Funny, with its best observations coming from out-of-the-way places

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	• Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe Bill Bryson Harper Perennial, 1999 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 155 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Neither Here Nor There

I read this book shortly after my study abroad trip to Rome. I found Bryson to be very humorous and laughed out loud numerous times. I enjoyed the book while i read it in about 3 days flat.

My only issues when getting further along was when he obviously began to be homesick. He would pick on each location and pick apart what problems they had and complain about it. After a while he just became cranky and made you almost want to quit reading the book. He rushed through his trip near the end and it was sloppy.

Although a good amount of what he said still applies today, but this book is out of date to read about current Europe. He took this trip back in 1990. It's been 17 years and I would not use this book to accurately give a feel for each city visited.

I still more or less enjoyed the book and would read just to refresh myself on my own memories of Europe and to have a good chuckle.

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Funny, with its best observations coming from out-of-the-way places

In this book, Bill Bryson embarks on the grown-up version of backpacking across Europe. Having wandered Europe twenty years previously with a friend named Katz, he revisited some places and observes how they have changed.

Bryson has the idea of starting at Hammerfest, in far northern Norway, and then working his way south to Rome. Because he wants to see the northern lights, his journeys begin in winter, when the Arctic is still dark and, of course, cold. The northern lights don't appear to him for a couple of weeks, so the book begins at a leisurely pace, with Bryson hanging out in a dark, cold city where there really isn't much for a tourist to do.

Moving south from Hammerfest gives Bryson many cold, rainy days in Copenhagen and Stockholm before he can't take it any more and goes to Italy. From there he hops from one city to another, ending in Sofia, Bulgaria. His slower pace in the first part of the book gave him many opportunities to talk about the people in each place; in Italy, his observations tend to focus on the physical plant instead. When he gets to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, however, his observations tun personal again.

Oddly enough, Bryson's most pithy observations are about the people but he doesn't spend much time meeting them. He comes across as a loner who is happiest wandering the streets of an unfamiliar city, visiting the museums, and then having a large number of beers at the end of the day. That strategy means that he risks making unfamiliar generalizations about the people around him, so it's remarkable that his observations don't necessarily jibe with the stereotypes. However, he doesn't pass up a stereotype if he can make a good joke.

Bryson is at his best when on the road less-traveled, from Hammerfest to Sofia, and he doesn't have much to say about the Romes of the world. He's a gifted writer, and it's a pleasure to accompany him.

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Laugh-out-loud funny

A hilarious madcap ride through Europe. Bill Bryson always makes me laugh out loud. Don't miss the chapters on France and Belgium; they are priceless, especially if you have ever spent any time in those countries. This book is a must-read for all those with wanderlust and a sense of humor.

<< Walk in the Woods

I really did laugh out loud at times. Bryson tells of travels in Europe both of recent times and flashbacks to a trip through Europe when he was younger. I especially enjoyed the parts on places of Europe that I have visited myself. I was a little disappointed there wasn't much time spent in Germany. In this book, Bryson seems to try and get laughs at the expense of people. I had to knock off a star for that.

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Great Book for those who have traveled to Europe

Bill Bryson is so right on with the quirks of Europe. It's a great read for those who've traveled there, because he can take you back to those moments and make you laugh. I recommend to my friends who haven't been there to let them know how Europe really is. Even after being to Europe and reading his book, I'm still going back there on Vacation !!!

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Like many of his generation, Bill Bryson backpacked across Europe in the early seventies -- in search of enlightenment, beer, and women. Twenty years later he decided to retrace the journey he undertook in the halcyon days of his youth. The result is Neither Here Nor There, an affectionate and riotously funny pilgrimage from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul, with stops along the way in Europe's most diverting and historic locales. Like many of his generation, Bill Bryson backpacked across Europe in the early seventies--in search of enlightenment, beer, and women. Twenty years later he decided to retrace the journey he undertook in the halcyon days of his youth. The result is Neither Here Nor There, an affectionate and riotously funny pilgrimage from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul, with stops along the way in Europe's most diverting and historic locales.

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