A Walk in the Woods : Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Cassette)

Rating:
Summary: A good book, almost great but not quite
Review: * Spoilers ahead *

This review refers to the Audio CD version. I'll echo another reviewer by saying this book is partly about hiking and partly about Bryson's personal and environmental observations. Having never done any appreciable hiking, I had to take the author's word as to how difficult the AT is, how much he and his friend Katz struggled, etc. That being said, it does sound as if they went through a great deal. The humor is great and helps keep the story moving along even as they trudge ever forward through seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

What kept me from giving this book a full 5 out of 5 stars is that Bryson gets off on a few too many tangents. His opinions on the environment and American ways in general start off as interesting, but then he seems to let them drag on a bit too long each time. The middle part of the book, especially, gets bogged down with long discussions of regional history, geology, etc. Perhaps it's no coincidence that these are the parts of his travels he did alone, without Katz.

Fortunately, Katz returns for the final few chapters and we are once again treated to our Laurel and Hardy of the mountains.

I enjoyed listening to this book and hope that other Bryson works are available in Audio CD format as well.


Rating:
Summary: AT 'lite'
Review: I disliked the book and Bryson.

I found Bryson to be unbelievable. I actually found myself rechecking the cover to make sure this was supposed to be non-fiction. Bryson appears to have a real gift for exaggeration, if not outright lying. Early on, when we meet his friend Katz, Bryson explains that Katz must eat doughnuts around the clock or else he will begin to seize--some sort of brain injury from Katz past drug use, Bryson tells us. This sparked skepticism in my mind that lingered throughout the book. Almost every character Bryson describes thereafter has equally cartoonish features. But that is where he gets most of his laughs: describing how ridiculous and stupid everyone else. When that isn't enough, he resorts to adolescent jokes about characters from the movie 'Deliverance.'

His blurbs about geology, the Forest Service, environmentalism, history, etc. are generally superficial, sometimes incorrect, and certainly not original. There is nothing here that hasn't been hashed around many times before. His attempts at hiking small sections of the trail later on are boring. One day ended in Bryson not even able to find the trail.

If it doesn't matter that Bryson is unable or unwilling to finish the trail, why does he feel it necessary to drive along portions he decided not to hike? Why does he give lame reasons for giving up at various stages? Why does he claim to have truly hiked the AT in the end? I'm not sure he deserves to be on the trail. It is clear that Bryson doesn't appreciate the AT. Complaining about the endless trees and lack of quaint towns like you would find hiking in Luxemburg, he seems most happy in the comfort of a Holiday Inn Express or gorging at a Applebees. Did he really not understand what he was getting in to in the beginnning?




Rating:
Summary: Just what I have come to expect from Bryson-Excellence!
Review: It would seem that Bill Bryson and I enjoyed many of same idyllic misconceptions about the Appalachian Trail that only the uninitiated can harbor. The difference though is that while I got to be dispelled of those fancies sitting in my comfy leather chair Bryson got to learn the hard way... the extremely hard way, by actually attempting to hike it.

Having spent my early childhood near the tail in Virginia the Appalachian had always been something that would tumble through my mind from time to time- something of a distant symbolic power for me. With that background A Walk in the Woods was the perfect Christmas gift and a great read. Bryson and his ill prepared sidekick Stephen Katz provide an often funny, occasionally poignant but always engaging narrative. While the narrative is studded all along with well researched nuggets of history, lore and science as is characteristic of other Bryson books I have read the additional elements of the book that come from the bond that develops between Bryson and Katz was something new to me from his work but blinded in nicely.

The more I read of Bryson's work the more I enjoy it-regardless of if hiking, nature writing, Bryson or the Appalachian Trail itself drew you to this book you will not be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Hold on to your sides...
Review: Truly a funny book. I am not known as an "outdoor" gal, but after reading this wonderful book, I just might try a stroll along the trail. Laughing out loud is so good for one's soul. This author has a terrific way with words and situations--you want to be there and meet these wacky people. I, too, would have opted for a motel every 3 days or so. Am planning on reading more of Bryson's work whenever I travel. I have given this book to many friends, who have enjoyed it and passed it on to others.

Rating:
Summary: Adventure Travel for the Rest of Us
Review: Despite effusive praise from my family (ah, the curse of high expectations!), I actually enjoyed "A Walk in the Woods" a great deal. It's an engaging quick read with a lively cast of characters and great descriptive prose. In several places it is hilariously, laugh-out-loud funny. Bryson keeps up a casual conversational style, so I didn't find his negative comments on people and places particularly nasty, just honest. Then again, I'm not from rural Georgia (which he lambastes pretty darn seriously).

