In A Sunburned Country

In a Sunburned Country is Bill Bryson's entertaining memoir on his travel through Australia.

If you, like me, have always had a strange fascination about that country down under, there's an excellent chance you'll enjoy this book. If you also like dry-witted humor and a strong dose of irony, then this book should probably be the next book you read.

The author, Bill Bryson, is an American-born journalist who lived half of his life in England essentially writing color pieces about things from an American perspective for the London Times. He has a very interesting style of writing and a combination of British humor and American sensibility that makes for a highly ironic perspective that comes through in all of his writing. If you've read any of his books, you'll already know what I mean.

In this tome, Bryson focuses entirely on the Australian continent. Starting with historical facts and statistics that set up Australia as a strange and wonderful place, he then covers his travels around the country. His travel style is to hunt for gems in a particular area with scientific, historic, or cultural interest and he discusses briefly the interesting things he finds along the way. His discussion doesn't just cover a single trip to the continent down under, but rather combines anecdotes from all of his trips.

Along the way he finds a way to squeeze in colorful descriptions of the peoples of Australia and their general character through individual specific historic examples as well as personal experiences and statistics. He similarly gives a picture of each of Australia's great cities (and several smaller ones) and states. You'll find some interesting, if confusing, discussion of the Australian political system and it's relationship with mother country England.

Periodically, he comes back to historical facts about the country including it's “discovery” in the modern world. Later he talks about it's original “discovery” by ancients who became the aborigines. He gives a fair amount of discussion about the aboriginal people and their strife in the country. A sad discussion, but handled well and with compassion. This is the type of discussion I doubt you'd find in any other book on Australia.

Overall, this is quite an excellent book. It moves quickly and keeps you entertained along the way. If you have the pleasure to get the unabridged audiobook version, you'll be listening to Bryson narrate the book himself. Not all authors do a good job with this. Bill Bryson excels, though.

My only criticisms of the book are as follows: apparently it was written in 1999 or so. That dates the book in some areas (the political discussion) and probably impacts his discussions of the major cities. This isn't a huge detractor. The first time I read the book was 2004 and none of that was notable. Now, however, it calls itself to your attention occasionally. My other criticism is that there is the occasional gratuitous use of curse words. Some are understandable, but many if not most just seem gratuitous and unnecessary. (Hence the 4 instead of 5 stars.)

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Readeras part of a quick takes/catch up post, —emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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I remember reading Bryson's The Mother Tongue back in the '90s and have often thought about trying him again—but anytime the thought occurred to me, I couldn't find one of his books available. So when I saw this as available from the library I jumped on it. Not the best move.

This is a travelogue of a trip or two that Bryson took around Australia. It's fairly amusing, mildly interesting, and not a complete waste of time. That's about all I can say for it—the few pages/minutes he spends on Cricket were laugh-out-loud funny. The rest of the book barely maintained my interest.

Your results may vary, but this just didn't do it for me.

At its best, it's full of laugh-out-loud moments and descriptions of the Outback that make you want to experience the natural wonders. At its worst, it's like listening to your elderly relative explain at length their disappointment with their economy hotel.

I'm so sad it's over! You know you've read an amazing book when your heart says, “Wait, what? That's it?!” It feels like Bryson borrowed a piece of my soul, took it to Australia with him, and forgot to bring it back. I feel like I've been there (I've never even been out of the States once in my sad life) and need to go back for a second trip NOW! His writing style kept me engaged and made me laugh out loud to the point of tearing up at times. There were even poignant moments, specifically about the forgotten Aborigines or the humble stromatolites, that had me tearing up for less humorous reasons. If you have even a passing fancy for ANYTHING Australia-related, PLEASE treat yourself to this read! A new best friend is waiting to show you a world you've never even dreamed of!

After listening to this book on CD, I am reminded that a travel book can actually be entertaining while also informative. I listened to “A Walk In The Woods” several years ago. Bill Bryson finds a way to make me laugh at the silliest things. Although I'm almost 17 years late, and I'm sure many things have changed in Australia since the original writing of this book, it provoked my desire to visit this country “down under”. And as a final note, every time I listen to “Waltzing Matilda” in the future, I will certainly hear the word “Willy”.

Reread 2012.

Delightful! Warm, gentle, funny, even informative. And even though the everything-in-Australia-can-kill-you motif seems overdone nowadays, Bryson makes it seem fresh. He also makes me feel eager to pay a visit down there.

Note about the audio CD: Bryson's voice is on the quiet side, with an odd and slightly stilted accent. A bit challenging to listen to in a car with the windows down, but probably ideal for listening to in a quiet spot at home.

In college, I brought an excerpt from one of Bill Bryson's books (I think it was I'm a Stranger Here Myself) into one of my prison classes, and pretty much all of the inmates agreed that Bill Bryson is a smug MFer. I'd honestly never thought of him that way, but the more I re-read his stuff, the clearer to me it becomes: smug MFer. Still, very funny! And I learned a lot about Australia! And its terrifying wildlife!

I went to Australia several years ago, and when I shared my travel plans with anyone in the U.S., the first thing they asked me was - have you read “In a Sunburned Country”??? So seven years after my trip, I finally did - and I am glad of it. Bill Bryson is so likeable, so disarming, so damn funny. I have laughed out loud while reading all of his books. A good read even if you have never been (or never plan to travel) to Australia.

I haven't finished this book yet, but it is so funny. I have never read Bill Bryson, so I wasn't sure what I was going to get.

In In a Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson writes about his travels through Australia. Sometimes, he travels alone, and other times, he has friends or co-workers with him. Bryson tells of his adventures with humor and great description. It shows in the way he writes, that he really loves Australia and respects the Australian people.

I visited Sydney in 1997 and fell inlove with the few things I saw. Reading this book brought back all of the warm feelings I had for the people and city, as well as made me hungry for experiencing more of Australia. There is a lot about Australia's history that Bryson covers in this book, which I found to be very fascinating because all I knew about the history was that it was a country of prisoners from England in its early beginnings. There's a lot more to it than that. He explains the prisoner beginnings, as well as explorations conducted both around the continent as well as across it. Bryson tells some of the, as yet unstudied/unresearched, history of the Aboringines. There is so little known about these people and yet they have been victims of years of abuse.

Bryson also relates very humorous stories about the various deadly creatures that call Australia home. Australia is home to some of the deadliest snakes, spiders and crocodiles in the world. The Box Jellyfish and taipan snake are both mentioned quite a bit by Bryson, many times in humorous stories related to him by Australians. Based on how he describes the stories he is told by “the locals”, I began to picture Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter.

Bryson has a refreshing way of telling a story. He tells it with humor and affection, pride and respect. I'm anxious to visit Australia again and go to some of the places he describes. THis is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about Australia or is planning a trip there. THis book will tell you things that all those tourism guide books don't, and you'll get a good belly laugh as a bonus.

*Quick note: just finished the book. Loved it! Bill Bryson has a fantastic ability to tell an engaging story. I am trying to plan a trip to Australia now, and plan on trying to see some of the places he talked about in the book. Been to Sydney in 1997, think it is time to try Perth and Melbourne.

Great travelogue of Australia. I actually couldn't breathe at one point I was laughing so hard after an episode in a park in greater Sidney. Bryson gets a little bogged down in some of the more remote areas of the country and the belly-laughs don't roll as quickly as in some of his other works (notably “A Walk in the Woods”), but on the whole an immensely entertaining and informative Australian journey. You'll learn things you never even though to ask about the country. And just as quickly forget most of them, as does the author.