Neither Here, Nor There made me laugh-out-loud during a time I needed it, so thank you Mr Bryson! In this book, Bryson retraces his journey across Europe from years earlier, beginning in Norway and finishing in Istanbul. Ever since watching the film adaptation of his book, A Walk In The Woods, I can’t help but imagine Bryson as Robert Redford, instead of, well, Bill Bryson.

I regularly found myself looking up these European places and wanting to find out more. His descriptions were beautifully written (especially the Northern Lights, Capri, Austria) and often made me feel like I was standing there too. This was set in 1990 and while Europe is a dramatically different place today, Neither Here, Nor There never felt too outdated. On the occasions it did start to wander into that territory, it came across more like a beautiful snapshot of a bygone era instead. The chapter on Bulgaria was a real-opener in regards to this.

Sure, Bryson sometimes goes off on rambling tangents that don't quite work or aren't that funny. But more often than not, he gives hilarious insights into encounters with strangers, the stereotypes of a country or just complains in a laugh-inducing way. Occasionally, he comes across as a loud, obnoxious American tourist, but I also feel he is somewhat self-aware of this and embraces the fact he’s a bit of a prick.

There is something incredibly comforting and cosy about reading a Bill Bryson book. Perhaps it’s the way he writes or observes the world around him, perhaps because it’s as close to travel you can get from the comfort of your own couch or bed. If you find yourself sharing anecdotes from a book with friends, then it’s probably a good sign of a quality read. This happened to me numerous times; whether it be laughing hysterically with my Italian friend as she agreed with Italian stereotypes or asking Mum about her 1976 European travels to places mentioned in the book.

The facts and historical anecdotes really brought to life many of the places Bryson visited. Some readers have complained that these Bryson trademarks are virtually missing from Neither Here Nor There. To a reader not overly accustomed to his work, I didn’t notice this at all. One of my favourites was: “Liechtenstein’s last military engagement was in 1866, when it sent eighty men to fight against the Italians. Nobody was killed. In fact – you’re going to like this – they came back with eighty-one men, because they made a friend along the way.”

I was happy Bryson’s old mate, Katz, got a few mentions too – these always made me laugh and I couldn't help but wish Katz had been accompanying him on this adventure too - though I feel only one of them would’ve survived! A small downside was the final chapter, Istanbul. After so long following Bryson’s journey across Europe it just seemed to end a bit too abruptly.

I now have the urge to wander aimlessly around a city I don’t know, with this book inspiring me to visit Europe more than ever! Neither Here, Nor There is the best travel book I’ve read and has made me want to read more of Bryson’s work. Bring on some long train journeys, dodgy pickpockets and epic European scenery!

Summary: Bill arrives in place, reminisces what it was like in the '70s, rants about how boutique is now McDonald's, complain about food, complain about dirty city, complain about tourists, comment on women's ass, drink beer, decides he hates/kinda likes country, leaves. Repeat.

I first read this book 26 years ago, at the age of eight at a B&B in Amsterdam. It was the second book I'd read that wasn't specifically for children, and I didn't understand a lot of it but I loved it. All this time later I find that yes, I can still recite bits of it verbatim and also it's still a hilariously funny and wonderfully written book. (Also it's somehow still in one piece, despite being the actual same copy of the book that I had in Amsterdam.) It reads jarringly in places (e.g. it uses "Gypsy" as a descriptor among other things) but mostly, rather than feeling dated, it feels like a snapshot of a very specific time. Of course Bryson is running around talking about the Europe of the early nineties is vastly more touristed and much different from his experience of it as a backpacker in the seventies; from this vantage point, it's the Europe he describes that seems impossibly quaint and distant. The most striking chapter is the one on Sofia, written in the summer of 1990, in the twilight moment between one world and another. Of course when I was eight I did not understand why these people in Europe, where I am from, had to queue up for meat and bread and pay for things with worthless currency, or why it all felt so sad, but I get it now. Better late than never.

Neither Here Nor There,, my second Bryson book (the other one was similar but focused on traveling through the US), reads smoothly and seems like a pretty good place for potential Bryson fans to start. Bryson is kind of like your uncle if your uncle was Chuck Klosterman in 2040 and very concerned about beer and hotels and people cutting in front of him in line.

This book, the story of Bryson retracing the path of one of his college trips through Europe, has its high points. Bryson is at his best when he almost forgets the reader and rants about what he loves (the northern lights, Swedish girls) and hates (everyone in Austria). After a while the "find the hotel, go to a museum, find something to eat" pattern gets a little tired but before long a shining passage carries the chapter. I suppose I would have bought into the book more if I had actually been to most of the places Bryson travels; the Rome chapter was probably my favorite in part because I recognized some of the landmarks from a previous visit. Still, I enjoyed Neither Here Nor There and I feel comfortable recommending it to anyone into the travel book genre...it's quick, breezy, and would work on a plane.

