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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
"Bryson does Europe" as only Bryson can..
I'd heard all the hype about Bill Bryson being the best travel writer of the current generation so I figured I should read some of his stuff to make my own opinion. The first Bryson book I bought was this one and in all probability (at time of writing) I think it's my favourite. Bryson is an American who settled in Britain in the late 70s (and has since returned to the...
Published on 21 April 2003 by Darren Simons
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60 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
Europe is so wonderful! So picturesque! (Too bad it's inhabited by all those Europeans.)
In 1990 Bill Bryson set out to "do Europe". He says that his motivation was to relive his experiences from tours in Europe in 1972 and 1973 when he was a young student wandering around Europe with a backpack.
In reality it seems as if the primary reason for Bill Bryson to do this trip was so that he could then write a funny book about the trip...
Published on 25 Jul 2006 by Rennie Petersen
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
"Bryson does Europe" as only Bryson can.., 21 April 2003
I'd heard all the hype about Bill Bryson being the best travel writer of the current generation so I figured I should read some of his stuff to make my own opinion. The first Bryson book I bought was this one and in all probability (at time of writing) I think it's my favourite. Bryson is an American who settled in Britain in the late 70s (and has since returned to the US). The basic style of a Bryson book is simple - get a train to a place, wander around aimlessly, check into an average hotel, wander round a bit more, sit in a pub on your own and go to bed. And yes, many people will say that's all there is to a Bryson book. I'd have to disagree with that though - what makes this book is the humour.. a strange combination of British sarcasm and American expectation make Bryson's commentary on the places he visits and the people he sees really rather good. In this book Bryson decides it's high time he ventured beyond Britain and visited as much of Europe as he can. To this end, he starts in Norway although he manages to visit when it's permanently dark, returns to England before venturing away on a longer trip, taking in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Rome, Florence (probably the funniest part of the book for me), before travelling further south-east towards Sofia and Istanbul. If you're only going to read one Bill Bryson travel book, I'd probably recommend this one. Yes, there may be better travel writers, there may be funnier writers, but in terms of humorous travel writers I think Bryson is probably the best (although Peter Moore may come close).
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60 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
Europe is so wonderful! So picturesque! (Too bad it's inhabited by all those Europeans.), 25 Jul 2006
In 1990 Bill Bryson set out to "do Europe". He says that his motivation was to relive his experiences from tours in Europe in 1972 and 1973 when he was a young student wandering around Europe with a backpack.
In reality it seems as if the primary reason for Bill Bryson to do this trip was so that he could then write a funny book about the trip.
"Neither Here Nor There" is, in fact, a very funny book, at least in the beginning. Bill Bryson can describe situations in a very humorous way, and he's willing to make fun of himself, as well as everything around him.
Unfortunately, after a while the humor wears thin. Then it wears very thin. Then you begin to dissect the humor, and realize that you've been had.
Bill Bryson's method of traveling is to emulate the kind of tourism we all like to ridicule. He typically arrives by train in a new city in the evening. He has no hotel reservation so he has to spend time finding a hotel that is not really what he wanted. He sees "the sights" that one is supposed to see in that city. He makes no effort to get in touch with the local people, to learn about their lives, or to understand their country and society. He spends typically 2-3 days in each city and then goes to work on figuring out how to get to the next city or country on his list, which often leads to further complications.
This is obviously not the way to travel if you're writing a travel book. Nobody in their right mind would want to read about this kind of traveling.
But Bill Bryson is not writing a travel book, he's writing a funny book, and he has a sure-fire recipe:
1. Do things in problematic ways, and then make fun of all the trials and tribulations that result.
2. Mix in lots of flashbacks to the trips of your youth, with much juvenile humor related to the drives that young men are so driven by.
3. Feign incomprehension about everything foreign and satirize everything that is unfamiliar.
4. Make funny remarks intended to reinforce national prejudices.
This last type of humor can be especially tiring.
In conclusion, if you're someone who "did Europe" in your youth and you want to relive fond memories in a humorous way, then you may well like this book. Most other readers will probably start out laughing, then smiling, then wondering why the jokes seem to have lost their appeal, and finally ending up wishing they'd picked a real travel book or a real humorous book.
Rennie Petersen
PS. Just for the record, here is a list of the places covered: Norway (Hammerfest, Oslo), France (Paris), Belgium (Brussels, Bruges, Spa, Durbuy), Germany (Aachen, Cologne, Hamburg), Holland (Amsterdam), Denmark (Copenhagen), Sweden (Gothenburg, Stockholm), Italy (Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Florence, Milan, Como), Switzerland (Brig, Geneva, Bern), Liechtenstein, Austria (Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna), Yugoslavia (Split, Sarajevo, Belgrade), Bulgaria (Sofia), Turkey (Istanbul).
