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14 opere 298 membri 14 recensioni

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Comprende i nomi: Dixe Wills, Johnson P. Johnson

Opere di Dixe Wills

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Informazioni generali

Altri nomi
Johnson, Johnson P.
Sesso
male
Nazionalità
UK
Attività lavorative
journalist

Utenti

Recensioni

I'm so confused by this book, I hardly know where to begin. Regular readers at Carpe Librum will know I enjoy reading a variety of non-fiction titles and was looking forward to reading The Ultimate Bucket List - 50 Buckets You Must See Before You Die by Dixe Wills for Non Fiction November.

I thought this book would act as an interesting vessel for a bucketload of information on some very interesting historic moments, events, people and innovations. Having turned the last page of this beautiful little hardback, I don't actually know what I just read.

At first, I was constantly checking Wikipedia to find out whether the bucket entries were real or imagined. With entries varying from the Bobrinski Bucket (a fascinating bronze bucket made in 1163 and mentioned on page 65) to the Bucket Fountain in New Zealand (a real and ugly fountain on page 136) to the head scratching entry of Taylor Swift's Bucket on page 105. (What was that all about?)

Some of the subject matter was obscure and made references and in-jokes that went way over my head. Simultaneously, the book is also full of silly offbeat humour and imagined dialogue, accompanied by comic illustrations making light of the topic and I couldn't work out whether the author was 'taking the piss' or using comic relief to make the subject matter less intimidating or more approachable. It was thoroughly confusing.

Is this satire? Is it a toilet joke book? I'm not sure what it was, but as a reader I was disappointed. The author was clearly well researched and provided a list of 50 buckets from all walks of life and periods in history. I found that I was frequently putting the book down to fact check when the author could easily have supplied adequate details to satisfy the reader's genuine curiosity. It's hard to imagine the reader who will understand all of the 50 entries provided without some serious Googling.

If Dixe Wills had written a serious book about the subject matter, with photographs - instead of crazy illustrations reminiscent of Quentin Blake - The Ultimate Bucket List could have been a 5 star read.

* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *
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Segnalato
Carpe_Librum | Nov 22, 2020 |
Whilst not particularly religious, Dixe Wills still takes time to pop into most of the churches that he passes as he travels around the countryside on his bike. These places are not huge edifices that can seat hundreds, rather they are modest buildings that have served the needs of their local communities for years, and in quite a lot of cases hundreds and hundreds of years.

For this book, Wills has had to reduce his shortlist down to 60 buildings and in line with his other books, he has chosen the smallest of them. Even the largest of those his has picked can seat 30 or so at a squeeze, but most only have room for a dozen or so. The range of building he has selected too is impressive, there are places that disappeared and the buildings were discovered much later with original architecture intact. He visits an amazing chapel made from Nissan Huts by Italian Prisoners of War WW2 up in Orkney. There are buildings that highlight the Romanesque, the Gothic and even takes us to the oldest wooden church in the country. It never ceases to amaze me just how old some of these places are. Frequently Norman and a significant number of churches with Anglo Saxon origins and even one with Roman foundations.

It is not a spiritual journey rather a pilgrimage to the tiny, quirky and always impressive spiritual focal points of villages and towns. I like Will writing style as he always manages to find lots of interesting things to say about any of the subjects that he is writing about, and this is no different, each church has a potted history of its significant features and his own personal take of his visit. Most importantly you can go and visit these yourself, clear details are given on how to get there and each mini-biography is accompanied by lovely photos of the church in question and some of the internal fittings and settings. Not just a book for the architecture buff, but one for those that have a passing interest in the places they are rooted in. A good companion volume to The King of Dust by Alex Woodcock.
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Segnalato
PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |
For a small country we have an awful lot of places to visit, but how do you sort the good from the bad, the quirky and interesting from the dull and tedious. This book is a good place to start. Following on from his other books concentrating on the 'Tiny' parts of Britain this one is all about the attractions that fit the criteria of places to go when you only have half an hour.

There are all sorts of different attractions in here to tempt you to move away from the mainstream, caves, piers, cinemas including one in a caravan, museums in telephone boxes, the cliff side hut of an opium-smoking vicar and the smallest county. There are railways, short ferry crossings and a bus service that if you miss you will have a very long wait for the next one. Some of the best views in the UK can be seen from a small slate bridge in the Lake District and he visits another bridge where a bear of very little brain gave us a game that amuses children and adults alike. Should all this travelling about be too much and you need a break, there are recommendations for some of the smallest pubs in Britain too.

This is another classic quirky and informative travel book by Dixe Wills. It is full of photos of the places that he is recommending to visit with clear instructions on how to find them. There is something in here for everyone, and if you have read and liked any of his other books on Tiny places then this book would be right up your very small street.
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Segnalato
PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |
There is an alternative side to Britain, a side only revealed, though that is probably the wrong word, at night. Familiar landscapes become eerie and disorientating, but also calmer and quieter. Animals and people not normally seen during the day emerge. Other senses are enhanced and you become more aware of the smells and sounds around you. With your sight diminished, it takes a while to adjust to the dark, but on a moonlit night you can still see well.

In this quirky, delightful book, Wills goes looking for Britain at night. He joins in with an overnight bike ride, cycling from London to Dunwich. His regular bike was stolen, so he is on a spare bike and it isn’t quite roadworthy. He travels on the overnight sleeper train from Scotland to London and spend a night on the island of Skomer watching out for Manx shearwaters. The legend says that a night spent on Cadair Idris will turn you mad or into a poet, so Wills has to give that a go. He lives in London, and one of his jaunts was spending time wandering around the same streets that Dickens trod, revealing a whole new aspect of the city to him.

Like his other books, this is a really enjoyable read. He has a knack of choosing subjects that are rarely touched on by other writers, and by exploring the various aspects of the country at night he has found another niche. There are tips on moving safely at night too, as he wants us, the readers, to venture into the night in the same way that he did. Worth a read, and I am looking forward to his next book.
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Segnalato
PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |

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Statistiche

Opere
14
Utenti
298
Popolarità
#78,715
Voto
½ 3.3
Recensioni
14
ISBN
30
Lingue
1

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