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alizirrah's review
dark
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
1.25
I'm afraid this author is another that I've personally outgrown. I read a few books by Bill Bryson something like 15-20 years ago now and at the time found them quite humorous - mainly his travel books, like the one about Australia, or the Appalachian Trail, or road tripping across the United States.
I don't know if my taste has changed, or if his writing has. (This was published in 2010 though, so it can't have that much.) I thought I was getting a condensed and hopefully amusing history of private life, but instead I got the disjointed, under-edited ramblings of an out-of-touch moderately(?) well-to-do Boomer. Please explain to me what the story of the Erie Canal or the construction of the Eiffel Tower have to do with how people lived throughout history.
Some of the anecdotes were funny, with some interesting trivia I hadn't known - unfortunately this was even marred somewhat when I noticed that some of these stories felt VERY apocryphal/urban legend-y, which threw the rest of what he presented as fact into question.
To make it worse, there were some weird somewhat racist and classist undertones in here, too. The book's conclusion was basically "it's a shame that they taxed the rich British landowners so highly that many of them had to sell their fancy art and furniture and sometimes even the entire country estate, which are the objectively best houses in the entire world." Boo hoo. And I mean. Sure, there are some absolutely gorgeous estates in England. But you'll have to excuse me if I'm reluctant to shed any tears over rich people problems. *plays a tiny violin on my fingers for them*
Anyway, I probably should have DNFed this but by the time I was mid-way through, I was honestly just curious how far off-topic this guy could get. (Answer: Pretty dang far!) No more Bill Bryson for me, I think.
I don't know if my taste has changed, or if his writing has. (This was published in 2010 though, so it can't have that much.) I thought I was getting a condensed and hopefully amusing history of private life, but instead I got the disjointed, under-edited ramblings of an out-of-touch moderately(?) well-to-do Boomer. Please explain to me what the story of the Erie Canal or the construction of the Eiffel Tower have to do with how people lived throughout history.
Some of the anecdotes were funny, with some interesting trivia I hadn't known - unfortunately this was even marred somewhat when I noticed that some of these stories felt VERY apocryphal/urban legend-y, which threw the rest of what he presented as fact into question.
To make it worse, there were some weird somewhat racist and classist undertones in here, too. The book's conclusion was basically "it's a shame that they taxed the rich British landowners so highly that many of them had to sell their fancy art and furniture and sometimes even the entire country estate, which are the objectively best houses in the entire world." Boo hoo. And I mean. Sure, there are some absolutely gorgeous estates in England. But you'll have to excuse me if I'm reluctant to shed any tears over rich people problems. *plays a tiny violin on my fingers for them*
Anyway, I probably should have DNFed this but by the time I was mid-way through, I was honestly just curious how far off-topic this guy could get. (Answer: Pretty dang far!) No more Bill Bryson for me, I think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Classism, Physical abuse, and Child death
jemmania's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
THIS is the kind of history I live for. History that feels rich & meaningful with real colorful figures. History that isn't bogged down with mindless dates and titles. I listened to the audiobook, read by Bryson himself. This is the optimal experience. I would also highly recommend One Summer: America, 1927.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma and Medical content
Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, War, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Genocide
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