Down Under. [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

These evocative descriptions of Australia and its lifestyle are accurate and interesting. Facts, figures, history, extent and division of territories, flora and fauna; how they look, how deadly or how tame they are, and how many of them exist, will stir exciting memories for those who have been Down Under and paint a precise picture in the mind for those who haven't.

Events, how people look and what they say are recorded faithfully and with master of observation Bill Bryson's wonderful facility for making you laugh out loud, there are plenty of reasons for doing so. His running commentary on a radio broadcast cricket match, a game about which he knows nothing, is brilliantly inventive. There's not a single actual word or expression associated with the game but the nuance is stunning. Spiky conversations with his English producer friend as they drive to Ayres Rock, the sighting of a rotary clothes-line in the depths of the outback, confrontations with receptionists and waiters, a beer-drinking man at the bar of the Nambucca telling him "Dining room's closed mate. The chef's crook. Must have ate some of his own cooking" and a full tuckerbag more, are entertainingly, albeit rather hastily, delivered by the reader. --Running time 3 hours

-- Lyn Took -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Hörkassette .

As his many British fans already know, bearded Yankee butterball Bill Bryson specialises in going to countries we think we know well, only to return with travelogues that are surprisingly cynical and yet shockingly affectionate. It's a unique style, possibly best suited to the world's weirder destinations. It's helpful here: Bryson's latest subject is that oddest of continents, Australia.

For a start, there's the oddly nasty fauna and flora. Barely a page of Down Under is without its lovingly detailed list of lethal antipodean critters: sociopathic jellyfish, homicidal crocs, toilet-dwelling death-spiders, murderous shrubs (yes, shrubs). Bryson's absorbing and informative portrait is of a terrain so intractably vast, a land so climatically extreme, it seems expressly designed to daunt and torment humankind.

This very user-unfriendliness throws up another Aussie paradox. If the country is so hostile how come the natives are so laid back, so relaxed? As Bryson shuffles from state to state, he seeks the key to the uniquely cool Australian character and finds it in Australia's tragicomic past, her genetic seeding of convicts, explorers, gold diggers, outlaws. This is a country of lads and mates, of boozy gamblers--nowadays mellowed by sunshine and sporting success.

Down Under is a fine book. So it may not be quite as deliciously malicious as Bryson's The Lost Continent, nor as laugh-out-loud funny as Neither Here Nor There. But so what? A Bill Bryson on cruise control is better than most travel writers on turbodrive. --Sean Thomas -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Bill Bryson follows his Appalachian amble, A Walk in the Woods, with the story of his exploits in Australia, where A-bombs go off unnoticed, prime ministers disappear into the surf, and cheery citizens coexist with the world's deadliest creatures: toxic caterpillars, aggressive seashells, crocodiles, sharks, snakes, and the deadliest of them all, the dreaded box jellyfish. And that's just the beginning, as Bryson treks through sunbaked deserts and up endless coastlines, crisscrossing the "under-discovered" Down Under in search of all things interesting.

Bryson, who could make a pile of dirt compelling--and yes, Australia is mostly dirt--finds no shortage of curiosities. When he isn't dodging Portuguese man-of-wars or considering the virtues of the remarkable platypus, he visits southwest Gippsland, home of the world's largest earthworms (up to 12 feet in length). He discovers that Australia, which began nationhood as a prison, contains the longest straight stretch of railroad track in the world (297 miles), as well as the world's largest monolith (the majestic Uluru) and largest living thing (the Great Barrier Reef). He finds ridiculous place names: "Mullumbimby Ewylamartup, Jiggalong, and the supremely satisfying Tittybong," and manages to catch a cricket game on the radio, which is like

listening to two men sitting in a rowboat on a large, placid lake on a day when the fish aren't biting; it's like having a nap without losing consciousness. It actually helps not to know quite what's going on. In such a rarefied world of contentment and inactivity, comprehension would become a distraction.

"You see," Bryson observes, "Australia is an interesting place. It truly is. And that really is all I'm saying." Of course, Bryson--who is as much a travel writer here as a humorist, naturalist, and historian--says much more, and does so with generous amounts of wit and hilarity. Australia may be "mostly empty and a long way away," but it's a little closer now. --Rob McDonald -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

