[[Books]] # [[Down Under]] --- - Creator:: [[Bill Bryson]] - Date:: [[]] - URL:: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Under_(book) --- ## Summary > [!STAR]+ SUMMARY > 1. **Written as a [[Books|Book]] review in [[English 10]].** > 2. > 3. [[Silas Pipson]] [[Bill Bryson]]’s [[Down Under]] is a comedic travelogue that documents the author’s various experiences exploring [[Australia]] in the year [[1999]]. At the time, [[Bill Bryson|Bryson]] was one of the world’s premier active [[Travel]] [[Authors]]. He was all over the world, exploring much of his homeland of [[America]], to his future home country of [[England]], over to the vast expanses of [[Africa]] on an aid trip. In this time is where we find our story beginning; in a sunburnt country dubbed _“Terra Australis”_. Throughout the [[Books|Book]], [[Bill Bryson|Bryson]] offers an extremely accurate and comedic take on many Australian terms, customs, traditions, and ways of life as he traverses what seems to be a large majority of the continent with a plethora of guests. From the beginning, he ends up visiting: [[Sydney]] through to [[Perth]] on the [[Indian Pacific Railway]] with many stops in between such as the [[Blue Mountains]], much of the [[Boomerang Coast]] including [[Brisbane]] and [[Canberra]] (as well as many smaller towns), and the true [[Outback]], driving to sights such as [[Alice Springs]] and [[Uluru]], as well as the [[Great Barrier Reef]]. Throughout these accounts, [[Bill Bryson|Bryson]] fills the reader in on topics like [[Australia]]'s 19th-century explorers and settlers who suffered extreme deprivations on their journeys, as well as facts about the country’s [[Culture]], natural resources, and [[Politics]]. [[Bill Bryson|Bryson]]’s writing style perfectly articulates the [[Books|Book]]’s purpose, that being to provide a largely comedic, but still factually sound account of his travels in [[Australia]], as well as the [[History]] and issues of the grand country. The fact is, many of his comments, though hilarious, end up teaching you something through your chuckles. One such example is his commentary on the sport of cricket, with which he has this to say: > “Imagine a form of baseball in which the pitcher…collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly with it out to center field…before hurling the ball at the ankles of a man…wearing a riding hat, heavy gloves…and a mattress strapped to each leg…if this batsman fails to hit the ball in a way that heartens him sufficiently to waddle sixty feet…he is under no formal compulsion to; he may stand there all day, and, as a rule, does” (pgs. 155-156) This description, however, is too purely informative for [[Bill Bryson|Bryson]], so he ends his thoughts with > “Now imagine all this going on for so long that by the time the match concludes autumn has crept in and all your library books are overdue. There you have cricket.” (pg. 156) It is with this [[Charm]] and delivery that [[Bill Bryson|Bryson]] plays the book out before the reader. Each chapter is equally as informative and entertaining (though not quite as entertaining as cricket on the radio), and readers will be left yearning to hear more on topics ranging from [[Geography]] to [[Entomology]], sport to famously deadly wildlife, and of course the wonderful people that call the nation home. Overall, [[Down Under]] has become one of my all-time favourite [[Books]], and only got exponentially better on the second read during and on the way back from my own trip through [[Australia]]. It is beautifully written, goes into just the right amount of detail, and tells a story that would make even the most reluctant traveller rethink their ideals. Though I could go on for much longer on my opinion of the book, let me instead allow [[Bill Bryson|Bill]] to sum my thoughts up on both the material and its subject matter > “Australia is mostly empty, and a long way away. It doesn’t need watching, and so we don’t. But I will tell you this: The loss is completely ours.” (pgs. 421-422) ## Highlights == # Links -