Neither Here Not There - Travels In Europe

Neither Here Nor There - Travels In Europe
by Bill Bryson

First published in Great Britain in 1991.

Having just returned from a holiday I felt this was a fitting book to review.  I don't read many travel books, aside from a bit of a guidebook to wherever I'm going, but I think Bill Bryson is brilliant (oh I love alliteration).  His books are hilarious - I often laugh out loud while reading - but also interesting.  Bryson has written books about history, science and language plus a memoir.  I haven't read these but if they're anything like his travel writing they'll be excellent.

Neither Here Nor There is about Bryson's travels around Europe by train.  He went when he was a young man and fifteen years later decides to go again.  This book is written from Bryson's point of view and he compares his trips as he travels.

This book is great because of Bryson's chatty writing.  At times he goes on little rants, but includes interesting facts which keeps it relevant.  As I read it I can easily imagine him sat opposite me on a train, trundling through some fantastic European countryside, telling me his tales of adventure (being pick-pocketed in Florence is particularly well told).
Bryson travelled without the use of the internet and simply jumped off a train in a city and searched for a hotel on arrival, with varying results.  It makes me glad that I can research trips thoroughly in advance but does put that adventurous spark in my mind every time I read this book.

The book is split into chapters with one for each city.  These are listed at the front so you can dip in and out or read it all.  As the book was published twenty-three years ago it's not a particularly useful guidebook as a lot of the information isn't valid anymore (he visits Yugoslavia, for example), but to me this adds charm and interest to the stories; I love seeing how things have changed when I go to the places he went.  It also adds a sense of history and of a not-so-distant past that at times seems quite unimaginable now.

For me, the ending sums up exactly how I feel at the end of a holiday.  Bryson is in Istanbul and has the sudden urge to keep going and go to Asia.  Naturally, reality intervenes and he decides to go home instead, but I could really relate to wanting to never go back to your everyday life.  Ofcourse if you did this then 'holiday' would become your everyday life, but I digress (maybe this is why I like Bryson so much - the sometimes random tangents he goes off on).

Bryson has written about nearly every continent, and I would recommend that you all at least read the book that is about yours.  'Notes From A Small Island' and 'Down Under' are particularly good.  I warn you, he will make you want to jump on the next plane/train/boat and see the world.