Review: Funnier and Less Sour Than the Description Would Suggest
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 28, 2012
I downloaded this on a whim despite the fact that the Amazon description and a number of reviews suggested that this would be a pretty sour "pull-no-punches" whine. I was expecting something like Paul Theroux's "The Kingdom By The Sea", which is a depressing exercise in undisguised contempt for all things British. What you get, howeever, is more like a glossary to accompany Bill Bryson's "Notes From A Small Island", where the tone is more one of bemused exasperation.This book covers all of the obvious bits about pronouncing words, and how American phrases have different meanings in Britain, and so on. But there is more depth and interest because Ms. Muir is a resident of the Kingdom, and explains more obscure practices, (e.g. my Welsh grandparents and parents handled Halloween as they do in Britain, with no candy and the obligation to recite a poem or sing a song in order to get a small coin).Ms. Muir does know how to turn a phrase or launch a funny one-liner, and is a fairly engaging companion, so the bottom line is that I would encourage you to give this book a try.