After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson, the acclaimed author of such bestsellers as "The Mother Tongue" and "Made in America", decided it was time to move back to the United States for a while. This was partly to let his wife and kids experience life in Bryson's homeland - and partly because he had read that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another. It was thus clear to him that his people needed him. But before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire, Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. His aim was to take stock of modern-day Britain, and to analyze what he loved so much about a country that had produced Marmite, zebra crossings, and place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey, and Shellow Bowells. With wit and irreverence, Bill Bryson presents the ludicrous and the endearing in equal measure. The result is a social commentary that conveys the true glory of Britain.
Reacting to an itch common to Midwesterners since there's been a Midwest from which to escape, writer Bill Bryson moved from Iowa to Britain in 1973. Working for such places as Times of London, among others, he has lived quite happily there ever since. Now Bryson has decided his native country needs him--but first, he's going on a roundabout jaunt on the island he loves.
Britain fascinates Americans: it's familiar, yet alien; the same in some ways, yet so different. Bryson does an excellent job of showing his adopted home to a Yank audience, but you never get the feeling that Bryson is too much of an outsider to know the true nature of the country. Notes from a Small Island strikes a nice balance: the writing is American-silly with a British range of vocabulary. Bryson's marvelous ear is also in evidence: "... I noted the names of the little villages we passed through--Pinhead, West Stuttering, Bakelite, Ham Hocks, Sheepshanks ..." If you're an Anglophile, you'll devour Notes from a Small Island.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Fond farewells....:
I am constantly amazed at how many people seem to think of Brysons writing as "mean spirited" because it is not! He has merely appropriated the British trait of feeling able to grumble about everything and anything, but without malice. It comes from living somewhere where it rains a lot. You have to live there to understand it. This is what Bryson understands. And we Brits know he understands that. Many Americans have never been to Britain, and their understanding of it is garnered from great cultural icons... more info
A Funky Valentine to his Adopted Homeland:
Judging from his best-seller about Australia, In a Sunburned Country, you can expect Bryson to be a witty but irreverent surveyor of the tourist scene wherever he goes. In this case, having lived and worked in Britain for about 20 years, he decides to return to his native USA but not without first doing a sentimental farewell lap around the "small island" that is the United Kingdom. He sets out to revisit places that he loves, places that he has always meant to visit, and places that he has just read about... more info
Notes from a Small Island:
Funny, insightful comments about the English, plus a sort of travelogue to obscure (and other) parts of Great Britain. Desperately in need of chapters or some kind of organization! It's all pretty much run together.
Notes from a Gonna Be Big Author:
While not his best, it is always enjoyable to read the work of this, then aspiring, bestselling author. He just got better and better over time and Notes from a Small Island clearly shows his potential. Some of his authorial quirks, like overuse of sensational adjectives and truly uncontrolled use adverbs, aren't as charming in this earlier work but I'm glad he tamed those quirks latter without eliminating altogether. I've not spent any time in Britain and so some of his trademark dry wit may have whizzed... more info