I always assumed that Bill Bryson was someone only people my dad's age would find funny, and although I appear to have amassed a selection of his books on my kindle, I've never felt like I wanted to start any of them.
The other day I found a paperback hidden down the side of my bookcase - it was 'Neither Here Nor There' Bryson's account of his trips round Europe. I decided to just read the first chapter to see what he writes about. All I can say is - I have missed out on reading Bryson at times in my life when it would've really helped to have something this gentle and funny to laugh at. I now know that I will have to read a good portion of his back catalogue because this man is seriously funny.
His exploits into tiny villages with no hotel booked, his trips to the local police station when he's mugged in Florence, his desperation for some 'proper' food when he is confronted with a terrifying 'date sausage roll' - the list goes on.
I howled with laughter at some of his adventures, he has such a brilliant way of looking at things.

Laugh out loud hysterically funny. I kind of get why people feel Bryson “whines” in some of his books - he really doesn’t like too many cities - but that’s part of what makes him so humorous.

I reread this in Nov 2019. The book is hilarious and informative .

"Neither Here nor There" by Bill Bryson is a humorous and insightful travelogue that takes readers on a journey across Europe. Known for his witty observations and engaging storytelling style, Bryson delivers an entertaining account of his experiences as he traverses the continent from Hammerfest in Norway to Istanbul in Turkey.

One of the strengths of this book is Bryson's ability to capture the essence of each destination he visits. Whether he's exploring the charming streets of Copenhagen or navigating the crowded markets of Florence, Bryson's descriptions paint a colorful picture of the places he encounters. He effortlessly blends historical facts, personal anecdotes, and humorous observations, making the reader feel as if they are right there with him on his adventures.

He skillfully finds humor in everyday situations, from comical encounters with locals to his own misadventures as a tourist.

Bryson: The French, for instance, cannot get the hang of queuing. They try and try, but it is beyond them. Wherever you go in Paris, you see orderly lines waiting at bus stops, but as soon as the bus pulls up the line instantly disintegrates into something like a fire drill at a lunatic asylum as everyone scrambles to be the first aboard, quite unaware that this defeats the whole purpose of queuing. The British, on the other hand, do not understand certain of the fundamentals of eating, as evidenced by their instinct to consume hamburgers with a knife and fork. To my continuing amazement, many of them also turn their forks upside-down and balance the food on the back of them. I’ve lived in England for a decade and a half and I still have to quell an impulse to go up to strangers in pubs and restaurants and say, ‘Excuse me, can I give you a tip that’ll help stop those peas bouncing all over the table?’ Germans are flummoxed by humor, the Swiss have no concept of fun, the Spanish think there is nothing at all ridiculous about eating dinner at midnight, and the Italians should never, ever have been let in on the invention of the motor car.

In addition to the humor, Bryson's reflections on the changing landscape of Europe and the impact of tourism add depth to the book. He offers thought-provoking insights into the cultural differences between European countries and the challenges faced by cities grappling with an influx of visitors. These reflections elevate the book beyond a mere travelogue and provide a broader perspective on the issues surrounding tourism.

However, some readers may find the book slightly dated, as it was first published in 1991. The travel industry and the world at large have undergone significant changes since then, and certain details may no longer be accurate or relevant. It's worth noting that Bryson tends to generalize certain aspects of the countries he visits, which can be oversimplified or stereotypical at times.

Sometimes a nation’s little contrivances are so singular and clever that we associate them with that country alone – double-decker buses in Britain, windmills in Holland (what an inspired addition to a flat landscape: think how they would transform Nebraska), sidewalk cafés in Paris. And yet there are some things that most countries do without difficulty that others cannot get a grasp of at all.

Bryson can be regarded as one of the most successful travel writers of all time. He sold millions of books. I was wondering why a person would want to pack a bag and travel for months, alone, all over the planet. How exciting can that be? But then I discovered his huge success, underscored by his unique writing style, and it made sense.

There are a few travel writers that demanded a similar dedication from me. n  Michael Palin's travelsn had me mesmerized for months and months on end, both the books and the television series.


Who remembers the magic of n  Peter Jenkin's travelsn? A Walk Across America; Looking For Alaska; Across China, to name but a few.

If you haven't read n   Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moonn, you might miss out on a wonderful experience.

Alas, I cannot list all the amazing travel memoirs pre-GR, don't regard myself as a member of the travelogue-cognoscenti, however, this genre with its many outstanding authors brought many hours of fascination and happy reading hours to my life. Weren't they also the first to introduce the many cultures and their history to the world's eager, curious readers?

Bill Bryson is one of the greats. An excellent choice.

