Lindsay's Reviews > Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe

This book was highly entertaining at times, I can't say it wasn't. In fact, it was highly entertaining most of the time. However, I can't say I learned hardly anything about any of the places Bill Bryson visited. He reserves most of his commentary for how far he walked to get to a train station, how fast or slow the train rides were, and how cornflake-sized bugars feel in his nose while on those train rides...

I hate to bash authors...that's not what I'm trying to do here. I am simply trying to say Bryson's book was not what I was expecting and did not give me what I look for in reading travel novels (I like to get a grasp of what different places are like, the ambience, the people, maybe a little history). Also, it was about a year ago that I read this book, and I am sure some of these tidbits were woven into his writing. However, I do remember feeling let down at the time and coming to the conclusion that inserting this sort of substance into his writing was not his main focus, although it may have slipped in somewhere along the way.