Non-fiction 19 May 2005 03:33 pm
Down Under
Down Under
Bill Bryson
An excelent guide to the “off the beaten path” parts of Australia, this book is not your regular travel diary. Bill Bryson visits all state capitals of Australia (except Hobart), but where he really shines is in his descriptions of “small town Australia”. He takes us to obscure attractions all over the country (like the Big Red Lobster somewhere in Western Australia, and the Giant Worm Museum in regional Victoria) and describes in amusing details what is extraordinary (or not) about them.
The book is filled with snippets about Australian history and folklore, with a fair amount of the curious events that seem to be so common in this dry continent. The author seemed, however, overly interested in the many ways one can get killed by the local fauna. Not a chapter goes by without repeated mentions of the poisonous and/or sharp-toothed animals that seemingly infest Australia: box jellyfishes, crocodiles, funnel-web spiders, blue-ringed octopusses, various snakes (of the ten most dangerous snakes in the world, ten are Australian, according to him), sharks and so on.
He also goes at lenght on the dangers of the country itself: dryness, heat, large unpopulated spaces, dangerous sea currents… But, despite the fact that the local fauna, flora and geography seem to be interested mostly in killing everyone they can, he thinks this is a great country, and his descriptions of the places he saw, people he met and things he did help you see Australia through his eyes. It is a very funny book (laugh-out-loud funny), and a great read. I’ve added several locations to my list of “places to visit” based on this book.
And, yes, this is a great country.
