You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

The lead discussion will generally contain spoilers!

There will be a separate thread for random Notes from a Small Island chat.

Hello everyone. I finished this book a few weeks ago so anytime you want to jump in here to chat I'll be waiting. I am interested to see how you locals take to the book versus my American perspective.

I'm only 30 pages in, so although it's quite good, I don't have much worth saying yet.

For context I'll declare myself a "local". Molly, have you ever visited the UK, or is the book describing somewhere you've only seen on TV and films and read about in books?

Another thought, if there are quite a few Americans in this group, and if we enjoy Small Island, maybe some might want to read Notes from the Big Country afterwards and compare reactions when the tables are turned?

C F S R wrote: "I'm only 30 pages in, so although it's quite good, I don't have much worth saying yet.

For context I'll declare myself a "local". Molly, have you ever visited the UK, or is the book describing s..."

That sounds like a great idea! I will be reading this book and I have never been to the UK. I've only traveled and lived (for a short time) in Eastern Europe. My impressions I have of England come from relatives who live there, relatives who have visited those relatives, several friends who have lived and traveled there and, of course, images through reading/tv/media. I really do hope to get there soon! I have some relatives in Wales who have been on me to come visit! Unfortunately, I have a fear of flying......

I have never been to the UK or anywhere much outside of North America really. The only British soil my feet have touched was in Tortola in the Virgin Islands. That's my kind of island!

I get all my knowledge from a friend who moved to the states from Edinborough in the early '80's, a former co-worker who moved to London in 2002 as well as shows from the BBC, Monty Python, classic literature, the news and what friends and family report to me from their travels there.

So suffice to say much of the book went right over my head - like I was missing out on a really funny inside joke. When I'm back at home and have the book in front of me I'll have to pull it out and post here looking for explanations to all the things I didn't get!

Molly wrote: "When I'm back at home and have the book in front of me I'll have to pull it out and post here looking for explanations to all the things I didn't get! "

Good idea. That should be fun. (I wonder if it's worth having a separate sub-thread for that? Jenny...?)

Molly wrote: "I get all my knowledge from ... Monty Python,..."

Ha ha. I like Monty Python, but I think Bill Bryson is probably a more accurate portrayal.

Yeh I can set up a seperate thread for that! I'm hoping to get hold of this book today so I ca join in!

Having read this book a few weeks ago and being a 'local' I think it's going to be really interesting see the different views on it.

I really enjoyed the book having been to a lot of the places Bryson visits and found it amusing and incredibly accurate too. I've also read his book on Australia, Down Under as it's called, and I did find it wasn't quite as funny but more informative possibly as I've never been. Be good to see if that's the case with this one too.

I'm feeling a little guilty about getting carried away on the related http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1... Blighty topic, so thought I ought to comment on the book itself!

I'm about a third of the way through and it's quite enjoyable. It's funny and insightful in places, though for someone who loves England as much as he says, he is a bit of a moaner.

It's clearly written for an audience who, if not English, are at least familiar with the country, so it's likely to be frustratingly obscure to some readers.

Overall, I'm enjoying it and will probably go on to read Notes from the Big Country, since I've got it in the same volume, and whilst I haven't travelled widely in the US, I have been there a few times.

C F S R wrote: "I'm feeling a little guilty about getting carried away on the related http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1... Blighty topic, so thought I ought to comment on..."


Hmmmm....now I'm having second thoughts on reading the book. I have so many books I really can't wait to start that I'm not sure I want to frustrate myself trying to get through a book that I won't enjoy due to constant references I just don't get. Perhaps I'll try Notes from the Big Country instead at some point. I've actually wanted to read his book, A Walk in the Woods Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail for quite some time now. So maybe I'll read that one soon! It was quite popular around here a few years back.

Jaime - I enjoyed the book despite never having visited the UK. He spends a lot of time describing experiences and people which is quite entertaining and you feel like he is taking you on quite the tour. I would say it is a worthwhile read - probably more appreciated by people from or visitors to Britain but certainly not frustrating to those who haven't, especially since having this group as a resource while reading is a great opportunity to fill in any gaps.

A Walk In The Woods is hysterical - one of my favorites.

I really enjoyed the part about getting navigational input - how to go and when to leave to get where you want to go. That's within the first few chapters.

Jaime wrote: "now I'm having second thoughts on trying to get through a book that I won't enjoy due to constant references I just don't get..."

I think it could still be amusing, but if your knowledge of the country is very limited, then maybe it wouldn't be the best use of your time.

I've lived all my life in England and, half way through the book, I am familiar with almost all the places he's been to, so I (generally) know what he's on about.

I'm still puzzled that someone who loves the country so much he lived here for 20 years, did a farewell tour and then wrote a book about it, doesn't actually seem as fond of it in his writing as he says he is.

I think he loves the country very much - he just gets frustrated by the lack of architectural preservation and the weather. I did wonder what the heck he expected weather-wise or activity-wise when he planned his sojourn in the fall which appears to be off-season. He is a curmudgeon!

