Notes from a Big Country

Stephanie Jane reviewed Notes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson

A fascinating snapshot

4 stars

I thought Notes From A Big Country was my very first Bill Bryson book, but Goodreads tells me I had previously read At Home way back in October 2011. That was before I started reviewing everything I read and, I have discovered, if I don't write my thoughts about a particular book then my having read it often fails to lodge in my brain. Does anyone find this or is it simply a personal weirdness to me?

I'm supposed to be reading a literary novel at the moment, but it is just so hot on our campsite that I struggled to focus on it. Glancing around for an alternative, Bryson's volume of collected newspaper articles seemed to be a perfect fit for my attention span! Originally written twenty years ago, Notes From A Big Country is now a fascinating snapshot of American life at the end of the twentieth century …

I thought Notes From A Big Country was my very first Bill Bryson book, but Goodreads tells me I had previously read At Home way back in October 2011. That was before I started reviewing everything I read and, I have discovered, if I don't write my thoughts about a particular book then my having read it often fails to lodge in my brain. Does anyone find this or is it simply a personal weirdness to me?

I'm supposed to be reading a literary novel at the moment, but it is just so hot on our campsite that I struggled to focus on it. Glancing around for an alternative, Bryson's volume of collected newspaper articles seemed to be a perfect fit for my attention span! Originally written twenty years ago, Notes From A Big Country is now a fascinating snapshot of American life at the end of the twentieth century and also, in several aspects, a prophetic glimpse of what British life would become. Articles about ridiculous displays of choice in supermarkets, creeping obesity, ubiquitous effort-saving devices that are anything but, and practically-fraudulent advertisements, all seem uncannily familiar.

I love Bryson's dry humour which frequently struck me as very unAmerican - did this develop during his British years? He is endearingly inept with a great eye for a self-depreciating tale and I often giggled out loud at his observations and mishaps. There's nothing like schadenfreude to make a Brit laugh! If your reading mojo is suffering from heat overload too, I'd recommend a few of Bryson's short essays to revive you!

LemmiSchmoeker reviewed Notes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson

Review of 'Notes from a Big Country' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

What we have here is a collection of articles, written for an English magazine from back in the U.S. Here, Bryson keeps the readers updated about his struggles to readjust in his old home. Sometimes witty, sometimes a little too strained, he still manages to entertain and have the odd profound insight at the same time. His weakest side, strangely, is his humour: the articles that wholly rely on their quirkiness are the least interesting, and the punch-line of each article is reliably rushed and sloppy.

Overall, though, this is a thoughtful and funny book that is recommended at least to people from England and the USA – to broaden their horizon. In fact, the only people who shouldn't read it are those who just want to verify their prejudices about either country.

lattermild

rated it

Jan. 1, 2004

Notes from a Big Country

Subjects