3 1/2 stars. More Katz!

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	• Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe Bill Bryson Harper Perennial, 1999 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 161 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

3 1/2 stars. More Katz!

I definitely liked this sarcastic but warm book about solitary travels thru Europe, interlaced with fragments of a journey taken years earlier with a certain weirdo named Katz.

The glimpses into European culture are just great- how movie tickets are sold here, how food is served with attitude there. Also, there is great comedy in the scenes of being an odd duck in places like Lichtenstein and MIlan, but also rewarding beauty in Capri and Paris.

I wish two things: that there had been more about Katz, who is one of the most misanthropic figures I have come across in a while and that generally makes for good comedy; also, that the last three chapters hadn't felt quite so tired. I suspect that that is just a realistic impression of how the author did feel towards the end of his journey but it was anti-climactic.

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One of his best

Unlike "Small Island," this book sticks to big cities that are familiar to travelers. Alternating the present trip with a years-ago trip with Katz makes this more interesting. He has his rants and he sometimes whines, but he is always funny and the narrative moves right along. This is not a travel guide but a series of essays.

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Brilliantly funny!

Although Bill Bryson books are very popular (and deservedly so!), what originally prompted me to read one was a comment in a review of John Donoghue's book called Shakespeare My Butt! which likened John's style of writing and humor to that of Bill's. Since I'd enjoyed John's hilariously funny book so much, which is in part about his own escapades around the strangely named places in the North East of England, I thought I would give one of Bill's books a go too. I was certainly not disappointed. What a great book `Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe' is.

It chronicles Bill's escapades as a solo traveler around Europe in a hilariously funny way. Being pick-pocketed in Florence, food ordering dilemmas in Germany, hotel nightmares in Luxembourg, lethal motorists in Paris, and more - much more. It's all in there, and we've all been through similar situations too on our own travels. Bill's observation of Europe is spot-on, and the wit that he uses to relate his traveling experiences to his audience takes no prisoners. It's pure comic genius and certainly had me laughing.

Now the only problem is that I can't decide who my favorite author is, John or Bill - so I guess they will both have to take joint pride of place on my bookshelf!

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Neither Good nor Bad

Bill Bryson has a talent for turning his travel adventures into a humorous celebration of the obscure, the bizarre and the frustrating. He has a keen and often sarcastic eye for what will entertain the seasoned armchair traveler, and books like `Down Under' and `Notes from a Small Island' are filled with hilarious anecdotes and interesting insights into the areas he is exploring. Unfortunately `Neither Here nor There' is not as engaging or amusing as many of Bryson's other efforts, and seems like a rather hotch-potch attempt to fill a book with as many destinations as possible.

With around 25 destinations visited in `Neither Here nor There', Bryson does not have the time or room to exercise his trademark ability to unearth unusual facts and figures. He seems to rush around Europe and not greatly enjoy his travels, although a large beer and a big meal often appears to soothe his frazzled spirits. One thing that surprised me was that Bryson proudly refuses to learn even the most basic foreign phrases, which seems a little rude and ignorant. I started to suspect that this is partly because he relies upon language-barrier humor a little too much. He also does not meet with locals a great deal in this book, denying us the Bryson knack for meeting people who are either a little odd, or filled with fascinating information.

Although I did still enjoy parts of `Neither Here nor There' immensely, I found myself occasionally wanting to skip a chapter or two, which saddened me as I am a great admirer of many of Bryson's other books. I ended the book feeling I didn't know a great deal more about the cities he visited, and that the book was more an attempt to gather enough material for publication rather than a great travel story that needed to be shared.

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Bryson at his Best

This book is hilarious.

If you've ever travelled Europe or wanted to this book puts you into the passenger's seat. One of his earlier works, Bryson has the uncanny ability to distill what's funny about a people, place or situation and stamp his own brand of humour on it.

I've read all his books, I reckon this is 'Bryson's Best' to date.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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