Yes, I wondered the timing of the trip. I think he likes an additional excuse to complain (and maybe it was a relatively last-minute thing before leaving the country).

Overall, I confess I'm finding it rather tiresome: the ratio of insight and humour to grumpy repetition is not favourable. Fortunately, it's quite light, so one can read it reasonably quickly. That and the opportunity to discuss it with others are what will lead me to finish it.

The best bits are when he stops mentioning trains (or lack of), Marks and Spencer (did they sponsor the book?), urban planning, hotel rooms etc and riffs on broader topics, such as the language of menus, Liverpool's litter festival, attitudes to route planning, romatic place names and why Communism could have worked in Britain etc.

Even so, I'm less sure whether to follow it with Notes from The Big Country than I was at the outset...

I think he is at his best when he provides observational commentary on the society and people in it and less about specific sites. Regarding hotel stays, I did like his bit about amusing himself with hotel Olympics in his room - boredom of the solo traveler is entertaining. Or how he was smitten so easily by Princess Di's smile. His love of the map markings - benches designated in the middle of nowhere. Or his encounter with the Roman tile floor in the middle of the forest instead of a museum. Those parts were great to me.

His explanation of how he came to find himself hiking up mountains was great too - made me want to re-read "A Walk In The Woods" - if one is in your collection that is time well spent.

The amazing thing about this book, and all of Bill Bryson's books for that matter, is the way he manages to add snippets of random information here, there and everywhere. The textual meanderings are as informative as his actual meanderings, especially his descriptions of Fleet Street.

The first half of the book was stronger than the latter parts in my opinion, he seemed to have lost his way somewhere in Yorkshire and never quite got back on track but I actually enjoyed that as it seemed to add to the travel weary descriptions.

5/5 for me - loved it.

Emma wrote: "The amazing thing about this book... is the way he manages to add snippets of random information here, there and everywhere...
The first half of the book was stronger than the latter parts

I'm about 3/4 of the way through and whilst I won't be giving it 5*, I absolutely agree with your two points above.

Another part that I enjoyed was when he ventured into Scotland and tried to order a beer in a pub. I can relate to how he felt since whenever my Scottish roommate's father would call the only words I ever understood were Hullo and her name!

Jane wrote: "ALot of people get lost in Yorkshire never to find their way home again. I came here aged 21 one and am still here aged 42..."

You know, that might put some people OFF risking going there! LOL

I've just read the first chapter and had to laugh out loud at the discussion of which route to take to Cornwell. I have sat through many similar discussions, not in England, but in rural Pennsylvania. It's a small world.

What a mixture: there are some brilliant bits, but so much other stuff to plough through to find them. By the second half, he seemed rather bored of it all, and so was I.

I gave it 3* and wrote a full review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

When Jenny opens a "What did you think?" topic, I'll posted an abridged version there.

I once again am stuck at work without a copy of the book handy for reference :0(

I remember personally getting tired of recurring themes about architecture and rain. And I do think that toward the end he was getting anxious to be home once he was up in the far north where there wasn't a whole lot to keep him interested.

I would like to know if he wrote about anyone here's hometown/current home and whether you agreed or disagreed with his take.

I thought the weather got off surprisingly lightly, but certainly he went on too much about modern architecture (and trains). He also bemoans the homogeneity of high streets full of chains (rather than family shops), yet is annoyed at the lack of 24 hour opening - he can't have it both way!

I was fortunate enough to be familiar with most of the places he wrote about and I broadly agreed with most of his comments - perhaps it would have been more interesting if I hadn't, because then he'd have been giving me new insights?

Part of the problem (for me) was that he seemed to end up emphasising the similarities of places, rather than the differences.

I think there's a good book struggling to get out, but it needed a decent editor to make that happen.

He wrote about Cambridge (not my hometown but I live here now) and I actually agree with him on many points.

Firstly he is right about the effect of the awful bits of architecture. In Cambridge any building with the name Cripps is invariable a brutalist structure in urgent need of disposal, preferably by some sort of explosive blast. They completely ruin what is an ancient little city and the backs is completely spoilt by the Cripps building at Queens. I flinch everytime I see it and long for the day when it perishes in flames.

The market square is a mess to be frank, ideally they should knock down the Lions Yard shopping centre (which is about 10 shops, of which 8 would not be missed), move the market there and make the square a sort of French style eating area in the summer.

We do have many excellent secondhand book shops however, along with a giant Waterstones, Heffers and Borders. This alone is a reason to live here!

It's a shame he spent so little time on Cambridge, he spent far longer on Oxford (which is in fairness bigger) and had he spent similar energies on Cambridge it would have fared much better. There are endless greens and parks with all manner of grizzly stories and mysterious facts (reality checkpoint anyone?) which would have been good fun to explore.

I understand Bryson lived in Norfolk, or possibly still does, and spends a fair amount of time in Cambridge so perhaps he may revisit Notes from a Small Island one day and investigate the rather odd history :)

Emma wrote: "I understand Bryson lived in Norfolk..."

