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Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (平装)
by Bill Bryson
| Category:
Travel, Travel writing, Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 158.00
MSL price:
¥ 148.00
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MSL rating:
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| MSL Pointer Review:
A humorous and insightful look into travelling in Europe. Typical Bill Bryson writing, good for language learning. |
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AllReviews |
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Kirkus Reviews (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
Having groused his way across America in The Lost Continent, Bryson now turns his attention to Europe. If it is any consolation to Americans, Bryson, an ex-mid-Westerner 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 mean spirited 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, semi-paved 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. |
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Kyle Heartt (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
I just returned from a Eurail trip, through Europe of all places, last week. I had never heard of Bill Bryson before I left, but I met this girl laughing out loud in a London Youth Hostel. She was reading Brysons book about travelling through the States and highly recommended it to me. Unfortunately I was on my way out of London that day and never got to a bookstore, but the name stuck in my mind. Four countries later (having looked in Spanish and Portugese bookstores) I was desperately in need of something more to read than my Let's Go and Thomas Cook (which I was near having completely memorized). Lucky for me I was in Gibraltar where I found a nice little english bookstore. Fortunately they didn't have "Travels...", but had this other book Neither Here, Nor There. Since it was about Europe it only made sense to buy this book and have a go at it. Having just previously been or been close to all of the places he highlights, I absolutely busted a gut every time I read a chapter or two. I was thoroughly enjoying this book and looking forward to fininshing it in tandem with finishing my own trip, when something ironic occurred in Italy. I had just been reading the chapter (laughing of course!) where Bryson gets pickpocketed in the Italian quarter of Switzerland; that night I was on a train to Rome when my backpack was nicked from underneath me. Despite losing really really important stuff, I also lost "Neither Here, Nor There." I couldn't help but think of Brysons similar situation which I had just read, thinking of this made my situation all the more funny, despite not being able to finish my trip. The main point here, although this is not your regular review format, is that Bryson is an extremely witty writer and right on in his assessment/observations of Europe and its people. Newsweek would say "Brillianly Funny!" I just say if you've been to Europe, or know anything about it, read this book. It doesn't matter if you've been to all the places or not, you'll still be crying by the end each chapter! One word of caution; if you take this book along and read it on your trip, he may rub off on you as you write in your own journal. You'll begin to see places through a slightly distorted, although humorous, lens. I even started to write a bit like him. In any case enjoy, and happy travels! Oh yes, I would probably give this book a five star rating, but I still haven't read the last few chapters; so all I can say were that 4/5 of this book were excellent! |
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Claire Vandenbroek (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
To those of you who have not visited Europe, do so and this book will be even more funny than it already is. Amazingly recognizably and absolutely hilarious, Bill really captured the essence of Europe (J/K)! But to be serious, which even Bryson can do and in a very entertaining and interesting way, he seems to have experienced exactly those little things that you might not notice when you're doing the Europe-in-a-Week tour, but that are definitely there for the more observant traveler.
I am quite sure most Europeans will recognize their own country in this book. I know I did! (The Netherlands) But even more interesting were the countries I visited, such as Norway, where the movies are quite a strange experience. One buys a ticket that has a pre-assigned seat, as theatres in Europe often do. Naturally you just sit down wherever you like, who cares about the ticket? And even then the tickets are distributed so that people are evenly spread through the theater. However, in Norway, they have a mysterious system that, I'm sure for some strange incomprehensible reason, places everyone in the middle of the theater, stuck together in a small group. Now the system wasn't what amazed. What was truly strange, was that people actually abided by these "rules"! It wasn't until my Norwegian friend and I decided this was absurd, got up, and reassigned our own seats, that soe people suddenly managed to get the courage to get out of those seats and actually... move two seats over! Wow.
Then of course there are the French. Whenever I tell people about Bill Bryson, I grab this book, and look up the story about Bryson going to the bakery's in Paris. (not exactly quoted, don't have the book with me, but pretty accurate probably) In French, he attempts to ask for a loaf of bread please. Of course he gets the "who the hell are you and what the hell are you trying to say" look first, then the woman reaches behind the counter, grabs something, and then slams a dead beaver onto the counter. In his very best French, he tries to explain that he did not ASK for a dead beaver, he wanted a loaf of BREAD. The woman looks at the other costumers and says, in French much too fast for him to understand, something about the stupid foreigner asking for a dead beaver, about her then giving him a dead beaver, and now he's saying he didn't want a dead beaver at all, he wants a loaf of bread. Of course the other customers then looked at him "like he had just farted in their handbags", and he quickly leaves France for Belgium, where he'll hopefully get something to eat again.
