We Come From a Land Down Under
January 2nd, 2006 . by Jilly
I just finished reading In a Sunburned Country. This book is about the journeys of travel writer Bill Bryson in Australia. I’m not surprised that I really liked this book; I’ve yet to read anything by him that I didn’t like. His writing is funny and insightful, including many historical facts told in an interesting way. Bryson’s got a knack for telling a good story. A couple times I actually laughed out loud, while reading this book. This is a terrific read.
Bryson tours the outback, the big cities, the coastline. Bryson relays his fixation on the dangers of Australia (from being stranded in the outback and having to drink your own urine, to jellyfish, poisonous snakes, and stories of crocodile attacks). I thought it was amazing how there’s so much of Australia that is still untouched and unexplored. Australia has so much to see and do, but its like we forget that Australia’s there.
One of my favorite stories out of the book, is when Bill and his friend, Allan, end up spending the night in Daly Waters (a very small town). There’s nothing to do in the town so they hit the bar and start drinking. They have a drunken night of fun and Bill wakes up remembering very little. The next morning Bill asks Allan, “Did I disgrace myself?” Allan says,”No, but you’re doing a house swap next summer with a family from Korea”. Bill says,”You’re making this up, right?” Allan pulls a business card out of Bill’s pocket that says “Park Ho Lee, Meat Wholesaler”. Underneath it in Bill’s handwriting it said, “June 27-August 10. No Worries.”
The last paragraph of the book says…
Australia is mostly empty and a long way away. Its population is small and its role in the world consequently peripheral. It doesn’t have coups, recklessly overfish, arm disagreeable despots, grow coca in provocative quantities, or throw its weight a round in a brash and unseemly manner. It is stable and peaceful and good. It doesn’t need watching, and so we don’t. But I will tell you this: the loss is entirely yours.
It seems like Bryson is pleading with his readers, don’t overlook this place. Not that he needs to, this book has more than whet my appetite. I’ll admit that previous to reading this book, my knowledge (or should I say ignorance?) of Australia has been limited to INXS, Nick Cave, and Vegemite. I never knew what a mix Australia is of American and British influence. Save for the things Quinton and Daniel have told me about their journies, I knew very little about this country. This book is great. One of these days, Jason and I are just gonna have to go and see for ourselves.
I read this book last year while I was traveling thru Australia. It’s a teriffic read, and it made me so excited for the country I was about to explore.
What is so incredible to me is that so much of Australia is unexplored, undefined and untouched. There are deserted beaches that are covered with white sand and clear blue water that run for miles in either direction. And they speak English in this country!
Australia is so big that often times you’ll find that most people who live here haven’t traveled out to the other states in Australia. They’ve been to America or Europe, but most Sydney-siders have never been to Western Australia, and vice versa. So I think it’s a good read for everyone. Bryson is very funny and educational. He kinda reminds me of what a cool highschool teacher would be.
By the way, apparently in every country but the US the book is called ‘Down Under’. I don’t know why they changed it, but I guess publishers will sometimes do that to reach a wider audience in the States. I heard they did that with Harry Potter, too. It’s called ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ in the rest of the world. They even redubed lines in the version released in the USA.
Quinton:
I thought it was interesting that there are more tourist spots in Australia for people to go to, than there are tourists. Like there’s so much stuff to see and do, but so many people don’t even realize what neat stuff is there.
I liked that Bryson touched on the Aborigines. Which is a topic that there’s not much written about, and it almost seems likes its something people don’t want to talk about.
I agree with you on Bryson’s writing style, I want to write like him. His writing is so entertaining that you don’t realized that you’re learning something new. I like that he’s not afraid to tell embarassing things about himself. Like when he first got to Australia and his friend took him boogey boarding and the photographer was with him. The photographer was taking pictures of Bryson in his bathing suit, because he’s rotund.
I just bought “A Walk in the Woods”, where Bryson walks the 2,100 miles of Appalachian trail.