Neither Here Nor There. Travels in Europe.: Travels in Europe (Black Swan) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Having groused his way across America in The Lost Continent (1989), Bryson (The Mother Tongue, 1990) now turns his attention to Europe. If it is any consolation to Americans, Bryson, an ex- midwesterner who has lived in England for the past 15 years, finds almost nothing to praise between the Arctic Circle and the Bosporus. Bryson's crankiness could have proved amusing--after all, Mark Twain's did in Innocents Abroad--but the humor here is meanspirited and juvenile (in Copenhagen, a hung-over Bryson notes that ``I needed coffee the way Dan Quayle needs help with an I.Q. test''), with defecation, flatulence, and eructation far too often figuring into the comic repertoire. Nor do original insights abound as Bryson retraces the steps of a journey he took two decades before, traveling from Norway to Istanbul, stopping at many of Europe's capitals (Paris, Brussels, Stockholm, Rome, etc.) along the way. He offers such comments as: ``Parisians are rude,'' ``Swedes are heavy drinkers,'' and ``the Swiss are dull and conventional.'' Consistency is not Bryson's strong suit either. While in Naples, for instance, he complains, ``I found...mean, cavernous, semipaved alleyways with...washing hung like banners between balconies that never saw sunlight.'' Yet when he reaches modern and manicured Milan, he pines, ``I wanted pandemonium and street life...washing hanging across the streets.'' Meanwhile, lines like ``let's be frank, the Italians' technological contribution to humankind stopped with the pizza oven'' are also no help. Smart-alecky and obvious, with the wit of Bryson's first two books curdled into waspishness. (Maps.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Born in Iowa, Bryson (A Walk in the Clouds) backpacked through Europe as a young man. While living in England some 20 years later, he revisited many of the same places, and here he jumps back and forth between old memories and new experiences. He begins with rather negative incidents and throughout spends a great deal of time on his woes, often due to hangovers, missed opportunities with young women, and difficulties with transportation and hotel personnel. Bryson is a rather talented, opinionated writer who obviously has spent a fair amount of time walking and traveling by bus and train in Europe. Since he is given to serious profanity at times and brushes upon topics such as sex with animals and prostitutes, this is definitely not family entertainment. His descriptive ability is considerable, and his commentary, while rambling, is generally interesting. His enunciation and inflection are good, but an affected British accent creeps in at times. It's like a self-indulgent memoir of which few will care and some will be offended. Only libraries willing to risk patron indignation at his profanity, some of his topics, and his repeated generalizations about nations and their people should consider.ACarolyn Alexander, Brigadoon Lib., Salinas, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

New reversion to Transworld, subtitled }Travels In Europe{. "Hugely funny (not snigger-snigger funny, but great-big-belly- laugh-till-you-cry funny" }Daily Telegraph{.

In "Neither Here nor There" Bill Bryson brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. Fluent in, oh, at least one language, he retraces his travels as a student 20 years before. Whether braving the homicidal motorists of Paris, being robbed by gypsies in Florence, attempting not to order tripe and eyeballs in a German restaurant, window-shopping in the sex shops of the Reeperbahn or disputing his hotel bill in Copenhagen, Bryson takes in the sights, dissects the culture and illuminates each place and person with his hilariously caustic observations. He even goes to Liechtenstein.

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.