In a Sunburned Country
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- ISBN13: 9780767903868
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In A Sunburned Country is his report on what he establish in an entirely different place: Australia, the country that doubles as a continent, and a place with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be establish on the planet. The result is a deliciously amusing, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, marvel, and unflagging curiousity.
Despite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely grave ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond that beaten tourist path. Wherever he goes he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted, and unfailingly obliging, and these beaming products of land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant sunshine fill the pages of this wonderful book. Australia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has establish in Bill Bryson its perfect guide.Amazon.com Review
Bill Bryson follows his Appalachian amble, A Walk in the Woods, with the tale 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-learned” Down Under in search of all things appealing.
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 part). He discovers that Australia, which started 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 Fantastic 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 lacking losing consciousness. It really helps not to know reasonably 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 appealing place. It truly is. And that really is all I’m adage.” 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 small closer now. –Rob McDonald
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This book has the exactly same content (word by word) with another Bill Bryson’s book under the title ‘Down Under’
I searched both books painstakingly and neither of them said anything about another book with the exactly content as itself.
I bought both and felt CHEATED.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
We are visiting Australia soon and a friend, who, like us, had loved his A Walk in the Woods and Everything You Wanted to Know …, recommended this book about Australia. It was not really worth the fee. Noted only a few things in the book which prompted me to want to visit or look further into them, like the abuse of the Aboriginals. Otherwise, prettty much a waste of time. My wife chose to give up on the book and didn’t even end it.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
Bone idle bone idle! How can Bryson dare having an opinion on Aboriginies when he doesn’t take the time to talk to one of them. He doesn’t bother visiting Tasmania or Brisbane therefore his journey cannot be perfect… Oppose to his previous literary works I find this one a bone idle dull unispiring read. His sense of humour is gone as well. I wish he didn’t hasten so much to meet his publishing deadline.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Mr Bryson undoubtedly is, as well as an original thinker who should also provoke thought in others.
Amusing that in 10 years of living in Australia, I never encountered any of the life-threatening creatures he writes so obsessively about – were they more appealing than the people?
The bizarre fetish for creatures less likely to cross your path than a flash of lightening would place anyone off traveling anywhere : you know, Canada has cougars, bears and wolves; Italy has earthquakes and volcanoes; for many Europeans the US is frightening because of the large number of citizens who own guns.
Amusing that anyone from North America should presume (as Mr. Bryson offers to do at the end of Chapter 17) to advise the Australian government on its policies regarding indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Australians. I remember learning a lot in French high school about Wounded Knee and additional wars, battles and forced removals committed in North America by colonists on the indigenous peoples.
Not so amusing : the problems of aboriginal Australians’ and aboriginal Americans’ health. According to the US public health service website : “Indians experience disproportionately high mortality compared to additional Americans from : Alcoholism : 740% privileged, tuberculosis: 500% privileged, diabetes: 390% privileged, injuries: 340 % privileged: suicide, 190%…” If Mr. Bryson has advice for the US government, I’m sure he can contact them through the site http://ihs.gov
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
You get your money’s worth here–there are a ton of CDs in this audio book. Sorry to say, I establish Bryson’s prose (which I loved a lot when reading silently, as I have done with his additional books) to be momentously irritating when spoken aloud. To me, he sounds kind of ‘affected’ in parts, and sometimes there is a sort of “moist” sound when he pronounces words. Hard to clarify until you hear the CD, but trust me on this one. I reflect a lot of the positive reviews on here are for the book, and not the CD. I would stick with the written word on this one.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5