Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Anyone read it? Just started and am laughing my head off at the Manly Beach escapade where he didn't know what one of those stingy jellyfish were...

Does it stay as funny? I am not yet in Oz so it's interesting to read so far, better than the Residents guide anyhow....:):thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsu p:

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Love that book, must have read it 10 times :)

Lots of laughs all the way through :thumbsup:

Even my Dad has read it and I don't think he's ever finished a book before :ohmy:

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Read it years ago - maybe I should read it again now I live here.

I love his writing and his sense of humour. Hard to believe he's American; must be all those years he's been in Yorkshire. ;)

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Yes def, must have been oooop North that did it....I am sure it made me sarcastic too!!!!! Or is it called caustic wit now?

PP

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Great book.... I like the bit where he falls asleep in the car and ends up drooling. His best book I think.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

'tis a most excellent book. My favourite bit is when he goes in search of those stromatalites and encounters some yank tourists. :D

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Left mine on the train from Brisbane to the Gold Coast which was annoying as it's an extremely boring journey and my daughter wanted to read it.

It's good except for the way he takes the piss out of cricket - typical Yank.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

That's one of the good funny bits for me :p Cracking book. I loved the deciding to walk around the edge of Sydney harbour and being chased by unseen dogs and ending up in some random woman's garden :rofl: Great writer.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

That's my favourite bit too. I wept as i was reading it and i laughed so much it made my jaw ache.

And the bit where he's running from dogs, holding rocks and then runs into the cobweb!

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

I don't like any of his books.

He wafts around the world with a smug sense of superiority which makes his 'humour' arrogant rather than amusing.

And more often than not he has his facts wrong.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

What facts are wrong in this book? I would hate to be reading it thinking it was gospel...

Or could you rec any other books by someone else that cover similar short histories on Oz?

PP

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Shouldn't worry about it. It's not supposed to be an encyclopaedia. It's a journalist humourous account of his travels so it's correct from his point of view with a bit of 'flair' thrown in. Not everyone gets other people's humour - as seen on here on a regular basis ;)

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Regular? Total ****ing sense of humour bypass on this forum lately. Bunch of morose shoe-gazing whinging manic-depressives. Colour the site black and be done with it ...

Oh sorry - should add - in my humble opinion... of course.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

that last bit always make me think of Uriah Heep in great expectations:rofl:

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

:rofl::rofl:

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Oi, speak for yourself :mad: I haven't and many others haven't :p Anyway, it's blue already, don't need the black :D

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

I do like Bill Bryson but you are right, I have noticed on various occasions he gets things wrong. None springing to mind right now though!

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

I loved the book & since loaned it to ppl with the same feedback , a damn good read & thats how it is to be taken . not as a travel guide or gods own truth .

Its funny , witty but not fully accurate .

Recently i read "notes From a Small Island , which was also a good read however some of his oppinions i disagree with but it doesn't detract from a good book .

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

I agree with you completely Icarus.

A Walk in the Woods is actually my favourite, he walks the Appalachian Trail with his friend Stephen Katz and it always has me laughing out loud! Down Under was good for a one off read but to me doesn't stand up to some of his earlier ones.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

I've not read that , I'm not much of a reader & i gave "Downunder" a go for obvious reasons .

I want to read his book about growing up in the US & i plan to get it , but i did just buy his latest book on Shakespeare ....believe it or not .... & i find it a hard book to pick up :D

but when i do i enjoy it too .

maybe his travel / life experience books are more my thing .

After all you can't beat experience ,

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

To be honest the book about him growing up is not fantastic if you are talking about the Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, The Lost Continent is better as it is about him visiting all the small American towns his Dad took him when he was a kid and other bizarre places. It tells the story much better.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

heh someone at work recently recommended a book for me to read never read a book since been to oz in a year. anyway your thread reminded me its by bill bryson a short hisotry of nearly everything ive just bought it any of you guys read this ??????
lesley

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

yes it's very different from his usual stuff but I liked it :thumbsup:

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

ok , i'll give that a go


whats it about ?:)

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

a short history of just about everything lol loads of information and his perception and views on everything thats ever happened in the world

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

It is one i want to read .. next stop Amazon

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

There s a lot about the evolution of the world if you have studied this at all you may find bits of it a bit boring.
I studied geology and plate tectonics so some of its a bit basic but he has a very engaging way of writing so it's not too dry

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

i would never of ever contemplated reading a book like this but because the customer at work is such a knowledgable person and i could talk to him for hours on many subjects i thought hmmm this sounds interesting.
at the end of the day its good to try different things.
considering the last title of a book he told me to read which i went into the store and asked the staff there if they had this so called book.they were a little taken aback and thought i had the title wrong lol.
typed the title into the computer and they had it on there shelves bought it and read it the same day.
"poke a stick at the seaweed and run away from the smell"
this was good also

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

* sigh*;);) My OH is reading this book at the mo!! We read it before arriving and hes now reading it from 'the other side' so to speak!! I am next in the queue to read it second time around... Very, very funny IMHO

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

never heard of that one will have to go take a look at it do you remember the author?

I find bill brysons books very entertaining this one is his most ambitious I think

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Found that hard work...just read it cos I felt I had to....if you know what I mean.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

so did you both enjoy it then?
any other books you can recommend on here used to love to read.
as for not getting everyone elses sense of humour on herre been reading a few posts lately and couldnt of said it better myself just been reading your post sarah on a meet up and think you should go ahead and arrange it i was looking forward to it lol.x why dont we do a bookclub????lol

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

this will be my first bill bryson book so guess just have to see what i make of it hmmm

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

I thought the cricket was hilarious and would have been funny written by anyone. The whole point he was describing it to someone who had never heard of it. I love the way he describes his initial thoughts about Australia - like men of a "certain age have a propensity to wear knee height socks".

He does seem to bumble around on his trips and never actually does anything which is part of his charm. His UK one was a classic with this.

He's the perfect expat having done both US and UK and ping-ponged.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

i guess that says enough to me i will enjoy reading this one i think lol xxx nothing better than a good point of view

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Hello,

I have read the book, and now that you mentioned I think I have mislead it, can't find it anywhere in the house...

... Anyway, going back to the book, I have read it and found it very funny and entertaining! I love Bill Bryson's writting. ;)

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

I loved Bill's book, read it several times so funny, especially the bit about the Australian men congratulating each other on being Australian. Only thing I disagreed with was the fun and good night to be had at the Daly Waters pub. The most miserable and totally tourist type hyped pub in the world. So many more superior outback pubs to be had found with no hype. His book became my bible (along with Lonely Planet guide) when I was travelling around in wicked campervan for 6 weeks on my own.:)

Ok maybe not quite, but it did become my companion 'cos quite a similar route to Bill.

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

I was doing an English GCSE a few years back and we did a mock test and we had to analyse a block of text which happened to be Bill Bryson. In just 4 or 5 paragraphs I knew I liked his style...looked to see what books he had and just had to get on called Down Under :lol:

Have read all of his books now. Favorites are Down Under and Thunderbolt Kid...

Re: Down Under by Bill Bryson
 

Have been bought it twice, just cant get into it.

should really try again.

nickie