In a Sunburned Country | Bill Bryson | Don't be a drongo, enjoy this book

In a Sunburned Country | Bill Bryson | no worries, mate!

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In a Sunburned Cou...

	In a Sunburned Country Bill Bryson Broadway, 2001 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 409 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Don't be a drongo, enjoy this book

Bill Bryson loves and hates Australia. It's sunny climes and lush hills on the Gold Coast, flat open seemingly endless expanse of desert, and then another wonderful coast all serve to fill him with prose of praise for the place, and remarks on some of the stranger aspects of Ozzie life.

The people's charm is pleasantly placed next to the strangeness of a land where a Prime Minister can walk into the sea and no one hear from him again. Or that they built a city to house all the politicians, filled it with fantastic gardens, and yet have no idea how the government actually works.

The book follow Bryson on his trip around and across the southern-most continent and is chock-a-block full of interesting stories, people, and places. His usual wit and sarcasm does seem to fall off a bit, but (having been there I can say) that has more to do with the place than the writer. It's almost impossible to find nasty things to say about Oz.

If you've even been to Aussie-land you'll love this book for the memories it evokes, and if you have never been consider this book as a fantastic rainy-day travel guide and let your imagination sore (then get down to your travel agent and book a flight ;) ).

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no worries, mate!

i've never been to australia, but i feel like i've just taken a 3 week vacation there. bryson's style and descriptions are great.

A Hysterical, Entertainign, Educational Romp thru Australia

I wish I had discovered Bill Bryson's writing much earlier. I already have another of his books on order (A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail). Bryson's writing is witty and at times hysterical, as he takes us across the mysterious, engrossing and never ending source of gripping, tragic, tragic-comic, and comic stories that are Australia's history, people, land and unimaginable numbers of flaura and fauna. He is self-effacing but is willing to "efface" others when justified, not holding back when his encounters leave something to be desired.

He explores the Australian character via anecdotes of personal experience and history, and gives a comprehensive perspective and understading of this most unusual and mostly ignored continent/country. If you are interested in a voyeuristic experience that goes beyond the standard American's knowledge about Australia of kangaroos, Steve Irwin and the Bee Gees, and want to be laughing and enthralled at the same time, read this book.

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A More Mature Bryson

This is Bryson's fifth and latest (last?) travel narrative and in it he writes with a bit more confidence and maturity as he navigates from the "frappaccino heaven that is modern Sydney" to the Gold Coast, Ayers Rock, the tropics and beyond. And he does so in the classicly effervescent, witty, and thoughful manner for which he has become famous. This first hand account gets lots of support from historical snippets and overviews, almost all of which are intriquing. This is not as humorous as his other books nor is it as fast. Yes, in some sections it is somewhat slow, but certainly this only mirrors what traveling in a country as vast and relatively empty as Australia must really be like. Largely absent from this book too are Bryson's famous rants. He is enamored by Australia and seldom has a bad encounter or a bad thing to say although when he does, it's typically entertaining. His estimation of the country is that it is largely a blend of American and British influences, primarily the positive influences. If anything, this book should make you want to head Down Under yourself someday.

Troy Parfitt, author

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Bryson at his best and worst

As a fellow author---though I'd never be arrogant enough to include that in my user name---I have a love/hate relationship with Bill Bryson. I love reading about travel, and overall, though he is an angry hippie, he does write about interesting places, mixing in history, which is what I want to read about when perusing travel.

In this work, Bryson disucsses a lot about the Aussie history. That was pleasant to learn. Australia, a land of mostly good folks who understand their role in the world and, thanks to the great prime minister now fighting for re-election, recognize good and evil, unlike Eurabia and many other place. Bryson notes a lot of this and paints a stellar picture of the nation/island.

But....as usual, Bill runs into two problems:

1. Despite what some other reviewers say, the book is too long. I'm all for depth, but you lose your readers by penning a book of nearly 300 pages when it could be 200-250 like your others, Bill. Wordiness is okay, but some of the chapters could be half as long.

2. I know I am one of the few travel readers/writers, who is not a self-loathing, white guilt-laden leftist, but I don't need Bill to whine about the Aborigines. Surely they deserve mention, and the first few pages of Chapter 13's historical background is fine, but I didn't need the usual Bryson social commentary whereupon he bemoans past imperialism/colonialism and tries to act as a spokesperson for people he really could care less about. Then he spends page after page whining about the lack of coverage of the Myall Creek Massacre, even going so far as to bemoan a Memorial to the Two World Wars (tens of millions died in these wars to save humanity after all), instead of Myall Creek...where 28 aborigines were sadly murdered. More folks are murdered in a month in Detroit, Bill, you apologist. Thankfully, Bill found some lunatic reporter to talk with. 28 people no civilization has ever admired dying is clearly more important to him than real battles for freedom in Eurabia. (For the record, a google search in our white guilt, PC world of 2007, turns up hundreds of articles about the Myall Creek Massacre.)

Let's be honest though; this is what lefties, profs, etc do best. We can find enough of that in hippie books and college classrooms. in Bill's world and theirs, it's all about white guilt tripping over past racial injustice. Dark skinned individuals are presumed victims of Western imperialism. They have essentially a blank check to do anything they wish. The West is evil. We are allegedly the scum of the Earth.

That's what will always irk me about Bryson. Aussies deserve better.

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