View Full Version : thoughts on "a walk in the woods" by Bill Bryson
Hi,
I have just finished reading for the second time (first time was many many years ago) the book " A walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. My understanding is that AT hikers have many varrying oppinions on the book though I have seen very little if any discussion of it here on Whiteblaze.
Here are my thoughts:
I found the book to be a very entertaining read. Bill Bryson does know how to tell a good story, with some humour thrown in.
But on the minus side, He and his friend Katz (Is Katz for real??) hiked just from Springer to Newfound Gap then hitched up to Front Royal, hiked the Shanendohah National Park, then some brief trips in other sections and just pieces of Maine. They never even saw the end and Mount Katahdin. I don't think they hiked the Mahoosics or the Bigelows either. In all, Bryson hiked 850 some miles and Katz even less.
I am surprised how clueless they were about so much at the start. And katz..just buying beer and soda before going into the 100 mile wilderness? throwing food out to save weight????
They clearly never spent any time on White Blaze or any other similar site or readi much at all about the AT.
I don't really think the book portrays an accurate vision of what thru hiking the trail is all about.
Finally, one thing that bothered me a bit is...once they got up to the Mid Atlantic and beyond, the story is tremendously padded with tangential stories, and research and explanations. If the book started out as a day by day journal in Georgia, there was almost none of that up in Maine. perhaps the book became less of a day by day diary because they were no longer hiking continuously but skipping around a whole lot!
I honestly don't know why this book is responsible for a lot of folks coming to hike the AT though I know it is. Any thoughts here in? If some one were to say to me " I have never hiked before but I read this book about the AT so I am going to try to hike it..." I would be skeptical and worried about him/her.
Please share your thoughts. What do you think of the book and the author?
David (snickers).
Frolicking Dinosaurs
11-12-2006, 21:05
IMO, the book is an entertaining piece of fiction, but in no way, shape or form is it a realistic portrayal of an attempt at thru-hiking. YMMV
I have read the book as well. As to the accuracy, I believe that it is somewhat controversial. I think that as long as everyone takes it for what it is, a funny account of two folks hiking some of the AT then thats ok. If people want a more realistic read on hiking then there are much better options.
BTW I thought the book was very funny and have loaned it to many of my friends to read. Every now and then I enjoy reading a book that makes me laugh and doesn't really require any significant thought.
The books title says it all A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. it's not supposed to be about thru-hiking...
I honestly don't know why this book is responsible for a lot of folks coming to hike the AT though I know it is. Any thoughts here in? If some one were to say to me " I have never hiked before but I read this book about the AT so I am going to try to hike it..." I would be skeptical and worried about him/her.David (snickers).
If you run into me on the trail, better be skeptical and worried then :sun
The thought of hiking a 2100+ mile trail from Georgia to Maine is something that had never crossed my mind until I had read the book. And at this point, I couldn't even tell you what made me pick up the book...just browsing through the bookstore and saw it (maybe whoever came up with the Grizzly cover knows more about marketing than we give them credit for). I had never even heard of the AT before then. When I read the book I didn't immediately decide that I wanted to hike the trail, but it introduced me to a world that I didn't know was out there...a world that I found interesting. Once I knew it existed, I read a little more and started to think about it as something that I might want to try sometime. A couple more years and I realized that "sometime" doesn't just happen unless you get out there and make it happen.
Year four of my section hike will likely start in late-April or early-May in Erwin heading north. Its not the most accurate or informative book (by a long shot), but I'm glad I picked it up one summer.
Kevin -- aka "20-Year Plan"
houthuse
11-12-2006, 22:31
This book also made me think about hiking the trail. However, I never really thought the book was an accurate description of thru-hiking, because like Sly said, it isn't supposed to be about thru-hiking. Unless maybe it could be seen as the experience of a hiker whose hike turned out to be nothing like what they imagined, they stopped enjoying it, and went home. That happens. The book had a lot of irritating internal inconsistencies that bothered me--like after the "bear" incident at night, Bryson gets up and Katz is making coffee, but Bryson looks up and sees the food bag is still in the tree. Most hikers I know put all their smellables, including coffee, in the bear bag. But then I asked myself does it even matter? I read it, I laughed, and thought about getting back out into the woods. How can that be bad? I have hiked almost a hundred miles this year, will do 60 more next week, have joined the ATC and my local hiking club, and I am loving every minute of it. I don't know if that would have happened if I had not discovered this book.
Heather
the goat
11-12-2006, 23:59
What do you think of the book and the author?
imho, both topics have been dicussed ad nauseum, and the horse is a bloody pulp by now.you know the drill:
"it's a good book, blah, blah, blah,....he's not a real thru hiker, blah, blah,....yellow-blazing sucks, blah, blah......making trail-town-people look stupid, blah, blah.....grizzly on cover of book, blah, blah, blah..."