This is just a taste of what you'll read. Need I say more? Bill Bryson speaks for himself, wherever he travels. |
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Michael LaRocca (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
You must know by now that I never write a bad review about this guy. In this book, we take a whirlwind tour of Europe. You can read the cover blurbs about how funny and perceptive he is, and how skillful he is with the language, and how eminently readable he is. I agree with every word. But I'd like to mention that this isn't some snooty tour guide or gushing forth bubblehead. He's an average guy who won't hesitate to tell you what sucks, or leave a place that he doesn't like, or bend over backwards to say nice things. He'll bash anybody, himself included. He's refreshingly honest.
Plus, if you had it in your head that Europe was just one homogenous place, or if perhaps you've heard a whole bunch of national or cities names and characteristics and can't keep them all straight, this book will fix that right up. In addition, if you're overseas but in a country nowhere near Europe, perhaps some place in Asia, you can still enjoy some very familiar situations. In case you haven't guessed, I highly recommend this book. |
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A. Leung (MSL quote), Hong Kong
<2007-01-04 00:00>
In Neither here nor there, Bryson soaks up Europe and sprinkles it with his wit, observations and humor to go. You have to admire his ability. He goes to Rome and Paris and Berlin, but doesn't stop there because this is Europe we are talking about. He finds himself in Bulgaria and Hammerfest, looks at Istanbul and trots along Oslo. What is the result?
An undoubtedly entertaining book. The first few chapters are as fresh and engaging, the words flow through your conscience magically. One country's culture is analyzed and evaluated in the most brilliantly delightful way. There are jokes. None of them are subtle and are all of the same mode, Bryson-esque, and for 75% of the time, they please. He makes a particularly good day of his a good chapter. You laugh. He loves the sunshine, museums and parks.
Then sets in. Bryson appears to enjoy making fun of people. He makes fun of himself and pleases the reader at his expense, but openly insulting a poor waiter? And there are the occasional comments that you have to read several times in order to come close to not saying, "Hey, this is racist." And he uses the term, 'What a wonderful country', several times. He spends too little time here and rushes off to the next, only to waste pages and pages there. Why does he always tell us about his experiences with dining? It begins to flag. And his travels become slightly tiresome. He has to go to parks and museums. You begin not to care about whether or not he goes to Sorrento and Capri because you know he'll throw around the same jokes and make roughly the same comments as he did with Rome. It's only during the last quarter of the book, which is a bit too late, that you feel this is a good book. Because you realize the contrasts between the beginning and the end. These are pedantic quibbles, but they are warranted and should be considered.
Bryson is honest with us. He shares his opinions, recalls his travels with Katz twenty years earlier, relieves us with extremely amusing anecdotes. He tells us whether he likes this place or that, or whether he loathes whatever. It is great but, because he stops inventing after a while, it becomes a slight chore. And the question that I ask is if Europe can be condensed into bite-sized diluted pieces of writing to form a 300-page book. No?
If you aren't particularly critical and enjoy a read where for the most part, you can leave your brain behind, Neither here nor there is a smashing read. But, and here it is, but his later books, especially Note from a Small Island and A Walk in the Woods are much more enjoyable, detailed but at the same time readable. This isn't to say Neither Here Nor There isn't good or delectable or lovable, but it simply isn't as good. His later books seem like results of learning from mistakes in this book and, it comes down to this, they are much more worth your cash. Invest in these books if you want Bill Bryson. If you've read all of his except for this, you'll probably be disappointed. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
When a prejudiced guy goes abroad to nourish his prejudices, it begets a book full of clichés. Sure, BB is subtle enough not to let us in on his preconceived judgments, but he definitely carries a bagful of them. The book even lost its (claimed) humor on me because, as an European, I've been familiar with all those commonplaces in ages. "Neither Here Nor There" is so shallow that it has almost nothing to do with what Europe is about. Indeed, BB should stick to his English teaching knack.
