A Tall Man in a Low Land : " Some Time Among The Belgians" - Softcover

Pearson, Harry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349112061 ISBN 13: 9780349112060

Publisher: Abacus, 2000

Synopsis

Most British travel writers head south for a destination that is hot, exotic, dangerous or all three. Harry Pearson chose to head in the opposite direction for a country which is damp, safe and of legendary banality: Belgium. But can any nation whose most famous monument is a statue of a small boy urinating really be that dull? Pearson lived there for several months, burying himself in the local culture. He drank many of the 800 different beers the Belgians produce; ate local delicacies such as kip kap (jellied pig cheeks) and a mighty tonnage of chicory and chips. In one restaurant the house speciality was 'Hare in the style of grandmother'. 'I didn't order it. I quite like hare, but had no wish to see one wearing zip-up boots and a blue beret.' A TALL MAN IN A LOW LAND commemorates strange events such as The Festival of Shrimps at Oostduinkerke and laments the passing of the Underpant Museum in Brussels. No reader will go away from A TALL MAN IN A LOW LAND without being able to name at least ten famous Belgians. Mixing evocative description and low-grade buffoonery Harry Pearson paints a portrait of Belgium that is more rounded than a Smurf after a night on the mussels.

About this title

Review:

Belgium has had its share of defining moments: the treaty of Vienna after Napoleon, two world wars and, rounding out the 20th century, contaminated Coke come to mind. In A Tall Man in a Low Land the curmudgeonly comic Harry Pearson grabs this theme in his teeth and, growling through the lowlands, asks "what the bloody hell am I doing here?" Along the way, Pearson bumps into some curiously sympathetic observers, the Belgians themselves. His meandering path of puns and one-liners describes the land of the Flemish and the French Walloons: two worlds for the price of one.

Pearson wisely skirts Brussels, the home of the 17th-century statue of the Manneken-Pis, Belgium's unfortunate guidebook equivalent to Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower. Instead he heads into the countryside, taking a poke at sights no guide would have the guts to mention: the life-threatening preoccupation with electrical DIY projects and a Flemish landscape of garden ornaments littering every nook and cranny. Such observations are fuelled by Pearson's ability to deliver detail with a punch line though he doesn't approach Bill Bryson's story-telling ease.

Pearson began the trip in search of insight into one of Europe's most densely populated countries and concludes that the Belgians suffer from low self esteem. Then, with the wit that defines a traveller's tale over a guide book, Pearson reveals their common bond: 100 different beers and 35,000 cafes. After all, as Pearson reminds us, how can you not love a country that gave the British bitter, ale and chips? --Kathleen Buckley

Review:

Pearson is as tall as he is funny and, believe me, he is very tall (THE FACE)

Funnier than Bill Bryson (Pete Davies, THE INDEPENDENT)

[Belgium] seems a great deal more interesting at the end of the book than it did at the beginning ... Pearson is really funny. Do not read this book in a public place (Jonathan Sale)

About this edition

• Publisher: Abacus
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0349112061
• ISBN 13: 9780349112060
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 246