Speer Carrier
11-13-2006, 00:04
I've posted these thoughts before, on other threads about Bryson, but here goes.
I had only a vague notion of the AT before I, like someone else did, picked up the book in an airport bookstore. It got me hooked. Within a month, I had begun the process of joining the GATC, have become a section overseer, a hammock hanger, an ultralight backpacker, and an AT section hiker.
From the start,I never did think the book protrayed an abolutely accurate picture of the AT, but I have found that the whole hiking, backpacking, maintaining thing is about the most fun I've ever had, and I've got his book to thank for the introduction.
I'm sure when he wrote the book, he wasn't trying to write just for the died in the wool hiking community. I'm sure he realized that would'nt make it a best seller.
I think he wrote the book for people like a friend of mine from California. I recommended Bryson's book, as well as Robert Rubin's, and Model T's. to this friend, who likes the outdoors, but has never done any hiking. He thought Bryson's book was great. He thought the other two told him way more than he really wanted to know about the AT.
At any rate, I'm sure Bryson is not losing any sleep worrying about how well his book was accepted by the hiking community.
good book,:)
but I liked the movie better :rolleyes:
I, too, read the book for the second time within the last year and what really struck me the second time was the tiresome stereotyping of rural southerners. Did Bryson think that yet another round of jokes about inbreeding and lifestyles out of "Deliverance" would be enlightening or fresh? I'm from the north (from Bryson's home state of Iowa) and I get tired of this, so I can't even imagine how old this must get to southerners.
Maybe my consciousness has been raised by all of you wise and genetically diverse WhiteBlaze contributors from south of the Mason-Dixon line. :D
I, too, read the book for the second time within the last year and what really struck me the second time was the tiresome stereotyping of rural southerners. Did Bryson think that yet another round of jokes about inbreeding and lifestyles out of "Deliverance" would be enlightening or fresh? I'm from the north (from Bryson's home state of Iowa) and I get tired of this, so I can't even imagine how old this must get to southerners.
Maybe my consciousness has been raised by all of you wise and genetically diverse WhiteBlaze contributors from south of the Mason-Dixon line.
While stereotyping is never cool I seem to think I too met some of the people discribed in his book.
:-?
:o
;)
:)
Cookerhiker
11-13-2006, 00:44
Hi,
..... though I have seen very little if any discussion of it here on Whiteblaze.......?
David (snickers).
David, you should look a little harder. This has been discussed extensively on White Blaze.
Jim Adams
11-13-2006, 09:32
you mean you guys take more than beer into the 100 mile wilderness???
remember calories--a pork chop in every can!
geek
good book,:)
but I liked the movie better :rolleyes:
LOL..... :p
Rain Man
11-13-2006, 10:34
Did Bryson think that yet another round of jokes about inbreeding and lifestyles out of "Deliverance" would be enlightening or fresh? I'm from the north (from Bryson's home state of Iowa) and I get tired of this, so I can't even imagine how old this must get to southerners.
I thank you for saying that!
At least Bryson is a humorist, if a lazy, cliche-ridden one at times. So, I can stand his poking fun, 'cause he pretty much does it at everybody. If some of the Bryson-bashers were to read his other books, they'd see they don't need to take it personally. He's an equal-opportunity libeller.
The authors, writers, reporters, et cetera whom I can't stand are ones who are not trying to be humorists, take themselves seriously, but still make casual cracks about my South as if their province were morally superior. THAT form of provincialism and bigotry does irk me and get my regional pride up just a tad.
Anyway, have read "A Walk In The Woods" several times. Almost rolled in the floor laughing the first couple of times. After that, I realized some of his criticism about the trail and the ATC itself was based on ignorance because of how little of the AT he actually had hiked.
I'd still recommend the book, with qualification.
Rain:sunMan
.
RITBlake
11-13-2006, 10:36
why is not an accurate depiction of a thru hike? Most thru hikers fail and he did. That was his story. Bryson's 800 miles is a whole hell of a lot more miles then most people here can claim to have hiked this year.
Lone Wolf
11-13-2006, 10:39
And his book is a heluva lot more enjoyable read than your typical journal books on a thru-hike.
max patch
11-13-2006, 11:02
I laughed out loud when he described Rainbow Springs. What he said was half truth, half exaggeration. Really pissed Jensine off, though.
refreeman
11-13-2006, 11:07
The real question about "a walk in the woods" by Bill Bryson. Is how and why did it become so popular.
