{"id":4743,"date":"2023-04-21T12:49:32","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T16:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prochainelecture.com\/?p=4743"},"modified":"2023-04-21T12:49:35","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T16:49:35","slug":"notes-from-a-small-island-bill-bryson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prochainelecture.com\/en\/notes-from-a-small-island-bill-bryson\/","title":{"rendered":"The art of being bored in Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago, Quebec was without electricity for days.<\/a> There were some lucky ones who didn't see anything of course, but I was worse; I was in the dark for three days. (Note the good pun.) I couldn't charge my phone, watch TV, cool my food, heat my food, or even make myself a coffee. After the first exciting day where I felt a bit like I was camping, I became fed up. I was cold, I wanted artificial light. And most of all, I was bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was bored, because all my entertainment had been cut off, except reading. And you know I love to read, but after a few hours, one still wants to do something else. But there was nothing else to do. So I would get under the blanket on the sofa, and stare into space. I would take long walks with nothing plugged in my ears. I'd go to bed early and get up early. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meditating in the ice rain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And I think I could hardly have chosen a better time to read Notes from a Small Island<\/em>, the story of an American (the author, Bill Bryson) who travels across England. It was published in 1995, and we sometimes forget it, but cell phones didn't really exist in those days. There is a scene where the narrator makes fun of a tiresome man on the train who, proud of his cell phone that he carries everywhere with him in his briefcase<\/em>, calls everyone just because he can. \"Hi honey, just to let you know I'm going to be two minutes late.\" And that little fact shows up throughout the book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n