Title: Neither Here or There: Travels in EuropeGenre(s): Travel
Image from: Goodreads
Rating: 2.5 / 5
When I found this book on my shelves, I was excited. For one, I do love Bryson's writing as I'm currently reading At Home which is something else I'll review if I ever finish it. I seem to be slow reading when it comes to non-fiction these days but, like the title says, that's neither here or there (groan here). This is his fourth published book, third in travel, and I was keen to read it. For one, I love the idea of Europe and really want to go back there one day. I've only been to Paris, which is lovely, but there is so much more to Europe than France and Paris. I've heard Germany is lovely, as is Rome, so I was really liking the idea of reading about places that I really dreamed about going to.
On principle, this is a lovely book about Mr Bryson's travels through the place. If you know where he is, then you can see them in your mind. If not, then you're a bit a fish out of water. However, there were a lot of points where I felt like I was in the bar with him and drinking with him. That was nice and cozy. I liked that a lot and felt his pain when he was in Yugoslavia when he was spending so little to have so much. The social interactions were what made the book sing and I just wished that there had been more of them. I felt myself cheering at the end when he's at the edge of Europe and decides to go home instead of going onto Asia.
Why I cheered is a bit twofold. While this book did help with the want to go to see more of Europe, it is also fell down in the same manner. There were a lot of stereotypes throughout the book, which Mr Bryson relied on heavily throughout the entire book, and made reading less enjoyable. I was done with the stereotypes by the time he got to Denmark and found myself wishing to be done wanting to speed read the rest by Austria. Another part where Mr Bryson fell down was actually describing the places. Sure, we could look them up via Google to see where he went, I didn't want to do that. I wanted the places he visited to be shown instead of told. The way that he writes is explaining where he goes but, save for when he visited the Vatican in Rome, I had no sense of space on where he was. Yes, he talked about all these walks and what were on the walks, but there was nothing to bring me to where he had been. There was nothing to draw me into the place where he was walking and that annoyed me more than anything. It's the reason that I was very happy when the book came to a close.
In ending, the premise of the book is wonderful. If you've been to the places where he has, then you'll probably enjoy the book more than I did. That is not to say to not read it, but more of a reason why I will probably not be giving this book a re-read next year. However, as in all interesting experiences and books in life, you should try it at least once.
No comments:
Post a Comment