Another very enjoyable and fun trek with Bill Bryson. This time he takes us to Australia where he starts off by describing much of what makes Australia unique: It's "the world's sixth largest country and its largest island. It is the only island that is also a continent, and the only continent that is a country. It is the only nation that began as a prison. It is the home of the largest living thing on earth, the Great Barrier Reef, and of the largest monolith, Ayers Rock (Uluru). It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. . . Five of its creaturesâthe funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefishâare the most lethal type in the world." So this grabbed my attention from the start. But Bryson doesn't stop there he provides so much geographical and geological information as well as the history of Australia as he journeys from Sydney by train to Perth and then focuses on what he describes as "Civilized Australia" and then journeys "Around the Edges." Civilized Australia includes Sydney and most of the Southeastern part of the country. This included the capital city Canberra, which Bryson found very spread out like a large park while he was at a loss to find a good pub. He then travels up to Surfer's Paradise which is like the Miami of the country with its high rise hotels and pristine beaches but watch out for sharks and jellyfish! He goes on around the edges to Darwin and Alice Springs which is in the heart of the outback but it reminded him of a typical town in the U.S. with its strip malls and K-mart. Nearby was the monolith, Ayers Rock (now called Uluru, the official Aboriginal name), which was well worth the visit. Then on to Perth and the Western coast of the country.
Bryson's narrative is full of his usual wit and humor as he provides anecdotes and colorful stories of the people that he meets and the history of the land. Although a lot of this is humorous, he also describes the plight of the Aboriginal people who have been treated as bad or worse than the Native Americans in the U.S. They were hunted and killed in the early years and now are like an invisible people in the land with little hope for a satisfying life. He emphasizes the size of Australia and how the interior is mostly desert and is still unexplored in many areas and very sparsely populated. As usual with his books, I was constantly looking up facts and places (including photos) on the internet to get a better feel for Bryson's descriptions. One place he visited was called "The Big Lobster" located in South Australia. This is one of many large sculptures located around the country which also includes a Big Orange, Big Banana, Big Bull, Big Fish, etc.
I have read several of Bryson's other books and always enjoy his witty though sometimes caustic writing. And overall, this was a very enjoyable trek with Bryson that I found well worth reading for his insights into the country and its people. But although I have wanted to visit Australia in the past, I probably will never get to do so and a lot of what Bryson describes makes me want to go there somewhat less so I'll probably take it off my "bucket list." ð
Bryson's narrative is full of his usual wit and humor as he provides anecdotes and colorful stories of the people that he meets and the history of the land. Although a lot of this is humorous, he also describes the plight of the Aboriginal people who have been treated as bad or worse than the Native Americans in the U.S. They were hunted and killed in the early years and now are like an invisible people in the land with little hope for a satisfying life. He emphasizes the size of Australia and how the interior is mostly desert and is still unexplored in many areas and very sparsely populated. As usual with his books, I was constantly looking up facts and places (including photos) on the internet to get a better feel for Bryson's descriptions. One place he visited was called "The Big Lobster" located in South Australia. This is one of many large sculptures located around the country which also includes a Big Orange, Big Banana, Big Bull, Big Fish, etc.
I have read several of Bryson's other books and always enjoy his witty though sometimes caustic writing. And overall, this was a very enjoyable trek with Bryson that I found well worth reading for his insights into the country and its people. But although I have wanted to visit Australia in the past, I probably will never get to do so and a lot of what Bryson describes makes me want to go there somewhat less so I'll probably take it off my "bucket list." ð
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