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

And how wonderful this book would be if he had only stayed in 5-star extravagance and praised every second of it.
How much more useful to us if he had only included a map of mainland Europe!
One-star? Pathetic.

a picture is worth 1000 words. even 1000 shitty ones.

Now who's whining?

Me

any more compelling questions?

Absolutely agree about the whining, it did get annoying.

The whining was part of the fun for me. Anyone ever heard of tongue-in-cheek?

I totally agree with Markus. I found it snarky, not funny. I have lived in Europe as an American and yet Bryson's take on it was totally alien to me. It was my first Bryson book so I will have to pay more attention to the reviews before I pick another.

D., I haven't read this one but I like Bryson a lot. A Short History of Nearly Everything and Mother Tongue are both really good. I know he's lived in England for something like 30 years so maybe like Ellen said, he was going for tongue in cheek but it didn't come across?

Totally disagree. i think it is one of the funniest books I have ever read and a feast of recognition. "Whining"??? I guess you missed the point and probably have another sense of humor. As a European I love it.

And it definitely was all tongue in cheek with a lot of self mockery.

I disagree completely. The whining was the best ingredient of the book. I do not understand how the book would be any good if he just described everything as amazing and pretty and blahblah. He also visited my country and I found that chapter hilarious! But honestly... a map of Europe?

i love maps

Google maps.

Couldn't agree more!

Especially the first half was a litany of complaints. The book got better towards the end.

i was disagreeing with you up until the Germany part, for heaven's sake Bill, its 1991(2017 now) jeez the war is over the Germans lost, now they're successful again, get over it!

Mr. Fluffynson wrote: "I disagree completely. The whining was the best ingredient of the book. I do not understand how the book would be any good if he just described everything as amazing and pretty and blahblah. He als..."

Yeah, he visited my country also and it was hilarious. Also the descriptions of all other countries he visited totally match my experiences and make me love my own memories more. He is not whining he is the funniest travel writer, not a travel guide.

Anybody who whinges and whines about this doesn't understand Bryson

I took it more as sarcasm, and it made me laugh.

Sarcasm is a language spoken and understood by not too many Americans.

I actually found it boring when he was going on and on about how much he loved Italy. He balanced out his grievances and his loves of places extremely well , I think his time in Denmark highlights this.

I got out my paper world map to follow his trek!

This was not one of Bryson's better books. The writing was lazy; his self-deprecation amusing at first, but tiring with it's repetitiveness. His attempts to make comical observations were sometimes accurate, other times insulting with a hyberbole of inaccuracy.
Bryson was four years ahead of me at the same high school; I understand his humour and references from his youth. I also empathize with his love for Europe, having lived in Ireland for the past 30 years and visited many of the cities on Bryson's checklist. This book was first published in 1992; Europe has changed much in almost 30 years. But, in the many times I've visited various parts of Sweden, never have I seen litter or people publicly urinating and vomiting on the streets. Nearly everywhere is expensive in Europe to travel. His complaints and praises are repetitive, just different settings throughout the book.
Bryson, however, leads the weary reader through his trail of dribble with breadcrumbs of interesting historical anecdotes or economical facts about a particular place. When he shares his vast pool of knowledge from years of research and reading with his educated wit is when Bryson shines.

I would have to agree. I love Bryson usually but this was disappointing.