(A negative review. MSL remarks.) |
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A European reader (MSL quote), Europe
<2007-01-04 00:00>
I did not find this book funny. I DID find it mean-spirited, intolerant, and whiny. And let me state for the record that I have backpacked through many of the countries Mr. Bryson visited.
I have only the following to say to him:
- The idea of traveling is to be able to experience and encounter new cultures societies and accept them for what they are, not to criticize, criticize, and then criticize some more. So the Germans and Swiss have an inordinate number of rules, and the French cut queues. Nobody asked you to visit, and if you don't like it you can always go home.
- Not everyone speaks English.
- The Second World War ended 55 years ago (or 45 years at the time he wrote the book). It is not nice to keep harping on it, when those responsible for it have expressed their contrition and been punished. (If he has a problem with the Second War, go pick on the Japanese, who seem able only to whine about 2 nuclear bombs being dropped on them and have conveniently forgotten the countless atrocities they committed in Asia.)
- Industrial development is an inevitable part of progress. It cannot always be done in a pretty manner, and even if it could, that might cost money which the country can ill-afford to spend. So too bad if you find that your sense of aesthetics offended; the decisions of governments are not made with only you in mind.
- It's perverted to want a place to have more dangerous, reckless drivers just to fit your image of what that country should be like.
- Things change in 18 years. Doubtless you were a lot more tolerant when you were 20. It's sad to devote a holiday to revisiting the places you went to long ago and, instead of reveling in the familiar amidst the different, spend it tut-tutting about how different it was 18 years ago. Quit dwelling in the past!
- It would be nice if you could be happy about more tourist dollars enriching the local economy instead of whining about the inconvenience additional tourists pose to YOUR personal comfort.
- You complain about hordes of American/Japanese/German tourists spoiling everything, and bemoan the prospect of more tourists on group tours clogging up Europe. That's not the problem, the problem is all the whining that emits from these tourists, and unfortunately, in terms of attitude, you are indistinguishable from them.
- A holiday goes a lot easier if you PLAN and BOOK in advance. Then you won't have to spend so much time queuing for tickets only to be told they were sold out ages ago. Then you won't have to complain so much.
- On the last page, you state a desire to forge on ahead and see Asia. PLEASE DON'T COME HERE. You can't even survive Europe without complaining about the crowds and the litter and the service and the people. What makes you think you can survive here? And we can do without the worst kind of tourist of all - a cross between the American whiner and the intolerant Englishwoman he complains infests Italy.
(A negative review. MSL remarks.)
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Bruce (MSL quote), Canada
<2007-01-04 00:00>
I first heard of Bill Bryson when someone mentioned him to me in a conversation. So, off I went to the bookstore, looked around, and thought, "The Europe one sounds good." I have been to some of the places Bryson visits (Amsterdam, Paris, Belgium, Germany - but not the part he went to, and Istanbul) so; I wondered how we would compare notes.
A comment about the other reviews here; Bryson is accused of xenophobia (Fear or contempt of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples) and other such politically incorrect attitudes. However, I think such designations are a bit of an over reaction. I do agree with one reviewer that there seems to be some gratuitous swearing and this could have been scaled back.
I found it interesting when Bryson visits places that are probably not on non-European's Travel hit list; Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Yugoslavia. However, it is interesting to see what he thinks about these places. In this book, one gets a sense of what it is like to go traveling; one must constantly find places to stay and places to eat. The downside to this is that Bryson calls nearly every place he stays at very expensive; one wonders if he is comparing it to the USA... At one point, he recounts a familiar (to me anyway) traveler’s dilemma; one travels to experience a different culture, yet one still wants pieces of home for comfort (whether it me English-language television, recognizable food, air conditioning etc) and to acquire these comforts is often prohibitively expensive.
Some of my favorite parts were in Yugoslavia (he went there before all the wars, bombing etc wrecked the country), Italy and Scandinavia. A common problem that I have experienced in certain parts of Europe is communication. I have undying admiration for the Dutch; everybody in the Netherlands speaks 3 or 4 languages. I am fluent in English and to lesser degrees in French and German. Yet, I think it better to try to communicate in the local language than always blunder around in English. Sometimes strange things happen; once I was in a small town in Turkey, and in not a few shops, I met people who knew German.
