|
Bryson travels by train, plane and motor car at
one time or another and visits all the mainland States and Territories. In each
State and Territory he visits each capital city and also often gets off the
beaten track to far flung outposts of each State, some with names I'd never hear
of. Bryson takes great pleasure in the minutia and some of the stories he tells
reflect this, like, for example, his story of Mrs Lillian O'Donahue who played a
crucial role in one of the Gemini spaceflights in 1964 or Beryl Wruck and her
unfortunate visit to the Daintree River.
Bryson presents lots of fact and figures on most
of the places he visited and the bibliography of the book would suggest he did
detailed research. In addition, and from reading between the lines, his research
would appear to be also gleaned from folk tales, local myths and literature and
materials he would have picked up as he travelled to all those out of the way
towns and locations. The real gems in this book were the humourous anecdotes,
witty observations and laugh-out-loud comments made by Bryson and there
are many.
The penultimate paragraph of the book sums up
Bryson's perspective on Australia by saying, "Its population is small and
its role in the world consequently peripheral. It doesn't have coups, recklessly
over fish, arm disagreeable despots, grow coca in provocative quantities or
throw
its weight around in a brash and unseemly manner. It is stable and peaceful and
good. It doesn't need watching, and so we don't. But i will tell you this: the
loss is entirely ours". This is one of those rare books that can
beautifully blend facts and be funny seamlessly.
|
