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jazzy_daveBill Bryson "A Walk in the Woods" (Black Swan)
A Walk in the Woods opens with the author and his family moved back to the US, settling in New Hampshire. The author, never having attempted true, rugged hiking, becomes enamored with the idea of taking on the Appalachian Trail. This famous trail begins at Springer Mountain, Georgia and extends an astonishingly 2,000 (arguably more) miles to end in Maine at Mount Katahdin. Bryson’s journey actually begins when he finds himself and his credit card gearing up for the endeavour while also trying to lure friends from far and wide to join him on the excursion.
Katz, a former friend from childhood days in Iowa, answers the call for companionship. The reader is shocked when he appears out of shape and overweight with a dubious past – one cannot help but marvel (and giggle) at the contrast between the two men as they struggle with themselves, each other, and the famous hiking trail. Along the way, the reader meets other characters who become memorable despite their short stays; such as Chicken John the habitually lost hiker and Mary Ellen with the musical eustachian tubes. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.
Bryson has an uncanny knack for mixing humour with sobering facts. A Walk in the Woods finds the author blatantly honest about his own foibles, and those of others while attempting to hike the legendary Appalachian Trail. All the while he continues his commentary on deforestation, the US Parks & Wildlife service, and human ineptness in general. At 397 pages the book is more than a weekend read and may require some patience when reading through the author’s many elaborations on the danger we, as clumsy humans, pose to nature. Though the work was published in 2006 it is more relevant than ever both in consideration of climate change, as well as man’s desire to conquer even a small span of wilderness.
A Walk in the Woods opens with the author and his family moved back to the US, settling in New Hampshire. The author, never having attempted true, rugged hiking, becomes enamored with the idea of taking on the Appalachian Trail. This famous trail begins at Springer Mountain, Georgia and extends an astonishingly 2,000 (arguably more) miles to end in Maine at Mount Katahdin. Bryson’s journey actually begins when he finds himself and his credit card gearing up for the endeavour while also trying to lure friends from far and wide to join him on the excursion.
Katz, a former friend from childhood days in Iowa, answers the call for companionship. The reader is shocked when he appears out of shape and overweight with a dubious past – one cannot help but marvel (and giggle) at the contrast between the two men as they struggle with themselves, each other, and the famous hiking trail. Along the way, the reader meets other characters who become memorable despite their short stays; such as Chicken John the habitually lost hiker and Mary Ellen with the musical eustachian tubes. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.
Bryson has an uncanny knack for mixing humour with sobering facts. A Walk in the Woods finds the author blatantly honest about his own foibles, and those of others while attempting to hike the legendary Appalachian Trail. All the while he continues his commentary on deforestation, the US Parks & Wildlife service, and human ineptness in general. At 397 pages the book is more than a weekend read and may require some patience when reading through the author’s many elaborations on the danger we, as clumsy humans, pose to nature. Though the work was published in 2006 it is more relevant than ever both in consideration of climate change, as well as man’s desire to conquer even a small span of wilderness.
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