I also agree that Bryson is fun to read and reading this reminds me of meeting people on the road and swapping stories. I have just started reading his book about Australia (title: In a Sunburned Country) and I think it is much better researched (there is a bibliography), the writing seems better but perhaps it is somewhat less funny (in the course sense of the word).
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An African reader (MSL quote), Africa
<2007-01-04 00:00>
Many of the negative reviews of this book point out that more often than not Bryson goes of on complaint tangents about a slew of things about his travels. I must agree with these critics. It seems obvious that if you don't like the bizzarity of red-light districts don't peruse them or if you don't want to spend an uncomfortable pair of days on a bus bound for the outer reaches of Norway don't board the bus. Simple as that! Yet Bryson does these things and finds fault with them. I believe that may have something to do with America and maybe only Americans can understand this. We are a country who, for many of us, love complaining more than not. We are not stoics. We are commenter and fault-finders. In this manner I can identify with Bryson as I myself have been a traveler in Europe and frequently felt the same way. Another negative that stopped me from giving all the stars to this finely written book is Bryson's pervasive hate of industrialism or mass commercialism and mass tourism. I'm sorry to say it, but if we take a quick peek at the recent history of Europe we see that it may have never been the storybook/postcard destination that Bryson envisions. Maybe he had such a hard time finding his perfect Europe because its a figment of his imagination. Let's take a peek at this history- for the first half of the last Europe was rocked by the two most devastating wars ever- before that Europe experienced fifty years of instability as revolutions came and were violently suppressed in nearly every country-before that were the massive invasions of Napoleon-before that was a country were you were luck to live to your twentieth birthday and not be killed by Europe's world-famous crowd diseases that spawned from Europe's history of pure squalor and lack of anything that we would today recognize as sanitization. Now Bryson complains about the culture sapping American-style commercialism and Disneylandish style tourism. If that Europe's biggest problem all Europeans and travelers should thank their lucky stars when comparing this with Europe's past history. The Europe Bryson wants is elusive in that Europe may never have been the perfect combination of unseemly commercialism and sanitation that it appears he wants. I gave the book four stars because it is one the few books that I read that made me laugh out loud. It is extremely well written. Bryson's sense of humor even during the complaint sessions is amazing. I suggest anybody who has ever even thought of Europe to read this immediately. |
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Glen Eagle (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
Before embarking on a longish trip, Jill and I like to read about the places we are going to visit. Not just guidebooks - although I must admit we buy those by the pound - but travelogues, histories, and novels set in those areas. Sometimes this is easy. Italy and the Galapagos are well represented in literature. Other places are not so visited by those whose inclinations are to put pen to paper or hands to keyboard, including Ecuador and Costa Rica. At the present, I am unsure of where Austria and Switzerland will fall, but the thought has crossed my mind that a well-placed proposal might nab me a book contract.
As histories go, Austria is completely overshadowed by its larger German-speaking neighbor. This is unfortunate. While it is understandable that historians be interested in Germany, Austria has plenty to answer for in the last century as well. The same goes for the Swiss, who sorely need some bright lights shone in their shady vaults and executive suites, as the recent findings about Jewish bank accounts proves.
The problem in travelogues lies in the fact that no travel writer seems to go to either of these countries by themselves. Nestled in the heart of Europe, they are waystops between places - like from Germany to Italy or France to Russia - and while travelers may make it a point to stop in, say Salzburg or Zurich, for the night, the urge to stay never comes over them. According to Bill Bryson, the lack of this urge may not be wholly the blame of the visitor.
Austria and Switzerland each get a chapter (out of the total 22) in Bryson's Neither Here Nor There. Similar to his first travelogue, The Lost Continent, this one has Bryson still trying to recapture earlier days, but in Europe. Although American by birth, Bryson is thoroughly British in his writing and wit. His journeys resemble those of Redmond 0'Hanlon, except more cosmopolitan acid without a companion. It is not that things go wrong necessarily, but that when they do so he describes it so hilariously.
Something that Bryson does not describe is how he can afford his trip - both in time and money. He mentions wife and children seldomly, although he has both. He does not mention regular employment, but I get the feeling that he is not independently wealthy either. It is neither here nor there, but I am intensely curious (if only to see if it is possible to emulate).
I am not sure that I learned that much about my upcoming vacation here, but Europe through Bryson's eyes is almost as much fun as going yourself.
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