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Summary: most entertaining book I ever read
Review: This was the most entertaining book I ever read. I was on a kayak camping trip by myself and this book got me through the boring nights. Even though I was using up my lantern fuel reading I just couldn't put the book down. I'm not really sure If bill bryson actually hiked the trail but he was very convincing. I'd like to find another book like this that covers the adirondack mountains.
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Summary: The first reviewer got it wrong - this is a very funny book
Review: A Walk in the Woods is a very well written, informative, and really really funny book. I don't know where the first reviewer on this page got his perceptions from -- the humor that Bryson pokes at fellow travellers is gentle, not vicious, and more often than not, Bryson pokes far more fun at himself and his companion Katz than at others around them. Bryson is a perceptive, deeply gifted humorous writer, and it seems his brand of irony and observations of human nature are wasted on some!The language he uses -- "splendid" "delightful" "capital" -- shows his 20-odd years spent in Britain and lends a musical, charming tone to his narrative. And like many Brits, his humor is often deadpan. There's a wonderful emotional variation in his storytelling: the trail affects the two men's relationship in all kinds of ways as their hike stretches into weeks. I ended the book not thinking that Bryson and Katz are "lame" for not trekking the whole trail, but instead admired their spirit and recognized how shaken they were by the experience that made them ultimately decide to cut their trip short. To me, the end was hardly an anti-climax but a perfect acknowledgement of the sometimes dark power of nature. I think it makes a more powerful story for two middle aged men to hike 897 miles in both North and South parts of the trail, and ultimately concede they had enough for the time being, than for them to have completed the whole 2000 miles of the Appalachian Trail over some 9 months -- because this way, they stay resilient yet fallible, and because this way, the woods win. As it should be.
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Summary: First 100 pages FANTASTIC, the rest? Well......
Review: The first 100 pages or so were incredible; telling of a journey that only a true hiker can appreciate. I was so into the book; the book drew me in and kept me in for a little while, but then it deflated, kind of hte like Bill Bryson did when he decided he didn't have to do the whole Appalachian Trail but would just do parts of it, and sleep in town whenever instead of camping. He never even finishes the trail!!! I say this not to ruin the ending, but to prevent the misery. It's like he had a good story and could have told it in the first 100 pages but felt he needed to ramble just a little more. In the end, I would recommend this book...just don't bother with the end.
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Summary: Humorous Hike on Appalachian Trail
Review: Bryson has a perceptive account of two middle-aged men setting out with minimal preparation to hike the AT. He is a good narrative writer, although you will not mistake his prose for Ian McEwan. But he is consistently amusing, with 8-10 'laugh out loud' lines in the book. About 20% of his book is ideological cant of the 'modified Luddite' variety. One is always thankful to avoid the full-out Luddite variety in a hiking book ("Wouldn't we all be better off living the simple life in huts and nice bonfires for heat?"). Bryson's is of the 'modified Luddite' form in that he argues for turning the clock back only 100 years or so instead of 1000. For example, he yearns (ad nauseam) for the restoration of farming to the Delaware Valley and tries to position himself 'in the middle' between the hard left 'back to nature' crowd and the world of progress as we know it. It would have been a better (albeit shorter) book without all the diversions into his mild-leftist, political ideology. For example, he argues that because "some naturalists think" the moose population of New England is 20% less than the State Park system does, under the very limited state-sanctioned hunting program, "the moose aren't so much culled as slaughtered." (Pg. 242) Such non-sequiturs bred of leftist ideology abound, but can be overlooked bythe thoughtful reader. Moreover, one can always be thankful it wasn't worse. On the other hand, it may not be Bryson's fault. It may well be that the publisher presumes leftist ideological cant is part of its target audience for hiking books. We shall never know. But the book would have been five stars without it. All in all, a pleasing (though sometimes tendentous) way to gain an appreciation for the terrain and context of the AT.
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Summary: The truth is not only stranger than fiction . . .
Review: It's also more hillarious. Bryson is one of the best comic writers in America and perhaps the best popular travel writer alive. This book is burst-out-loud laughing funny because it is 100% believable. Bryson's honesty about himself and his all-too-human companions on the legendary AT make this not only a side-splitter, but also a book that continues the spirit of Thoreau's Walden.
