Notes on Bryson

I’m reading Bill Bryson’s latest travel book about his adopted home, the U.K. 

Mostly he travels to small towns in England and Wales to inform the reader on the history and current state of affairs. We get a little bit of the writer’s personal life as he relates his past travels through the country. The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain takes a fresh look at English pubs, tea, country towns and cell phone etiquette in this hilarious travel diary.

It is one part journalism and two parts satire. Satire and observation make up the humorous (sellable) part of the book. Most towns have backstories explaining the name or historical figure associated with it. Too often the story or legend is dull and anything beyond a paragraph is too much for me. Much of the small town hopping is excessive; he seems determined to check as many towns off the list as possible. It doesn't ruin the story but does seem to pad it. The insight and wit Bryson displays make the slower parts less so.

Raised in Iowa, he gets the differences between America and Britain on food culture and customer service intuitively. Here, he sprinkles the chapters with personal stories from hotels in New York to B&Bs in West Wales. His take on pop culture and what has been lost in modern Britain is hilarious. He can’t help the ‘back-in-my-day’ approach to travel and what has changed since his famous Notes on a Small Island days, the book established him as a travel humorist (travelumorist?). I confess I haven’t read it but Bill references it so often this feels a bit like a sequel. Like most sequels it probably lacks the creativity of the first however. 

He spends a little time on the green zone debate in London. If you aren’t familiar it is similar to other urban planning concerns in major cities. Historical society types and do-gooders who think it is their business to take valuable land out of production have a massive green belt around London. Bryson loves the green space and although I don’t understand his enthusiasm for the green belt, his support of it really strengthens the conservationist tone of the book. He takes a few shots at the green belt Economist for wanting to sell off the unused space.

 The author does his history research throughout the book but doesn’t pummel the reader with useless hagiographies of every earl of this and count of that. He keeps it light and funny with delicious bits of anecdotes in every helping. He might of trimmed the fat on this project some. It isn’t a long book but feels slow in the middle and drags--a little like walking through the countryside.

The humor of the writer shines through brilliantly and the country that inspired him to enjoy nature walks gets another close up from the master cynic.