A big fan of Bill Bryson's work I was super excited at the prospect of reading of his traveling adventures through my own country. I made slow progress through the first few chapters and, fed up with his derision of Australia on his journey by train across the continent, and his particularly biased views on white Australian's treatment of the Aborigines, I put the book down. I came back again a couple of months later and I am glad I did so. The remainder of
Down Under
is classic Bryson. He is smart, witty, funny, and highly entertaining. His interpretation of cricket is very amusing and its worth reading the book just for that. Although it was a rough road to start with reading
Down Under, Bryson still remains my number one travel writer.
is a really difficult read. Not because of the use of experimental language that Burgess proffers, although it does take a while to get into his rhythm, but because of the sheer amount of violence (I do not view the rape of ten year old girls as worthy entertainment). Its not just the never ending occurrence of unnecessary violence, but the unapologetic nature of the protagonist Alex who actively seeks 'ultra-violence'. It is all that he lives for- that and Beethoven. This is not a novel that I would recommend to my grandmother but if you venture to read it be sure to pick up a UK version, not the US version. The UK version has the final chapter that was omitted by the Americans and undoubtedly finishes the novel in a more positive aspect.