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Summary: Grab Your Gear, We're Hiking with Bill
Review: Bill Bryson is quite a guy. His writing is always informative, insightful, and downright funny. You can't help but like him. If you're discovering Bryson for the first time, 'A Walk in the Woods' is a great place to start. Bryson spent 20 years in Great Britain, working for a couple of newspapers. When he returned to the U.S., he thought, "Hey, what better way to reunite with America than by hiking the (gulp) 2,000+ mile Appalachian Trail?" And so the journey begins. Just reading about the equipment store was enough to make me never want to hike the A.P., but I sure wanted to see what adventures Bryson would encounter. And oh boy, WHAT adventures! First, Bryson is delighted when he discovers that he won't have to hike alone - his old buddy Stephen Katz is going to join him. Only Katz is in about the same shape as the Pillsbury Dough Boy (with about the same eating habits). Will Katz be able to keep up on the trail without a steady diet of Snickers bars and cream soda? Ah, but the toils of the trail are just beginning...I won't spoil it for you, but I can promise you that the adventures of Bryson and Katz will leave you howling. Bryson does a good job of balancing with adventures with scientific information and excursions into the state of American society. (The trail will do that to you, apparently.) While he does bring out some interesting observations and provide readers with entertaining supplements to our long forgotten science classes, I found the scientific information to go on a bit too long. I was more interesting in what was about to happen to Bryson and Katz along the trail. After reading 'A Walk in the Woods,' would I hike the A.P. Trail? No way. Would I read another Bryson book? You bet. When do we leave? 274 pages
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Summary: Rediscovering America?
Review: I'm not sure what Bryson discovered in writing this book, but I didn't discover a thing. The way he hiked the trail seems to mirror the way he wrote the book. The book starts out strong, enthusiastic and very enjoyable. Then it becomes wearisome. When you find out he had no intention of hiking the whole trail, the book becomes fragmented: some random observations as he drives from one hike to the next. Finally, Bryson abandons the trip entirely, and the book abruptly ends. When you boil it down, the book seems to be only remotely connected to hiking the Appalacian Trail. Bryson could have written it from his living room, and all the reader would have missed is a few amusing anecdotes. All of his other observations gained while hiking the trail are only observations, as rarely do they prove insightful. It is unfortunate that this book was a best-seller. His muddled enviromentalism could perhaps only do more harm than good. In theory, Bryson loves nature, and wants to see it preserved. In reality, however, he does't like the outdoors, as is evident from his constant griping. He rants about the mismanagement and distruction of the forests, and then complains when large tracts of wilderness are left untouched (all while his buddy Katz leaves a wake of trash behind him). Hopefully, people will have enough sense to realize that conservation efforts should not be guided by Bryson's wish to sleep in a hotel each night while he's out "camping." As many people have already pointed out, Bryson ridicules in this book just about everyone he meets on the trail. For anyone who has gone into the back-country, his type is immediately recognizable: brand-new equipment, out of shape, unprepared and ungrateful. My favorite part of the book was when he fell while crossing a river in Maine. Two younger guys wade by, and one says, "Did you fall?" As he does on numerous occasions, Bryson makes some caustic remark. I chuckled not because of what Bryson said, but because I think the young man's remark was neither stupid nor really a question. For once, Bryson was the butt of the joke.
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Summary: One of Bryson's Best
Review: First of all, to be honest, I am a Bryson fan. I've read everything he's published and enjoyed all of his books. This is one of his best however and in my mind the best thing he wrote since Made in America. Bryson is laugh out loud funny as always (my wife does not allow me to read Bryson books in bed because I wake her with my laughter.) He is a bit mean spirited at times, but that is just Bryson. I felt that his hike through the woods, a task he and his companion are in no way prepared for, was such a taxing experience that Bryson reveals a bit more of himslef in this book than most others. You could really identify with him and what this experience meant for him. I doubt you will be able to put it down. As I was reading this book on vacation (visiting my parents) I made the mistake of leaving my copy, about 1/2 finished at my mother's house. She promised to send it to me but confessed a week later that she had begun to read it and didn't want to part with it. I bought a second copy because I didn't want to wait to read the rest. Now if that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is.
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Summary: A comedic woodland romp with something for everyone.
Review: _____________
Fluff or Not? Fun Fluff with some meaty tidbits
_____________ A comedic revelation by one man about himself and about America and its relationship with nature. Bryson not only unforgivingly makes fun of himself but remains frank and opinionated about the people he meets on the trail and the 'civilized' places he visits when seeking a respite from elements. Littered with hilarious mishaps, crazy coincidences, strange people, and historical backdrops this book is a lark. A light, but far-from-pointless book there's something for everyone. +: humourous, informative, engaging, and pure fun.
-: some coarse language, lengthy digressions - you have to be prepared to just go along for the ride.
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Summary: I LAUGHED OUT LOUD!!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Although the title is somewhat misleading (Bryson didn't hike the entire AT...) Bryson's writing is incredibly entretaining. People were looking at me funny when I LAUGHED OUT LOUD while reading in the metro.
The book is a little loose 3/4 of the way to the end when Bill is "hiking" the trail by car but Bryson's impressions on the environment and very interesting facts about the regions he visits keep you going until the final hike alongside his friend Katz which is unbelievably funny making the wait worthwhile (kind of like some sections in the AT I figure...). Being an outdoor enthusiast myself I certainly can indetify with Bryson's mixed feelings towards the wilderness. You can bearly stand the discomfort but its perfection keeps pulling you back again and again. Thank you Bill B. I can't wait to get back in the woods!!
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