A new book by the world's funniest--and perhaps most eccentric--travel writer is always cause for rejoicing. Unlike many of his peers, who focus on typical destinations or touristy experiences, Bryson seeks out the odd, the little known, the one-of-a-kind, and the just plain weird. In his latest offering, which chronicles his exploration of Australia, he introduces us to a town that went without electricity until the early 1990s, a former high-ranking politician who hawks his own autobiography to passersby, an assortment of coffee shops and restaurants (Bryson is particularly fond of meal breaks), a type of giant worm, and the world's most poisonous creature, the box jellyfish. Bryson's use of language is unparalleled (he's also written two excellent books about the English language), and it is sheer delight to sink into his prose, especially his hysterical, enlightening, and sometimes moving descriptions of people and places we've never even imagined. His books are, quite simply, among the best and most rewarding travel literature ever written--head, shoulders, and torso above most of the competition--and this new title is a guaranteed winner. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Just in time for Sydney's upcoming Olympic games, this travel narrative from veteran wanderer Bryson (I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999, etc.) provides an appreciative, informative, and hilarious portrait of the land Down Under.And so once more to the wandering road, declares Bryson--which is music to the ears of his many deserving fans. This time it is Australia, a country tailor-made to surrender just the kind of amusing facts Bryson loves. It was here, after all, that the Prime Minister dove into the surf of Victoria one day and simply disappeared--the prime minister, mind you. There are more things here to kill you than anywhere else in the world: all of the ten most poisonous snakes, sharks and crocodiles in abundance, the paralytic tick, and venomous seashells that will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you. A place harsh and hostile to life, staggeringly empty yet packed with stuff. Interesting stuff, ancient stuff, stuff not readily explained. And Bryson finds it everywhere: in the Aborigines (who evidently invented and mastered oceangoing craft 30,000 years before anyone else, then promptly forgot all about the sea), in the Outback (where men are men and sheep are nervous), in stories from the days of early European exploration (of such horrific proportions they can be appreciated only as farce), and in the numerous rural pubs (where Bryson learns the true meaning of a hangover). Bryson is still open to wonder at the end of his pilgrimage: the grand and noble Uluru (once known as Ayer's Rock) reaches right down into his primordial memory and gives it a stir. I'm just observing that if I were looking for an ancient starship this is where I would start digging. That's all I'm saying. Bryson is a real traveler, the kind of guy who can be entertained by (and be entertaining about) a featureless landscape scattered with rocks the color of bad teeth. Fortunately for him and for us, there's a lot more to Australia than that.First serial to Outside Magazine; Book-of-the-Month Club selection -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Bryson toughs it out in Australia.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Dieser Titel ist in englischer Sprache.
Jedes Mal, wenn Bill Bryson zur Tür hinaus geht, kommt dabei unweigerlich unvergessliche Reiseliteratur heraus. Aus seiner vorhergehenden Exkursion den gesamten Appalachian Trail hoch und runter (nun ja -- den größten Teil zumindest) entstand der erhabene amerikanische Bestseller A Walk in the Woods. Nun ist er um die halbe Welt gereist, bis hinunter nach Australien -- ein überraschenderweise wenig erforschtes Land mit den freundlichsten Bewohnern, dem heißesten und trockensten Klima und der seltsamsten und tödlichsten Fauna des gesamten Planeten.

In a Sunburned Country ist Brysons Bericht über seine Erlebnisse dort -- eine herrlich komische, abenteuerliche und von Fakten nur so strotzende Geschichte von einem Autor, der es versteht, Humor, Staunen und unerschöpfliche Neugierde miteinander zu verknüpfen. Australien ist ein Land der Superlative. Es ist die einzige Insel, die zugleich ein Kontinent ist, und der einzige Kontinent, der zugleich nur aus einem einzigen Land besteht. Und obwohl es der trockenste, unfruchtbarste und klimatisch aggressivste aller bewohnten Kontinente ist, wimmelt es dort nur so von Leben. In Australien gibt es mehr Tierarten, die auf besonders unangenehme Weise töten können, als sonst wo: Haie, Krokodile, die zehn giftigsten Schlangen der Welt, flauschige, doch hochgiftige Raupen, Muscheln, die regelrecht angreifen und eine unglaubliche Quallenart, über deren Vorgehensweise wir an dieser Stelle erst gar nicht reden wollen. Die gefährlichen Kabbelungen des Meeres und die sonnengedorrten Einöden des Outback lauern ständig auf den Unachtsamen. Es ist ein wahrlich raues Land.

Bill Bryson liebt es natürlich, und er entführt den Leser auf eine ausgelassene Fahrt fern der üblichen Touristenwege. Australien ist ein Land, in dem interessante Dinge an der Tagesordnung stehen -- von einem Premierminister, der beim Schwimmen im Meer einfach verloren ging, bis zu einer japanischen Sekte, die auf ihrem 250.000-Hektar-Grundstück in der großen Wüste Westaustraliens möglicherweise völlig unbemerkt eine Atombombe zündete. Wo auch immer Bryson hinging (und Bryson geht fast überall hin), begegnete er Australiern, die stets fröhlich, extrovertiert und zuvorkommend waren -- die strahlenden Produkte eines Landes mit sicheren Städten, kaltem Bier und ununterbrochenem Sonnenschein. Hin und wieder tauchen in diesem Buch auch die Aborigines auf, die weit abseits lebenden, geheimnisvollen Ureinwohner des Kontinents mit ihrer tragischen Geschichte. Aber im Großen und Ganzen ist Australien ein riesiges und glückliches Land und mit Bill Bryson hat es seinen perfekten Reiseführer gefunden.

In a Sunburned Country, gerade rechtzeitig vor der Olympiade 2000 in Sydney herausgebracht, bietet die großartigste Einführung in das möglicherweise großartigste Land der Welt. Trotz der Monsterquallen. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

After tales from the USA and Britain, Bill Bryson turns his roving eye to Australia, the only island that is also a continent and the only continent that is also a country. It is the driest, flattest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents. It has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way that anywhere else. Yet when Bill Bryson travelled to Australia he promptly fell in love with the country. And who can blame him? The people are cheerful, the cities safe and clean, the food is excellent, the beer is cold and the sun nearly always shines. He tries to find out why Aussies are so cool, digging up a past that reveals convicts, explorers, gold diggers and outlaws.

Bill Bryson wurde 1951 in Des Moines, Iowa, geboren. 1977 ging er nach Großbritannien und schrieb dort mehrere Jahre u. a. für die Times und den Independent. Mit "Reif für die Insel" gelang Bryson, der zuvor bereits Reiseberichte geschrieben hat, der ganz große Durchbruch. Seit 1987 widmet er sich ganz dem Schreiben von Büchern. 1996 kehrte Bill Bryson mit seiner Familie in die USA, nach Hanover, New Hamsphire zurück. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.