Notes from a Small Island-Bill Bryson

****1/2/*****                                                                                                                                                                   Travel

Notes From a Small Island
Bill Bryson

                Let me caution future readers of this book. Do not read it in public. Contemplate for a few seconds this scenario. A person breaks out in loud boisterous laughs every few minutes while reading a book, he starts beating his tummy in mirth and almost rolls down his chair. He stands up laughing and then bends down holding his aching sides. This and more will befall you as you read this book. This is the funniest book I have read.

                Bill Bryson lived in Britain for almost two decades when he decided to move to his native country America. But before leaving this island nation he decided to take a trip around Britain in public transports to discover why he loves this country so much, what is it that makes it so special in the world. His observations on the legendary English countryside, its people, their habitat and habits and vignettes of their history are as perspicacious as they are entertaining. He is extremely observant and even the seemingly trifle aspects of the country, British life and character spur him to contemplate serious matters. He visits parks, museums, walks around cities and towns, takes longer hiking tours from one town to the other and all the time finds some interesting facts to cogitate upon. His language flows naturally, his choice of words is most apt, narration is smooth and prose is absolutely lucid. He succeeds in lending immediacy to the narrative and the reader feels he is travelling with the author with irrepressible excitement bubbling in his heart. Bryson sees humor in every landscape, in every situation be it the verdant Westminster Gardens or the desolate coastal tip of Scotland, John O Groats, when he is enjoying the warm hospitality of convivial hosts in a small town inn or the hostile manners of a barman in Scotland who doesn’t understand his order. He has an incredible sense of humor and the book is worth every penny and every second spent on it. This is a marvelous travel book, a page turner from start to finish.

Feb 2012

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