Bryson's book is not the only one written about the AT. So, is his book the only entertainingly written book? Who made this book so successful. Was it avid AT hikers? Or just the average Joe bookworm?
I read the book, its good, but not great - especially the way he weaselly implies that he wanted to thru hike in the beginning of the book, but obviously never truly intended to thru hike. Seems to me more like he sought only a representative sample of the AT as research for his book.
So why does a book that left me feeling disappointed in its protagonist climb to the top of AT literature?
Jim Adams
11-13-2006, 11:14
just a thought: maybe the general public likes the book so much because they can relate in the aspect that they don't think they could finish also.
most other thru hike books are entertaining but are more facts and stories that other thru hikers can relate and also they all finish!
just a thought.
geek
Same reason people watch pro wrestling or the Three Stooges or listen about Lake Woebegone. . We don't think its real but it can be entertaining. Read some of his other works, especially "In a Sunburned Country". The man can flat out write.
max patch
11-13-2006, 11:36
I think it was successful because it was a book written by a "real writer" (for lack of a better term) rather than a journal type book written by an unknown hiker. That gave him access to the brief excerpt in Backpacker Mag and shelf space in bookstores. I bought my copy at Costco.
Swiss Roll
11-13-2006, 12:07
The whole first part until they reach Gatlinburg is hilarious. I have tears running down my face every time I read that. The camping store scene, Mary Ellen, etc. may not be 100% true, but it is damn funny. I think that's what made the book so successful-everybody loves a good laugh. The first time I read it, that's what I remembered-the funny stuff. I recently read it again. This time the funny parts were still funny, but I have a much lower opinion of the book as a whole because the second part was, well, crap. It was obvious that the man ran out of material and started throwing in filler.
I have recently read A Short History of Nearly Everything, and after reading that, I think it is possible that the second part was his passion and the first part with Katz, etc. was the filler part to him. Either way, he comes across as an obnoxious, blatant anti-southerner, anti-Christian, anti-fat, lazy, car-obsessed American. I guess that's why he moved back to England.
DawnTreader
11-13-2006, 12:24
not the best book about the AT out there.. But its the first I read, and although I had done a little AT hiking, this book put the idea for long distances is my head.. Thanks Bill.....
I still think he is a douche though
trippclark
11-13-2006, 13:28
This book also made me think about hiking the trail. However, I never really thought the book was an accurate description of thru-hiking, because like Sly said, it isn't supposed to be about thru-hiking. Unless maybe it could be seen as the experience of a hiker whose hike turned out to be nothing like what they imagined, they stopped enjoying it, and went home. That happens. The book had a lot of irritating internal inconsistencies that bothered me--like after the "bear" incident at night, Bryson gets up and Katz is making coffee, but Bryson looks up and sees the food bag is still in the tree. Most hikers I know put all their smellables, including coffee, in the bear bag. But then I asked myself does it even matter? I read it, I laughed, and thought about getting back out into the woods. How can that be bad? I have hiked almost a hundred miles this year, will do 60 more next week, have joined the ATC and my local hiking club, and I am loving every minute of it. I don't know if that would have happened if I had not discovered this book.
Heather
My thoughts exactly! I enjoyed the book tremendously and credit it with getting me on the trail and starting this obsession. I had heard of the appalachian trail for many, many years before reading (actually listening - audiobook) Bryson's account, but had never given any consideration to hiking it. Since listening to the book, I have read many more AT books - further fueling the obsession - and have hiked some 600 miles of the AT over 6 years of section hiking. I can honestly say that the book changed my life in a positive way (and that sounds really corny, I know).
Tripp
[QUOTE=DavidNH;270068]Hi,
They clearly never spent any time on White Blaze or any other similar site or readi much at all about the AT.
I don't really think the book portrays an accurate vision of what thru hiking the trail is all about.
David!-
You have an AMAZING grasp of the obvious!:D
I'm pretty sure the book predates WhiteBlaze by quite a bit.
Feel free to prove me wrong, I sure been wrong before!
Rosco
CaptChaos
11-15-2006, 00:15
My wife got me this book one year for Xmas and it was a very fast read. I went through it and then forgot about it and put it on the shelf.
It was not until last year when I found myself at Spence Field with a major storm kicking me around just because it could that I went back home and found the part where he ended up at Spence Field Shelter.
Maybe he did and maybe he didnt but he sure got the part right about Spence when it rains.
I would have to say that you take it for what it is worth and go on and get something else to read.
DaSchwartz
11-15-2006, 01:26
Please share your thoughts. What do you think of the book and the author?
.
Some of the research done in the book is really remarkable, especially the history. You can't argue that point.
I don't know if "katz" ever existed or not but obviously some parts about "Katz" were made up, like the Waynesboro incident where he is being stalked by a woman's husband. I don't buy into that. I don't think the woman he talked about was real either.
