bill Bryson doesn't cover all of Australia from the geographical point of view, and the parts he does cover are somewhat random. But that doesn't matter because he captures the spirit of the whole country based on the parts he does visit and the general information he includes.
A very positive aspect is that Bill Bryson makes it clear that he loves Australia. The feeling is infectious, and it makes you want to pack your bags and head "down under" for a long leisurely trip so you can do your own exploring.
If I were to mention two things I was less happy about, it would be the occasional excessive attempts to be funny and the lack of contact with Australians. One of the best parts of the book is about his traveling together with an Australian couple for 3-4 days, but other than this passage Bill Bryson is mostly playing the typical tourist, with little or no contact with Australians. And despite a fairly long discussion about the aboriginal situation he does not ever get into contact with any aboriginals. Why not?
A final note regarding the unabridged audio version of the book, read by Bill Bryson himself: Most authors are poor readers, but Mr. Bryson does a very good job here, almost on a par with a professional reader. Recommended.
Rennie Petersen
PS. "In a Sunburned Country" has also been published under the title "Down Under". It is exactly the same book.
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In A Sunburned Country live the oddest history & creatures!, 14 Jan 2001
By A Customer
I'd not read a Bill Bryson book before so as I began his trek around & across Australia, I found myself chortling & enchanted at this author's mischievous sense of the absurd. This book is packed with historical, geological, botanical, biological & unusual travelogue detail of his adventures Down Under.He is a keen observer of culture & cupidity. Whether he's relaxing in Alice Springs with a brew, watching the white Saturday world mill before him, into which stumble 20th Century Aborigines. This author puts down his newspaper & ponders on the history of Australia's First People; of the incoming European settlers' morals with regard to these elusive inhabitants who had survived, quite nicely thank you, for thousands of years only to be devastated by the plague of prejudice. Or whether he's off on a train to Western Australia or enchanted by a lovely clean city or dabbling in the waters of New South Wales. This author dwells upon the peculiarity that Australia is home to more hair-raising critters of the deadly kind than anywhere else around this globe. With all his research, Bill Bryson is still not sure why. Few details escape this intrepid traveler; he's especially good when illuminating the early sorties into the forbidding interior which, because he crisscrosses it a few times himself, he describes in bright, busy visions & has definitely whetted my appetite for a gander at Down Under.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
In a Sunburned Country, 22 April 2006
Please note that this book is the same as "Down Under " by Bill Bryson. He has just given it a different title. Very confusing and annoying when you have already read Bill Bryson's "Down Under". Please be aware of this, so you don't waste your time and money like i did.
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