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A Walk in the Woods Review

A woman at work walked up to me and started talking to me. Never saw this lady before who had the charisma of a zombie and a face that spooked me, so I thought, UGH, How do I escape? Feeling remorseful for this creature I inquired about the book she was holding. A man hiking through the Appalachian Trail and it's funny, she said. Yea, right. How can an entire book about hiking be humorous? Dragon breath. Anyway, she looked like she just crawled out of the grave, no thanks lady! Not taking your recommendation, woman. So, I moved on.

Days later, I photocopied the back of Stephen King's reading recommendations in "How to Write" and I thought I'd take this list to Borders and perform a magical blind finger pick to the photocopy. It landed on "A Walk in the Woods." Kismet.

I'd rather be pokerfaced while reading my books at work on my breaks. However this book made my head jerk back voluntarily and grins of amusement made me stand out like a laughing hyena. I'm now a break room spectacle.

The Zombie Woman was correct. This not only is this an amusing paperback but it's a gentle call to the destruction of nature and a mini lesson (maybe 2 pages) in science, which if Bill Bryson wrote text books for students, well, at least for me, I think I would've gotten a better grade in Science. He wrote about a tree, and maybe it's my interpretation, but it leads one to wonder about---who's the Maker? Maybe it's just me.

The highlight of his paperback is the author's rapport with his hiking buddy. I'm a nature girl, so I trotted along with this odd pair pleasantly engaged to the end of their grueling expedition.

Happy Trails!

A Walk in the Woods Overview

From the author of "Notes from a Small Island" and "The Lost Continent" comes this humorous report on his walk along the Appalachian Trail. The Trail is the longest continuous footpath in the world, and it snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in America.

A Walk in the Woods Specifications

Your initial reaction to Bill Bryson's reading of A Walk in the Woods may well be "Egads! What a bore!" But by sentence three or four, his clearly articulated, slightly adenoidal, British/American-accented speech pattern begins to grow on you and becomes quite engaging. You immediately get a hint of the humor that lies ahead, such as one of the innumerable reasons he longed to walk as many of the 2,100 miles of the Appalachian Trail as he could. "It would get me fit after years of waddlesome sloth" is delivered with glorious deadpan flair. By the time our storyteller recounts his trip to the Dartmouth Co-op, suffering serious sticker shock over equipment prices, you'll be hooked.

When Bryson speaks for the many Americans he encounters along the way--in various shops, restaurants, airports, and along the trail--he launches into his American accent, which is whiny and full of hard r's. And his southern intonations are a hoot. He's even got a special voice used exclusively when speaking for his somewhat surprising trail partner, Katz. In the 25 years since their school days together, Katz has put on quite a bit of weight. In fact, "he brought to mind Orson Welles after a very bad night. He was limping a little and breathing harder than one ought to after a walk of 20 yards." Katz often speaks in monosyllables, and Bryson brings his limited vocabulary humorously to life. One of Katz's more memorable utterings is "flung," as in flung most of his provisions over the cliff because they were too heavy to carry any farther.

The author has thoroughly researched the history and the making of the Appalachian Trail. Bryson describes the destruction of many parts of the forest and warns of the continuing perils (both natural and man-made) the Trail faces. He speaks of the natural beauty and splendor as he and Katz pass through, and he recalls clearly the serious dangers the two face during their time together on the trail. So, A Walk in the Woods is not simply an out-of-shape, middle-aged man's desire to prove that he can still accomplish a major physical task; it's also a plea for the conservation of America's last wilderness. Bryson's telling is a knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud funny trek through the woods, with a touch of science and history thrown in for good measure. (Running time: 360 minutes, four cassettes) --Colleen Preston

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Customer Reviews

Entertaining and Informative - Samuel J. Carlson -
Bill Bryson is hilarious. A captivating narrative detailing the author's experience on the Appalachian Trail with his friend Stephen Katz, combined with a detailed history of the trail, the area surrounding it, and the people who made the trail possible. A must-read for anyone with a love for the outdoors.

Ugh... - Chance Margheim - blacksburg, va
My parents raved about this book for years, and so I finally decided to pick it up to see what all the fuss was about. A Walk in the Woods chronicles the misadventures of the author, Bill Bryson and his trusty sidekick, Katz (who apparently appears in other novels of Bryson's, as well), as they embark on an epic quest to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.
This book has its charm, and the writing is very smart. I had a few laugh out loud moments. However, when it becomes apparent well before book's end that the author will not even attempt to reach the end of the AT, my interest started to wane. This should have been foreshadowed well before this point, but I digress.
The interactions between the characters and some of those they encounter along the way were enough to get me started, but not enough to keep that fire lit. Where the book goes wrong, is it's incessant need to teach the reader copious amounts of history on points Bryson finds to be fascinating, but the reader may not. Additionally, I was disheartened to learn that both Bryson and Katz made frequent side trips by car, hitch hiked, and partook of many other modern conveniences that cheapened the reading experience.
I was looking for a hilarious and interesting, possibly enlightening journey, sprinkled with adventure and comedy, and what I got was a classic bore. I would pass on this book if you're not a history buff, or if you have a short attention span.

If Laughter is the Best Medicine, than this is the cure for everything - Marcy Casterline O'Rourke - Bellingham, Washington
I majored in Environmental Science many years ago. One of my professors had hiked a southern section of the Appalachian trail for his honeymoon in spring when the whole trail was in glorious bloom. It had been a spectacular experience which I had always envied, but never gotten the chance to copy. I'm afraid my Environmental Science Professor and his wife were ten times the outdoor people I would ever be. So this book was perhaps my vicarious trip on the Appalachian trail. I'm sure my adventures would have been similarly hilariously disastrous. I laughed so hard at almost every page of this book, that I probably got as much exercise as I would have had I hiked the trail. If you've ever harbored the seductive notion that getting back to nature is an easy trip, this book will riotously disabuse you of that misconception. If you like to laugh, get this book and read it often. And be sure to keep for those days when laughter is hard to come by.

Laugh out loud funny! - Indian Prairie Public Library - Darien, IL
An unlikely duo attempts to tackle the over 2000 mile hike that is the Appalachian Trail. Laugh out loud as they trudge through the wilderness toward a very distant goal.

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Thursday, September 9, 2010