He lives in Norfolk now (after coming back from his 7 or 8 years in the US), but at the time of the trip round Britain, he'd lived in Malham, N Yorkshire for several years, having moved from London.

Good stuff Emma - maybe you should contact him and offer to co-write a follow-up!

I liked that he just picked up and wandered off wherever he felt like that day - sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't - that's the way it goes. And that he wrote about the good, the boring, and the bad equally made it sincere for me.

By touching on a little bit of everything it made me want to go see for myself - or at least find out about more from others in the know. Putting Cambridge on the list!

Ha ha Molly - that would be an amusing meeting. I get terribly star struck and doubtless would end up making a complete fool of myself :)

Yes, but I get the impression that Bryson, if you did meet him, wouldn't be too "starry".

I really enjoyed his excursions off the beaten path - along beaches or in the hills, through the country or in search of less popular attractions. That's what I like to do when I travel - see the major sites but also ask the locals what they recommend or just go wandering. I was surprised that for such a congested region there seemed to be so many less traveled/well kept secret spots.

But I really enjoyed the parts where he would fall in love with the language of the town names and let his imagination paint terrific pictures of what they sounded like they should look like.

And one other thing - I too enjoyed how he would find a way to mix in random facts and go off on tangents. But the painting minors - the Ashington Group - was really fascinating.

Molly wrote: "I was surprised that for such a congested region there seemed to be so many less traveled/well kept secret spots. ..."

Well statistically, it's a very crowded island, yet we have very few tower blocks and sky scrapers and there is also plenty of unspoiled countryside! Sounds like a contradiction, but I suppose it's because our homes and gardens (yards) are generally much smaller and that the areas of countryside and national parks are each pretty small compared with those in many other countries, especially the US.

Like you, I think the book was at its best when he got diverted, whether literally in his journey, or when he mused on language and history etc.

Emma wrote: "He wrote about Cambridge (not my hometown but I live here now) and I actually agree with him on many points.

Firstly he is right about the effect of the awful bits of architecture. In Cambridge a..."
Hi Emma, I used to live in Cambridge, has the library reopened yet ? What it is like ?

The Lion Yard library is STILL closed! It's been shut for so long now, I'm starting to wonder if it will ever open again. The second hand book store on the market is running a thriving trade from the looks of things :)

The University Library is having a whacking great extension at the moment and looks pretty fantastic (or hideous, depending on your views of that paticular building).

Emma wrote: "The Lion Yard library is STILL closed! It's been shut for so long now, I'm starting to wonder if it will ever open again. The second hand book store on the market is running a thriving trade from t..." I used to work as a librarian at Lion Yard just before it closed and I'm sure it was supposed to reopen spring 2008, so not sure what is happening, know what you mean about University Library, the same architect as Battersea Power Station (which explains a lot).

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be on vacation this weekend through the end of the month and won't be able to check in on or lead this discussion further. I enjoyed the book - was good fun and appreciate all my UK friends here defining some of the words I didn't know! For those of you who haven't finished yet, feel free to post your thoughts here and I'll enjoy reading them when I get back. Who knows, maybe I'll be inspired to write my own Bryson book after my short travels into Canada on vacation :0)

I'm reading both books for this month so I am about half way through this book and enjoying it. It's the first of Bill Bryson's books that I've read. I'm a bit of a nomad of this wonderful island and can relate to the places he talks about so it really is meaningful to me. Also, at 56, I can remember a lot of the issues he talks about, especially the move of the Press from Fleet Street to Wapping and the picketing at that time. I lived in London at the time and remember it well. A good read and very amusing!

I just finished reading this book and I liked it. I've only been to the UK once and that was a four-day trip to London so I don't know much. I don't usually read travel books and this was the first book by Bryson that I've read so I was pleasantly surprised. I expected the book to contain some humour but other than that I didn't know what to expect.

Concerning his complaining: I think he was just being true to what he felt. When you love something or someone, it's not just about the praise. There is always something that you don't like but you put up with it. I think it was only realistic that he wrote about the good and the bad. I still think his love for the country came across in his writing.

I also liked that his humour still came across in Finnish because much can be lost in translation.

3 solid stars because this is not really my genre and I could have used a more detailed map than the introduction provided.

A friend passed this book on to me but I haven't got round to reading it but now I've read these comments I might.

Epee wrote: "A friend passed this book on to me but I haven't got round to reading it but now I've read these comments I might."

Well if you do, come back and let us know your thoughts! As mentioned, I enjoyed this one. I still prefer his A Walk In The Woods. In another GR group there was a thread about audio books and everyone there was raving about Bryson's audio books because he narrates them himself. I imagine that would be quite a treat to listen to him read his books.

I still haven't read it. Maybe I'll read it next.

Epee wrote: "I still haven't read it. Maybe I'll read it next."

I know how it goes! So many books, and then life gets in the way :0)