After a British sojourn lasting 20 years, this celebrated journalist decided to move back to the U.S.--but not before embarking on a prolonged jaunt around Britain, mainly by way of public transportation. Bryson's entertaining travelogue combines the intimate knowledge of one who has lived among Britons for a sustained period with the refreshing sense of wonder from a first-time visitor. When Bryson engages in chronicling typically British customs and characters, his love of the place is as obvious as his writing is delightfully irreverent.

This book will be sent to fellow Bookcrosser linguistkris before it heads out into the world.
Enjoy!

Habe dieses Buch lieberweise von Mr. Bones geschickt bekommen und es oben auf meinen ToBeRead-Stapel gelegt. Danke!

Well. I must admit I was rather disappointed with this book. What I expected was an outsider's rather loving and humorous description of England and the English according to his experiences... What I found was a middle-aged American's smug views on a place he didn't seem to understand.

You won't learn much about Great Britain here -- except that they dared to put up ugly new buildings where they should have kept the pretty old ones; that there isn't enough public transport in remote areas for a spoiled guy travelling off season (did Bryson ever look at the state of public transport in the US, I wonder? Where does he get his ideas from?); that you get really tired when you walk too much because you can't read a map properly or won't ask people for the way; and that as a rule landlords are dirty and mean (though he does give some exceptions to that one).
The only bits I thoroughly enjoyed were the odd place names and the occasional bit of trivia, like the story of the lord that had gone bonkers and hid in his huge house without allowing anyone to see him, including his servants.
What Bryson excels at is ridiculing things (including himself at times, it must be said in his defense) -- but for me that doesn't make for pleasant reading exactly.

Release planned for Sunday, April 13, 2003 at Café Balthasar in Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany.

Beim MeetUp. Zettelchen "Für Muffin" klebt schon drauf :)

Just got it from linguistkris - looking forward to read this soon.

Put in Englische Buchbox in Deutschland... Good luck, book!!!

...Jetzt ist die kleine Muffin ja doch nicht zum Lesen gekommen... na ja, vielleicht auf dem Rückweg! ;)
Gute Reise, Reisebuch!

Taken out of the German Bookbox #1, today.
To be read later.

Bryson travels through Britain, complaining, ranting, but sometimes also praising. Some people might call what he writes mean, but he's just a very good watcher. Apparently written for the British.

I'll probably send this one on to the US.

I just received it in the mail today. I plan to read it and re-release it in a manner still TBD.

CAUGHT IN COLUMBIA MARYLAND USA

It seemed to me that the author was in love with an idealized image of Great Britain. Although he is from the U.S.A., he uses a British vocabulary. He is very critical of cities and facilities that don't measure up to his ideal, but is enthusiastic where they do (for example, in chapter 24 where he visits Durham and Ashington).To respond to an earlier reader, it seems to me that the author expects British public transportation to be much better than that in the U.S.

It would have helped me if the publisher had included a map in the book. Like Tony Hillerman's Lt. Leaphorn, I need a map to see the relationships.

I 'released' the book to a relative in San Diego, California, who I thought would enjoy it, and gave him instructions to free it when he had read it.

CAUGHT IN COLUMBIA MARYLAND USA

My parents brought the book to me while on their holiday from Baltimore, MD. The weather here in San Diego took a turn for the cold and wet over Christmas, which gave these stories about Bryson's British travels an appropriate context. Notes from a Small Island proved to be humorous light reading while I was stuck indoors waiting out the bad weather. Bryson's itinerary-free manner of travelling makes a great template for anyone setting their foot out their front door in search of adventure.

CAUGHT IN SAN DIEGO CA USA

As an amendment to my previous post, I agree with many of the posters here: Bryson definitely didn't need to whine about the state of public transportation in Great Britain.

As a counterpoint to many of my fellow posters, I enjoyed Bryson's often sour demeanor. Travelling, especially by foot, is by nature taxing and stressful and frought with wrong turns and dashed expectations.

CAUGHT IN SAN DIEGO CA USA