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Post by Morgana on May 7, 2018 20:15:39 GMT
Anyone else here a fan? I’m currently reading I’m a Stranger Here Myself and probably annoying everyone around me in the library by how much I’m laughing. Bryson is one of our great comic essayists, and it’s a national tragedy—a national tragedy, I tell you!—that he’s not better known than he is. A Walk in the Woods is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read in my life, and the movie somehow manages to be even better, if only because of the clash of personalities between Redford and Nolte. If you haven’t read a Bill Bryson book, I strongly recommend that you do so. I'm a big fan of his, and have been since reading 'Notes From a Small Island.' Another favourite of mine is 'The Mother Tongue' which is not only informative (as is all of his work), but hilarious.
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Post by Morgana on May 7, 2018 20:19:44 GMT
Thanks, everyone! I hope no one minds this observation, but I’ve noticed that both you, Jep Gambardella , and you, Carl LaFong , put us into humor/ humour and favorite/ favourite. My point is not to go into a protracted discussion of American v. British (and Aussie, Kiwi, and Canuck) spelling but rather to ask if Bryson is better known outside the States—and, if so, to ponder exactly why that is. Obviously he spent much of his life in England and lives there now, but many of the books I’ve read are very “American,” if that makes sense: baseball, American “quirks” (we like our free ice cubes!), hiking the AT with Katz, going on a cross-country road trip, etc. His talent is extraordinary, yet I, for one, never heard of him until the Walk in the Woods movie came out, and that bothers me a bit. I suppose it could also be attributed to the “artists not appreciated in their own time” syndrome, but is he known better elsewhere? I think his later works are more 'American' than his earlier books, which might be because he returned there with his family after finding fame and success in England. Is he back in England now?
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Post by Nalkarj on May 7, 2018 20:30:34 GMT
I think his later works are more 'American' than his earlier books, which might be because he returned there with his family after finding fame and success in England. Is he back in England now? Hey, thanks for chiming in, Morgana. Yes, he is back in England now; he’s the chancellor of Durham University, if I’m remembering the Wikipedia article well enough. He did write The Lost Continent as early as 1989, though I know what you mean; what I meant, however, was that there’s a very American quality to his writing, as reflected in, say, the title of Notes from a Small Island. (I hope that all makes sense.) But perhaps I’ve answered my own question: it’s that American quality which may be so interesting to non-Americans. I do wish he were better known here, though: he’s hilarious.
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Post by Morgana on May 8, 2018 8:33:01 GMT
I think his later works are more 'American' than his earlier books, which might be because he returned there with his family after finding fame and success in England. Is he back in England now? Hey, thanks for chiming in, Morgana. Yes, he is back in England now; he’s the chancellor of Durham University, if I’m remembering the Wikipedia article well enough. He did write The Lost Continent as early as 1989, though I know what you mean; what I meant, however, was that there’s a very American quality to his writing, as reflected in, say, the title of Notes from a Small Island. (I hope that all makes sense.) But perhaps I’ve answered my own question: it’s that American quality which may be so interesting to non-Americans. I do wish he were better known here, though: he’s hilarious. Oh yes, I do remember reading about him becoming a chancellor of Durham University. I guess America wasn't to his taste and he returned to Old Blighty. I do know what you mean about his American view of England, as in his use of 'small island', which of course it is to an American, and his unique take on Britain. Some of his remarks, had me laughing out loud. Yet you always get the feeling that he really loves Britain and it's inhabitants. I don't know why he isn't as well known in the U.S., but perhaps part of his being loved in Britain has to do with the character of most Britons - they can take a joke at their own expense, and are very self-deprecatory.
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Post by louise on May 18, 2018 16:13:21 GMT
I find him quite amusing. AT Home was particularly interesting. HIs last book about Britain - Little Dribbling I think it was - irritated me a bit though, he did nothing but complain about how expensive everything was, which you would think would hardly be a concern for him, considering how many bestsellers he has had.
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