Making up for lost time....

....wait isn't lost time a symptom of a psychological disorder...

And speaking of psychological disorders today's reviews are of several Bill Bryson Books.




There are several ways to do this - of varying degrees of interest to the reader:
chronologically - in either the order I read them or the order in which they were written, which is boring.
alphabetically - which is pointless
geographically - but where do you put the book on the English language?
- or just in any old order where I can draw random connections.... yes - that's the way.

Bill Bryson, travel writer and former Hanover, NH resident, is a bit of a polymath. He's really interested in just about everything, and that makes his stories especially readable as you are bound to find something you like every few pages. That is truly more than can be said for some of the greats of literature (I'm talking to you Tolstoy!).
These books - in no particular order (other than how they are listed above) - cover Bill's walk of (part) the Appalachian Trail, his travels in Europe with his childhood pal "Steven Katz", his trip around America in his mother's loaned Chevette

, ramblings around Australia and his explorations into what makes English ... well ... English. They are at times - incomplete (note the "part of" above), annoying and mildly obscene, observant, and boring. But even in those brief moments of minor annoyance the books still continue to be entertaining. Particularly funny at least to my migraine addled memory are the stories in In a Sunburned Country. Most of the stories - in typical dark comic brilliance - revolve around the various and sundry ways you can die and the things that will kill you in Australia, which by odd and frightening coincidence is practically everything, and mind you it's a very big country.

I found Neither Here Nor There probably the least interesting because I have little remaining interest in Europe having read, traveled and thought about it for most of my upbringing. However, if that is your cup of tea and you like insulting Austrians (and who doesn't) then belly up to the book and enjoy. The Lost Continent, IMHO, was far more touching as the reminiscences of an ex-pat upon returning to the land of his birth are insightful and at times poignant. It is also interesting to see how he captures the essence of each place he visits. Finally A Walk in the Woods is quite a good read, although I am rather less than impressed with Bryson's stick-to-it-tive-ness as he cuts broad swaths of geography out of his hike by taking.... a car. On the trail this is called slack-packing, and it isn't all that impressive to read about.

Finally - The Mother Tongue - which now sits mournfully in our bathroom to be perused when comic books, light reading, or car magazines seem too trivial. Too much information no doubt. Frankly, I'm not through with it yet but it has promise. That said, it is a nice sort of piecemeal work that you can pick up - learn a fact or two - and then set down again. I have many such books - much to the structural detriment of our house.

And in other news, if you have any interest to see how much money you can waste to go as fast as a Mitsubishi Lancer click here