There is no doubt in my mind that Bill Bryson writes some of the best travel books known to man. Bryson seems to be one of the few authors tackling travel narratives with a real gift for prose that transcends the genre in a way that has not explored since perhaps Mark Twain’s well-known travel works. Not only that but Bryson approaches his stories with a light hearted, self effacing tone that is easily related to by anyone who has ever been out of their element in a new situation. For example, in “In a Sunburned Country” it’s through his anecdotes and fish out of water antics that we gain a greater understanding, and thus a greater respect for Australia at large. Rather than hurting our appreciation of the destinations he travels through by focusing more intently on his own experiences than that of the culture and atmosphere it actually enhances our own feelings of closeness to the land by offering us an avatar through which we can experience new sights in (what we think of as) much the same way we ourselves would.
Related posts: