Notes from a Big Country

Title: Notes from a Big Country

Author: Bill Bryson

Publisher: Black Swan, 1999 (First published 1998)

ISBN: 9780552997867

Pages: 416

Bill Bryson is one of the funniest authors to have graced the language. Reviews of many of his other books can be seen in this blog and I don’t intend to introduce the hearty fellow again. He was born in the US and then made England his home for nearly 20 years when he travelled and worked. He met his wife there and was happily married with four kids when the idea struck him to move back to the US. He settled in New Hampshire among friendly neighbours and idyllic woods. This book is a collection of articles written for a weekly journal about life in America. It is written in the form of addressing fellow Britons across the ocean. Bryson pulls the leg of both the British and the American, in these exceedingly witty essays – 78 of them in total.

Though it is a clichéd expression, I have to affirm that Bryson’s articles evoke laughter as well as thought. His sarcasm is armour-piercing. And no one is free from his acerbic attacks, whether it is the careless airline company that ignores customer rights, or a US government department for which lethargy is the rule, or the ubiquitous marketing strategists who assume that their target people are outright dumb. The author’s clear stand on the need to abolish capital punishment is logical and to the point. It may be remembered that the US is the only major western power that employs it as a part of the judicial process. Many people argue that it must remain a part of the statute book as a deterrent for dangerous criminals. Bryson turns this argument on its head. It is not necessarily the culprits of the most heinous crimes that get caught and executed. Rare examples have come to light where a condemned person was found to be innocent just before the execution was to take place. Even otherwise, the time and effort expended by the state in establishing and confirming the death penalty is worth much more than what is required for awarding life imprisonment.

This book brings to light the extravagance and profligacy of American life. It all started after the Second World War, when the armament industry reconfigured itself for domestic uses. Bryson was born in the 1950s, which was also the decade in which American prosperity scaled its zenith. As compared to the splendor of plenty, Britain looked niggardly. A positive aspect the author finds in his new home is the extraordinary friendliness of his neighbours and has been prominently remarked upon. Curiously, this is in stark contrast to the experience of most Indians who stay in the US, and evidenced in the book ‘Visa Wives’ by M B Radhika, reviewed earlier. Racism is what comes instantaneously to mind, but if we decide to be more charitable, one of the reasons might have been the absence of camaraderie in urban sprawls where working Indians usually ends up.

The book includes a bonus chapter from ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid’, another absorbing title from Bryson. Unfortunately, the same chapter is given as an extra along with ‘Made in America’ as well, which is another delightful work on things made in America, including the subtle changes it had wrought on the English language itself.

Readers are assured a jolly, good time reading the book, as there are very few authors in the world, who can match the caliber of Bryson for wit. His style is impeccable and breathtakingly original. There is an essay titled ‘On Losing a Son’, which is in fact all about parting with the boy who had enrolled in the university for higher studies and was leaving home. This chapter demonstrates that the author is quite adept in handling emotionally overloaded sentiments as well. Once a child moves to a college faraway, there is little chance that he or she will come back to you, ever. The author’s touching emotion on his finding his son’s carelessly discarded yesterdays is a moving experience.

Satirizing the nascent computer industry – this book was first published in 1998 – is a little far fetched. It can be confidently vouched that the personal computers that came out in the year had been quite user friendly. At least on this aspect, Bryson’s critique may be taken as a friendly banter than a serious observation.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star