Bill Bryson is, without a doubt, one of my favorites. His writing simply flows off the page. The Daily Telegraph summed this book up perfectly: ‘Hugely funny (not snigger-snigger funny but great-big-belly-laugh-till-you-cry funny)’. Yes, this is what I experienced also. There were a few parts where I honestly could not stop laughing for the life of me and felt pain in my stomach and had tears rolling down my cheeks.
Here’s one example of his visit to Istanbul, “The one truly unbearable thing in the city is the Turkish pop music. It is inescapable. It assaults you from every restaurant doorway, from every lemonade stand, from every passing cab. If you can imagine a man having a vasectomy without anaesthetic to a background accompaniment of frantic sitar-playing, you will have some idea of what popular Turkish music is like.” As with all of Bill Bryson’s travelogues, I’m so sorry that it ended. Some may be offended by his language – not a problem for me.

Seriously - this book sucks. Big time.

Bill Bryson is as funny as ever; you can't avoid guffawing at some of his observations: but this is a book-long exercise in sarcasm. It's as though the author is saying: "Look, compared to these brain-dead Europeans, see how clever I am!" Being a sarcastic SOB myself, I can understand the attitude - but find it difficult to sustain 200+ pages of it.

And really, for a travelogue, it does not give the reader what he/ she wants - information on the country traversed. We are treated to pages and pages of descriptions of the dreary hotels the author stayed in (it seems that he cannot find one meeting his exacting standards anywhere), the bad and expensive food he had to stomach (except Mac Donald's, of course), the totally unappealing people he had to deal with and (towards the middle of the book) his pornographic dreams which run as subtext in stream-of-consciousness. I felt that ol' Bill here was trying to squeeze humour out of his trip like one trying to get that last dollop of toothpaste from the tube.

And having visited Istanbul, I can tell you that his impressions of the city are the diametric opposite of what I experienced in 2011. Either the city has drastically changed in two decades, or it shows different faces to the entitled, holier-than-thou American and the inquisitive Indian, on the lookout for fresh experiences.

Give this book a miss. Bryson's other books are better.

I've been dying to read some Bill Bryson, and unfortunately I did not care for this at all. I kind of blame myself, because I saw many reviews that said his later work is much better. I was bored, and it barely held my attention. I just mindlessly let it play on in the background for much of the book. Some things I found slightly entertaining, but it just seemed like all he did was complain and criticize about everything in every single country. I'm still going to give some of the more popular works a go at a later date!

I did like this book, although I couldn't help feeling that following Mr. Bryson through Europe was a little like watching the movie Dumb and Dumber. I have traveled in Europe and my philosophy was completely different from his. I knew that typical American tourists spend a day or two in a place and then go on to the next place. I disagree with this idea so much because I don't see the point of spending a lot of money on a plane ticket to go to another continent if I am not going to experience something amazing, and you can't expect amazing unless you take the time to do so. I took three months with my sister to travel by rail to 7 different destinations and we spent a significant chunk of time in each place. It is not that hard to do especially if you put yourself out there and try to meet some people. Once you show an interest in the culture and history of the place that you are in, you will be amazed at how people welcome you into their worlds. We stayed in the home of a guy that we had just met, who was a friend of a friend, in Rome and his mother served us an amazing breakfast in the mornings, and she didn't speak a word of English. This friend of a friend also took us to his three favorite pizzerias and his three favorite gelatorias, each day a different combination. We were there for a week and learned a few words of Italian, learned a lot about the history of Rome, and most importantly learned about what it is like to be a Roman today.

I felt that Mr. Bryson totally missed this concept. It seemed that at every turn he was disappointed with where he was and the experience he had. It's no wonder! He spent absolutely no time trying to learn about the people or even to speak a few of their words. I spoke one word of Russian to a Russian bartender once and from that moment on I was the only person in my group that he would even try to communicate with.

I read this book because I was feeling a little nostalgic about my travels and wanted to remember these places a little. The only thing that kept me from hating it was Mr. Brysons sense of self-deprecating humor. Just when I was about to give up on him because his sense of adventure was so skewed, he would make a knife-sharp remark indicating that he was an idiot, and then I would feel better and keep reading.

Mr. Bryson is from Iowa and in this case it is clear that you can take the boy out of Iowa, but you cannot take the Iowa out of the boy.

The reason I read this book is because there have been some excellent extracts from it in the course books I teach from. Unfortunately I think those extracts were actually the best bits... I certainly learnt nothing new from reading the entire book.
Bryson is funny, but after a while he comes across as whiny and just a touch xenophobic. I've never quite understood the point of travelling and then asking for 'something that would pass for food in America' to eat.
Furthermore, the chapter structure became a little tiresome after a while: the routine of arrive, find hotel, have steaming hot shower/bath, wander round town, have something to eat was rarely deviated from.
Perhaps this book was considered quite differently at the time of publishing, before the era of cheap flights meant Europe was easily accessible to all.