Cultured Travel Guide Books - In a Sunburned Country |
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List Price: $14.95
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 919.40465
EAN: 9780767903868
ISBN: 0767903862
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2001-05-15
Publisher: Broadway
Release Date: 2001-05-15
Studio: Broadway |
| Spotlight Customer Reviews: |
Customer Rating:  
Summary: A good read before going
Comment: I read this book before returning to Australia after forty years. I'd been there as an exchange student in 1967 and returned in 2008 with my grown son, for two weeks. I'd asked my son to read it to after I finished so that he'd have an idea what Australia was about. Bryson reports fairly and with humor. Even though it's been a while since it was written, what he wrote still holds true, although we found the music in public transportation in South Australia was all the way up to the 1980s, not the 1950s!
My only gripe with the book is his editorializing about how Australia has treated the Anangu (aboriginals). Americans have no moral high ground to stand on with respect to how we've treated native peoples. And while I do not pretend any expertise in the history or current affairs of Australia and aborigines, I believe Bryson's opinions in this area are inappropriate.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bryson? Yes. Informative? Definitely. Funny? Not very.
Comment: Reviewing a book that has been in print for eight or so years has an almost Rip Van Winkle feel to it. Like I just woke up and discovered I had missed something while asleep. However, I have to admit that picking up this Bryson "travel narrative" much later than the reviewers before me, and having read many of the positive reviews posted, I am sorry to say my tardy review won't be among them. This book just isn't in the same category as NEITHER HERE NOR THERE, NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND, or even his tale of a partial saunter along the Applachian Trail A WALK IN THE WOODS. The humor is just not there. It's as though Bryson was compelled to write 300 plus pages of something about Australia by his publisher and went to the library to find interesting bits and pieces among the stacks to pad it with. There is a lot of historical, geological, zoological, and botanical information contained within. In fact, the bibliography at the back of the book has three pages of very tiny print. While interesting and informative, especially to anyone who is going to Australia for the first time or has just returned from there and wants to relive the experience, there's little for the armchair traveler to really enjoy. The author doesn't interact with many locals, unlike his previous books, and goes off on a tangent about "the invisible people" (aka the Aborigines). It's a social commentary about the sad plight of these people when their culture clashes with white Australia. He interviews a few white people in the outback about their view of "Abos," (which is generally one of indifference) but doesn't talk to an Aborigine about his/her view of life alongside whatever whites he/she has had contact with. That aside, I have to say that I still like the way Bryson writes, when he's not lecturing me about flora and fauna or offering his liberal social opinions and sticks to well-written humorous slices of life. Sorry, Bill. I just can't recommend this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Australia thru the eyes of Bill Bryson
Comment: First off I'd like to say that Bill Bryson is a very humorous and talented writer. In a Sunburned Country is full of Bryson's humorous anectdotes and fluid --entertaining writing style. The book is certainly worth purchasing just for the laughs it provides and the opportunity to experience Australia thru the eyes of a real travel pro.
The only criticism I have of the book is that sometimes I feel that Bryson is making some of his unique encounters up--or embellishing his anecdotes and stories with a good dose of bullocks. But whatever his methods--I must admit that I loved the book and it has paved the way for me to make additional purchases of Bryson's travel books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: In a Sunburned Country
Comment: The book was sent promptly and was exactly as advertised.
Great service!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great intro to Australia and Australians
Comment: I read this book on the way to Sydney a couple of years ago at the beginning of a project assignment which called for me to spend about six weeks there. I enjoyed the author's writing style much more than a typical travel book. However, despite the light tone and the many humorous anecdotes, I found that Mr. Bryson really did effectively capture a "feel" for the culture. Time and again, as I interacted with the people while working with them, I was reminded of a passage in the book. I beleive that reading the book helped me relate to the people more easily. Highly recommended.
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| Editorial Reviews: |
Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In A Sunburned Country is his report on what he found in an entirely different place: Australia, the country that doubles as a continent, and a place with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet. The result is a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiousity.
Despite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond that beaten tourist path. Wherever he goes he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted, and unfailingly obliging, and these beaming products of land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant sunshine fill the pages of this wonderful book. Australia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson its perfect guide.
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