| Mar. 25th, 2005 @ 09:48 am A Walk in the Woods |
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Current Mood:  calm
I finished A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson last night. It was a quick, diverting read-the story of Bryson and his old friend Stephen Katz's journey along the Appalachian Trail. I've been interested in the AT since Sis Mortis hiked a good sized section of it when I was in college. I can't imagine ever actually trying to hike the whole thing, as Bryson and Katz set out to do initially, but part of me likes the idea quite a bit. Now, bear in mine, I have *never* done serious hiking-just camping, day hikes, and, once, a 50 mile canoe trip. The canoe trip, while somewhat arduous, wasn't really a big deal because we were with guides, on the calm (but beautiful) Delaware River, and there were food resupply stops. The only hard part was paddling down river, really.
In any case, the book is quite engaging reading. Bryson's sense of humor is decent, if not spectacular, and he uses the AT trail journey as a frame on which he hangs various ancetodetes-the history of the AT, dangers that can be found in the woods, and, most depressingly, the history of ecological disasters related to the trail. The middle of the book is especially full of them, and it becomes quite depressing reading as you go along.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, though I felt that Bryson lost his way somewhat once he and Katz gave up on doing the whole trail. On the other hand, its pretty much what really happened, so what can you do? |
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