I also appreciated Bryson's willingness to attack, directly and at some length, the failings of the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. Very few people, myself included, know the details of how these institutions are run, but it's obvious that they have some serious failings. Bryson elucidates the problems with NFS and NPS and illustrates how seriously they imperil the few remaining wild areas in America. Bryson manages to keep the tone light enough that even a committed nature-lover like myself didn't end up weeping over the fate of our forests. But I consider it worthwhile to own this book just so that I can re-read those sections from time to time when I feel like stewing in righteous indignation and writing some letters to my Senator.

The reason that this book really appeals to me, however, is that it's a story about NORMAL PEOPLE going off to try and do something extraordinary, and what happens is what NORMALLY happens - they fail, but they have an interesting experience. As Bryson makes clear, the vast majority of potential thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail don't make it - a third drop out before they even leave Georgia. And Bryson and his companion Katz are out-of-shape, middle-aged, infrequent hikers - not prime candidates for success.

Now, I'm a huge fan of "adventure travel" narratives - mountain climbers, polar explorers, the whole bit. It's exciting to read about near-superhuman individuals going up against near-impossible odds in conditions you would never DREAM of attempting - and succeeding. But occasionally these narratives make me feel a little, well, insignificant and incompetent. There's only so many times you can read "If you haven't climbed K2, you haven't really lived" or "When I finally finished my cross-Canadian barefoot trek, my life suddenly took on new meaning" without feeling that sitting on a couch READING about this stuff makes you a big old WUSSY.

So what a relief to finally read Bryson's narrative, where two guys take a crack at a great challenge and do what most of us would probably do. They give it a good shot, realize they're in over their head, and salvage the experience as best they can. They have a lot of amazing experiences, learn a lot, and have great stories to tell (obviously, book-worthy stories). I can IDENTIFY with these guys, huffing and puffing along the trail and NOT loving every darn minute of it. They aren't wussies, because they dared to try this - but they don't make ME feel like a wussy either.

Some might argue that Bryson's attitude of "I didn't make it all the way, but I hiked the Appalachian Trail nonetheless" is insulting to those who DID make it all the way. But I think you'd have to be pretty insecure about your amazing accomplishment to be upset when someone FAILS to achieve what you have, but HAS A GOOD TIME ANYWAY. Give me a break. Successful thru-hikers are welcome to write a book about their experience; if they're a skillful writer like Bryson, it will probably be a good book. And I would read that book, and probably enjoy it.

But Bryson reminds me of myself, and his experiences resonate for me, and for all those people who CAN imagine themselves stumbling through the woods, sweaty and exhausted and cursing, and CAN'T imagine themselves clinging resolutely to an ice-shelf on Mount Everest. Things didn't go the way Bryson planned, but he wrote a book anyway - a GOOD book - and he still has a sense of humor in the retelling of his misadventures. I can only hope to someday do the same - since I sure won't be making it to the South Pole anytime soon.

Rating:
Summary: Bryson is funny and has a green heart
Review: This is the second Bill Bryson book I have read ("Notes From a Small Island" was the other) so I knew I was guaranteed much wry and spot-on humour, together with eccentric experiences and out-of-the-usual travel reminiscing. He did not fail to live up to these expectations. He is so adept at making you feel like you live in the moment with him as he encounters both the banal and the sublime. This book truly treasures the Appalachian Trail, while not hiding its frustrations and mundaneness. There is also much in the way of interesting factual information which serves as a compelling case for environmental advocacy. I am certain most who treasure the environment will find much to cheer about, and much to rue, in this book, as I did.

Early on, Bryson forgoes any perfectionistic desire to complete his hike of the whole trail and instead is content to hike part of it, and in so doing, shows us both its mysteries and challenges together with its beauty. It also takes some of the pressure off him and us, as he is content to enjoy the walk rather than try and accomplish something for its own sake.

He has written a very entertaining story which does service to both the environment in America and the gift of human companionship, walking the shrinking Appalachian woods with his hilarious hiking buddy, Katz. American culture is always an easy target for a skilled humourist and Bryson is good at poking fun where it is due, and pointing out the sad lack of appreciation for natural beauty among much of the American public.

The end result of reading this book, as I am sure it has been for many others, is that it fed my desire to explore more of the outdoors, appreciate what we have and fight to keep it.