Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson

I had bought this book intending to read it before the JB and I headed o/s.  Unfortunately it was not to be.  Doesn’t matter because I’ve since read it and still enjoyed it, particularly Bryson’s notes on places I’ve visited. 

Although a US native, Bryson lived in the UK for a couple of decades, marrying and having kids there, but had decided to return to the US and wanted to undertake one last trip throughout the UK.  So it’s really a travel narrative. 

Bryson has such a dry and humourous writing style, it’s just great to read through.  Although the book was published in the mid 1990’s it’s still rather amusing today.  Just goes to show that good writing doesn’t date.  A few of the locations he visits have changed, but observations about the British way still ring true. 

A nice comfortable read with a few laugh out loud moments.

The Tall Man by Chloe Hooper

I don’t often read a book knowing how it’s going to end.  Because this is an account of a case that attracted much in the way of media attention, I waited a long while before I bought it.  I still always knew what the outcome was going to be, but I wanted to dull the memory a little so that when I did read the book, it was also a refresher.   

Aboriginal deaths in custody has been an issue for as long as I can remember.  So much so, that I suspect when it occurs these days it’s often not even picked up by the broadsheets.  But the death of Cameron Doomadgee was one that could not be avoided simply because of the basic facts.  A fit and healthy Aboriginal male in his 30’s is arrested and within 40 minutes of his arrest he is found dead on the floor of his cell.  Fit and healthy yet dead 40 minutes later. 

Hooper won a Walkley for her reportage of this case and went on to write a further detailed account in The Tall Man.  She meets with the Doomadgee family, attends the protracted legal sittings and using her own opinions puts together a great story.  It’s a little Helen Garner-esque and I’m clearly not the first person to think of this, as my copy features a cover line attributed to Garner.  Think Joe Cinque’s Consolation.   

This book really got me thinking and I recommend it.