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
So Unbelievably Funny, 5 Jun 2001
This is a book which everyone should read. It is Bill Bryson at his funniest, wittiest, observant and most abstract.Some of the things he notices, for example the conversation in the Dutch hotel, are so skilfully written that they make you feel as if you are there with him. No other author on the planet is this funny. This book will make you laugh until your sides split and tears roll down your cheeks. Some of the other reviews on Amazon have stated he complains excessively and, to some extent, this is true. But if someone can make me laugh out loud by describing how they complain I would be happy to buy a book full of their complaints. Do you see?
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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
One of my favourite books ever, 2 Jul 2000
By A Customer
I've read this book so many times now that I feel I know all the places Bryson visits myself. It's funny, interesting and informative - a perfect mix. From the permanent dark and cold of Hammerfest in Norway, to the to the heat and chaos of Istanbul,this book makes me want to travel the whole of Europe eack time I pick it up. I would recommend it to anyone - I even talked my boyfriend, who never reads anything, into borrowing it (I think showing him the section about the sordid sex shops of Germany with their numerous blow-up dolls swung it), and he loved it. Definitely worth buying.
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Try to be a Eurosceptic after reading this!!, 24 Jul 2001
This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. I bought it on a Monday afternoon and by Wednesday morning I was lending it to a friend with a glowing recommendation.By far the funniest part of the book for me was his time in Paris. As someone who has spent a fair bit of time there, his observations on French customer service and driving were side splittingly funny. Indeed the paragraph on trying to cross the Place de la Bastille had me in hysterics. However it was not just his observations on the cities that I knew that had me falling off my chair. Bryson writes in such a way that enables the reader to feel as if they too know the place that he writes of even if they have not been within a thousand miles of it. I, for one, would love to call Capri my home even though I have never been to Italy!! I was planning to travel for a year after completing university. Before reading this book I was heading for America, now I realise that there is so much for me to see on my own doorstep that I must follow Bryson and see the wonders of Europe first. Lichtenstein and all!!
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
If you don't laugh at this, no one can help you., 18 Nov 2000
By A Customer
A splendid mix of human observation, personal account and humour that will make you snort out loud if you read it in company, be warned.The best book to start with if you've never read Bryson before. Follow Bill revisiting his earlier journey around Europe and see it throgh the eyes of a bemused American. I read it at least once a year and enjoy it just as much each time.
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Neither here Nor there, 8 Dec 2003
Probably the funniest book I have ever read. I first read it on an aeroplane and laughed out loud most of the way. Re-reading it does not reduce the enjoyment and I am sure I shall do so for many years to come. OK most of his humour stems from stereotypical views of the inhabitants of the places he visits and can be infantile but the result is a wonderfully enjoyable read. Not to be missed
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
A nice choice of destinations, 10 Jun 2003
This book is all the usual things Bryson fans have come to expect informative, funny, sarcastic and full of those cross-cultural jokes we love in Britain. Bill starts off in Scandinavia and works his way eventually to Istanbul along the way he goes to many countries some of which I’d have never thought of visiting. Overall travelling in Europe gives Bill the chance to be varied in his style not just having one culture to look at like when he travels bigger countries like the USA and Australia. Travelling with Kats also adds another amusing addition to the book, as you might know if you have read Walk in the Woods and read the bickering and arguments between the two of them. For an amusing look at travelling in Europe this is definitely a good buy whether you’re a Bryson fan or a travel reader this is a nice book.Funny, Informative and very Bryson
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Dated Maybe?, 12 Aug 2008
Needing to clear some space on my bookshelves I have decided to reacquaint myself with Bill Bryson's travel books before Bookcrossing them.
This one was written in 1990, first published in 1992 and the edition on my bookshelf in 1998. I enjoyed reading this travelogue of his tour of some of the major cities of Europe, many of those mentioned which I have visited myself during the last forty years. Of those that I have not I think that Sofia in particular may well have changed beyond recognition, Eastern Europe having undergone the most changes in the last eighteen years.
Whilst one might not always agree with Bryson's viewpoint it is none the less an amusing read, though one must also accept that in some aspects it can seem very dated.
Certainly worth reading if you are at all interested in any of the places in Europe he writes about but remember it was written nearly twenty years ago now.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
I'm compleatly hooked!, 23 May 2003
By A Customer
I'm not a big reader I have to admit, however, after reading this booked I'm now hooked on Bill Bryson books. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in public ( people must of thought I was mad)over a book. Bill Bryson paited such a vivid and comical picture of Europe and the people who live there. Being an American myself I could identified with some of his stories and experiences.Since reading 'Niether Here nor There' I've gone on to read the rest of his books and all of them have lived up to this book. I would recomed this book to anyone who wants a light hearted read and a good laugh. If I may give some advise; do not read this book in public (the London Underground) as you do get strange looks when your trying really hard to hold in your laughter.
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