Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A travelogue, but with a difference. This book deals with the author visiting a lot of cities in Europe, some where he stays for a month to see the northern lights, or some where he flees off as soon as he enters because he hates it so much. He actually retraces his own path, he had gone over all these cities as a student and came back again to see whether he feels the same way about them still.

I have never read a travelogue before, so I did not know what to expect, but it was really interesting to see the world through a different set of eyes. It made me want to visit these places, to see it for myself. I am not sure I believe all that he writes! :) But he has a knack of finding small amusing stories in each place and invoke a curiosity in the reader to know more and get a first hand experience.

I would definitely read more of Bill Bryson's books after this.

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When we were orphans - by Kazuo ishiguro

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have read a couple of books by Ishiguro, and Never Let Me Go is still my favorite of the lot. This book deals with the life of a detective who tries to figure out what had happened to his parents in childhood, and how he realizes that his memories are not always correct, how things are not always as they seem at the moment. The book consists of a timeline happening in the future interspersed with flashbacks of the past, and of his childhood. I felt the style of the flow is similar to Ishuguro's The Remains of the Day. It gives a glimpse into the life of British settlers in japan during the early 1900-s and the opium trading business. It also has some scenes in the setting of the Chinese Japanese war.

But all together, there was nothing sparkling to hold on to, it did not blow me away at any point. In a few places, claims are made that if the protagonist solves the crime of his parent's disappearance, a world catastrophe will be avoided and everyone knows that and is preparing for it. It is not at all clear why that was the case though. It is possible I have not understood the deeper significance of the book, but even though I do not regret reading it, it was an ok book, the book has not left any indelible mark on me.

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Back again with book reviews

I have been away from the blog a long time, and now I have decided to come back, with my views of books that I am reading. I will write a short review of every book I read, thus forcing myself to write something, as well as becoming a nice chronological set of posts to look back on.