I just finished reading 'Down Under' by Bill Bryson. I finished it in a little under a week. It's truly a great read and, for the most part he's spot on. It's the second book that i've read by him after reading 'Mother Tongue' in college. I decided to read it as a sort of fitting end to my travels in Australia. It's rounded things off nicely and I think it was the perfect time to read it, having been to a lot of the areas he's writing about. However, I do think if you're a novice when it comes to Australia it would be a good thing to pick-up. It's not a definitive travel guide (and doesn't claim to be), but his scholarship provides a great insight into the history of Australia, plenty of interesting facts and musings on a lot things I, myself have been wondering. It's nice to know I wasn't the only one. To quote my friend Jack, Bill Bryson most certainly 'drops knowledge.' He manages to fulfil all of this criteria whilst combining it with real experience and comedic relief in the form of his numerous encounters. Most importantly, he tells it like it is. Give it a go.
I can't wait to get my hands on 'Neither Here Nor There', Bryson in Europe. But, for the moment, it's back to the natural state of affairs - reading early modern history. I managed to pick-up a rather large biography of Francis Drake by Stephen Coote. If you don't know you Drake is then you can't be helped. Otherwise, get your wiki on.
A week on Friday is Soundwave Festival in Melbourne. It's at the Flemington Showgrounds which is only the next suburb over which is convenient. Ingrid got us both tickets for my birthday and I've been looking forward to it for a long time. I've never been to a festival at home, but I've experienced them in Norway and Sweden so it'll be interesting to see how the Aussies handle it. The bands I'm most looking forward to are Glassjaw, The Almost, The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World.
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