When reviewing a book I like to put the odd quote or two which has caught my attention into my post but if I did that with The Road to Little Dribbling I would end up copying out the entire book. I have spent the last week reading the latest Bill Bryson, normally I would shoot through it in a day, but I was rationing it so it would last longer. Also I needed to rest my aching ribs resultant from the howls of laughter I was letting forth every time I turned a page. The only other writers who make me laugh out loud in this way are Jerome K Jerome and PG Wodehouse but I think Bill affects me the most.
I recently re-read Notes from a Small Island after a long gap and wondered if I would find it as amusing, silly really, as yes I did and snorted and heaved all the way through it again. But I did approach Dribbling with a slight worry to see if the enchantment would still hold as I had read some reviews which were slightly less enthusiastic than I would have thought.
Well all I can say to that curmudgeonly lot is What is the Matter With You? This is a simply wonderful book, full of wit and laugh out loud humour. As Bryson is about my age and now has grandchildren and rants and moans about things that I do too, you will understand that I am wholly in agreement with him on almost everything he says. One passage I have to quote:
"I recently bought a new laptop. It came loaded with some software - I think it is called Microsoft Gestapo - that lets them enter the computer at any time day or not, line everyone up against the wall and install some new software.....almost every time I fire up the computer I get a message that says 'Updates are ready for your computer. Would you like to install now or be reminded every fifteen seconds for the rest of eternity?.......I tried to subvert the process by switching my computer off and then on again. Take it from me right now you should never do that. The next message I got said 'resuming instillation process. Do not attempt anything like that again. Remember we know that you spent a whole afternoon on 10 March watching Paris Hilton home videos. We'll tell your wife. We're Microsoft. Don't fuck with us. Download will be complete in 14 hours"
As I recently downloaded some new software onto my laptop which completely buggered up all my settings, reminded me every five minutes that every virus under the sun was heading for my computer and that malware, adware and every other bloody ware was present, this resonated with me big time.
I simply loved this book. And the main reason why is simple. Bill may moan and groan and poke fun at our eccentricities and daftness and bloody-mindedness, but he loves us and he loves the UK. I love it too and I have traveled to a few places. I have seen the outback in Australia, visited the Great Barrier Reef, sailed in a gondola down the Grand Canal in Venice, marveled at the glories of Rome and Florence, sat and watched the glorious view of Sydney Harbour from the Opera House, walked across the Charles Bridge in Prague in the snow and all of them beautiful and breathtaking in their own way. But, and here is where I want to give Bill a hug, this is how I feel about Britain and he articulates it so much better than I ever could:
"I have said it many times before but it really cannot be stated too often: there isn't a landscape in the world that is more artfully worked, more lovely to behold, more comfortable to be in, than the countryside of Great Britain. It is the world's largest park, its most perfect accidental garden. I think it may be the British Nation's most glorious achievement"
Exactly.
Bill I love you.
I was lucky enough to be sent this for review by Sainsbury's e-books and I am most grateful to them. I may have to say bye bye Waitrose if they carry on doing things like this......
