Down under by Bill Bryson: Teeming with life

Bryson writes,

Let me say right here that I love Australia—adore it immeasurably—and I’m smitten anew each time I see it…The people are immensely likeable—cheerful, extrovert, quickwitted and unfailingly obliging. Their cities are safe and clean and nearly always built on water. They have a society that’s prosperous….The beer is cold. The sun nearly always shines. There is coffee on every corner…Life doesn’t get much better than this. 

Bryson’s writing is teeming with life and his observations of Australia are engrossing. He begins with his train and road journey along the Indian Pacific. The discussions about the historical background to these places reveal copious amounts of research. We breathe freshness in his description of Australia’s flaura and fauna. As we traverse through the outback along with Bryson, he ushers us to Australia’s approach to literature and their unofficial national anthem—Waltzing Matilda, which feels like an early morning lullaby. 

Oh! There was once a swagman camped in the billabong under the shade of a Coolibah tree And he sang as he looked at his old, billy boiling, who will come a Waltzing Matilda with me

Bryson then provides an inkling of his childhood and how up until he visited Melbourne during a lit fest, touring Australia wasn’t on his bucket list. In the last chapters, he discusses the origins of the Australian community and his travel experience at the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland and some places in the southwest. Overall, a good attempt to cover one of the world’s largest countries in one book.