Title: Neither Here Nor There
Author: Bill Bryson
Type: Non-Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 304
Rating: 3/5
I’d been looking forward to reading this one because I picked up Notes from a Small Island a few years back and enjoyed it so much that it made me want to read everything else that Bryson has ever written. Somehow, I’ve ended up picking up nearly a dozen of his books without reading any of them and this is what I picked up when I finally got back to him.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as I was hoping to, and I think that was mostly because of how negative Bryson was about everywhere he visited. It just felt as though he was complaining his way across Europe, and rather than giving me the travel buzz as I was expecting, it made me feel pretty glad that I was at home.
Still, it’s not all bad, and there are little jokes here and there that made me chuckle. I also liked seeing what Europe was like in the late eighties and early nineties, and there were a few places he went to that I’ve been to as well, including Amsterdam and Milan. It’s kind of funny because Amsterdam is probably my favourite of the places that I’ve visited and Milan is probably my least favourite.
All in all, then, this was kind of a disappointment for me, but perhaps that’s just because I had such high hopes after my last brush with Bryson. It was fine though, and I’m glad that I finished reading it. I guess I’m just a little worried about the rest of Bryson’s oeuvre seeing as this sounded like one of his best. Oh well, it is what it is.
Bill Bryson