I do believe Bryson himself hiked what he said of the AT, and did more of it then most who attempt to thru-hike.
Overall, it gave a positive look into the AT and lead to a booming interest into the trail for a few years. Well, maybe with the exception of the outfitter who he felt overgeared him... some outfitters do that, some don't.
A good story has not enough touches of truth to make it believeable.
Wasn't the part about Rainbow Springs partially correct?
How about people's fears of bears?
I haven't read the book in a while, but does it talk about deciding whether to take a gun or not? That is a common question for people who haven't hit the trail.
Carrying too much weight!
etc., etc, etc!!!!!!!!!!
If my memory is correct, I seem to recall that Bryson and Katz left from Amicalola on March 16, 1996.
I note that on the WB registry, "Turbo" (Ted Pembroke) started exactly one day later.
Whether he knew it or not, I'd bet that he ran into Bryson. If Turbo is still on WB, I'd be curious to hear from him and his thoughts on Bryson's book.
Either way, he comes across as an obnoxious, blatant anti-southerner, anti-Christian, anti-fat, lazy, car-obsessed American. I guess that's why he moved back to England.
Thank you for that.
"A Walk in the Woods" started out being kind of "non-LNT funny" and then when he made fun of Mrs. Mull's mother, it wasn't funny any longer. The older woman had a stroke and the way he described her was tacky and disrespectful. Mull's Motel really exists in Hiawassee, GA. He didn't make that up like he made up some of the 'characters' in the book. He actually showed his true colors in the way he "poked fun" at a real person, an old woman who'd had a stroke. And his 'Southern-phobic' descriptions proved, at least to me, that he isn't an "author" that I particularly care to read.
BBryson could win the Nobel Prize for Literature and I'd still relegate him to the wastepaper basket. (Where, in my not so humble opinion, his 'Walk' book belongs.):mad:
This opinion is solely and completely mine. YMMV. However, do not ever make fun of anyone who's had a stroke. It's tacky and not good hiker etiquette. Thank you.
stranger
11-19-2006, 04:11
Whether or not Bryson walked thousands of miles, or whether or not Katz existed is not very important. Bill Bryson can write a book and "A Walk In The Woods" is absoultely brillant.
Bryson is a great writer, probably not a great hiker, but he did knock out 800 or so miles and that needs to be respected. It must burn thru-hikers asses that they couldn't do the same and make ****loads of money hiking 1/3 of the AT.
He never claimed to be a hardcore hiker, or even a thru-hiker, people tend to forget that. No one laughed at Bryson more than himself and he will be laughing all the way to the bank. Right or Wrong...it's a good book.
Whether or not your agree with the content is not important...that was never the intention.
I found A Walk in the Woods delightful! Bryson is a fine storyteller; his sense of humor left me laughing many times. But his lack of transition to his last hike was confusing to me.
People have said Katz was a fictionalized character, perhaps added to spice up the story. Katz was definitely a knowable character, for we see him in so many of the people around us.
I can understand why thru hikers would be disappointed in Bryson. I think there is a little Bryson in all of us if we are honest with ourselves. How many of us have idealized things we would like to attain, only to find we fall short of reaching our goal. But isn't life really about the "journey" and not the goal?
Susan
There is a reason why the book was a best seller, and to this day is displayed prominently at many bookstores. The guys a good writer. Personally, he didn't come across as anti-anything to me except perhaps anti-Jensine. :D IMO you could legitimately accuse him of being a bit insensitive in his pursuit of yucks.
Didn't a part of what he said about Rainbow Springs ring true?
Didn't a part of what he said about Rainbow Springs ring true?
The chili was good IMO. The bunkhouse was passable. In that regard, he missed the mark.
smokymtnsteve
11-19-2006, 20:44
Didn't a part of what he said about Rainbow Springs ring true?
totally true
Lone Wolf
11-19-2006, 20:49
totally true
And I second that.
smokymtnsteve
11-19-2006, 20:51
And I second that.
thank U LW,,,hope u are doing fine
Lone Wolf
11-19-2006, 20:52
I'm well. You?
smokymtnsteve
11-19-2006, 21:10
I'm well. You?
jist fine...found me a young lady(or she found me)...we been co-habitating and sinning now for the last year and half.
The first time I read A Walk in the Woods, I enjoyed it thoroughly and I became re-interested in the AT. After 10 years of mindless weekend wandering in the Adirondacks, I started section hiking the AT. Although, the more I hiked and read about the trail, the more I loathed the book. The second time I read the book, I read it for what it is - a witty travel tale that could have been genius if he only respected the people he ran into.