Jolly Old England

Deviating from my usual Western books, I've taken a diversion to England via Bill Bryson's book,  The Road to Little Dribbling. I really like books with comedy in them and this is one of the finest in my estimation. This is strictly, well almost, all non-fiction, but Bryson throws in some asides that could be either in this travel exposition. He travels a route from one end of the country to the other, ending in Cape Wrath in Scotland.

Along the way, he expounds on the railroads, the people, the towns and villages, the countryside and the museums. Bryson became a British citizen after he realized that it was better than the U.S. where he was born. He is a journalist and lived in London for some years, marrying an English woman and having a couple of kids there. He rattles on about the shabbiness of some towns since he was last there and how the people had changed and their sense of humor. Bryson spends time commenting on the railroad system and how the UK government has screwed up some of it and reduced the tracks to about half what they used to be. He spends a lot of time in Museums, explaining their exhibitions and how brilliant the English are in comparison to everyone else in certain fields. His descriptions of the countryside around these various towns and the beach resorts are really interesting. He doesn't include many sports, except walking. There are thousands of miles of trails through the countryside and along the seaside and he does quite a bit of it.

Bill Bryson is a funny writer and I enjoyed the book. I'll even give it five stars to show how much I liked it and if you like travel writing, I recommend it highly.