The Body by Bill Bryson

Author : Bill Bryson
Title : The Body
Published : 2019
Publisher : Doubleday
Pages : 464
Genre : Non Fiction / Health

     Following on from the classic A Short History of Nearly Everything, The Body uncovers the workings of organs, muscles, and bones and is steeped in fascinating anecdotes and enlightening trivia. An indispensable guide to the matter that we are made of, The Body is the must-read science book of the year. Now he turns his attention inwards to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological makeup.

     I think for most of us Bill Bryson is an author we tend to associate with travel writing. I myself have spent a good few hours lost in his books. Throughout out, I have always been able to learn something of the places he has been to and also had a good laugh. This time he has turned his attention to a place a little closer to home. For all the time we spend in them, most of us know little about how the function. We all often take it for granted that they are doing what they are supposed to. Within this book, Bryson set out to give us a better understanding of just how our bodies work and for that matter keep working.

     The book is broken up into chapters dealing with different aspects of the human body.  His aim seems to be to give us a brief understanding of each of there functions and at times how they can go very wrong. For me, this was a book that is a step or two up from your school textbooks. He gave me a better way to get into the material. In the process breaking down some of the bigger biological processes into much easier bites. More than once I was left feeling surprised at my own very limited knowledge on the subject.  I think I can know peel off a great many facts to share with others. But as he admits for all we know of the human body we still have a great deal to learn. There are great swaths of information missing from our understanding.  The human body is one of the most complex things and with each passing day, there are people out there in search of answers to all the questions he raises. 

     For a book that is very complex at times, Bryson try's his best to bring it to us on a level we can all understand. But with any such book, there will always be a great deal of information to take in. I am usually a fairly quick reader, but even for me, this book took a few days to make my way through. This is not such a bad thing I was able to stop at a certain point to delve a little deeper online and to think about what he was telling me. I would point out that his usual level of humor is missing from this book. While it does pop up from time to time. I feel this is more Bryson the educates than bubbling adventure. And while a great deal of the books is given over to just how we function, he also delves into what happens when it all goes wrong. In doing so he does not shy away from race and gender. He does his best to show that while on some levels we are all the same, these two factors I mentioned play a big deal in not only how our bodies react to illness but how we are treated when going to the hospital. I think I should count my self lucky to have grown up in Britain whilst we may not be on the top of any charters we are certainly nowhere near the bottom. 

     Having finished the book I appreciate this will not be one for everyone. I think a lot of die-hard Bryson fans will struggle to make it through. For me it was a great book to read, I'm always looking to expand my knowledge on all subjects. And to find one that helps me better understand my self can not be bad at all. This nook was never going to fill in all the blanks, but if you want to either refresh what you know or are looking to get a foothold in the subject of the human body Bryson is your man.