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The Weasel
10-15-2002, 17:31
It's time. There's a 300 pound elephant in our living room, and everyone's avoiding mentioning him. And it's a needful discussion. Let's keep it fairly civil, though; strong opinions don't have to be stated offensively....Here it goes:

What is your feeling about "A Walk in the Woods", by Bill Bryson? If you haven't read it, you'll hear a lot in following posts, I suspect, and you should if only to understand what we're talking about.

A lot of people dislike Bryson, for a lot of reasons. He didn't hike the whole AT, he exaggerated wildly (to be charitable about it) and got a lot of information incorrect. He mocked a fair number of types of people, especially "gearheads", and had some pretty pointed opinions about others that were clearly stated, even if they weren't welcomed by the targets.

Still, Bryson's book was the reason I started the AT in '00, and as a result fell in love with this wonderful, strange, boring, exciting, unusual, repetitive rut through a green tunnel (summer) and through snowbanks (winter). It started when my daughter gave me a copy. "Dad, you've always said you wanted to walk this trail. This book is pretty funny, maybe it will help you decide." I read it, and found that he was a travel writer (and not a hiker) much like Mark Twain was as a travel writer ("Innocents Abroad", "Roughing It" and a lot more). Twain, also, made a lot of fun of targets that didn't necessarily like it, exaggerated wildly (that bullfrog incident may not have exactly have happened as he relates it), and wrote scathingly of people and groups who maybe he shouldn't have taken on. But they're still great books.

I enjoyed it. I discounted a lot of what he said, wondered about the accuracy of other parts (to my regret, I didn't find a lot of gear thrown by the sides of the Springer approach), and ended up feeling that, despite it all, he'd made me want to walk this Trail. So despite its faults, I'm grateful to him for what he led me to do.

OK, folks. Other opinions?

SGT Rock
10-15-2002, 19:54
I've taken a lot of flak for liking the book. Ok, there are things I hate about the book, but there are some funny parts to it too. Often I read journals or books about hikes and I feel that they take it too seriously. Maybe it's just me, but I like ending the day by laughing at myself for something I did wrong or stupid and I could get into that aspect of Bryson's Book - the pointing out some of the absurdity. As example: the hiker with the pack with the window in it.

I also look at it (from a non-thru hiker but aspiring thru-hiker perspective) as a book on how NOT to do a thru hike.

Hammock Hanger
10-15-2002, 20:42
Ya just had to bring it up didn't ya! :rolleyes: Hammock Hanger

The Weasel
10-15-2002, 21:00
Hammy Hanger...well, yeah, I had to. There've been some cryptic references here in this forum, such as a recent one to Baltimore Jack (who, of course you know, lives in Hannover, NH as does Bryson) as well as others comments. And the debate rages on, and it's a fair one, too; everyone's a critic in this world, and that's cool. Although Bill's a bit gunshy of AT people...

True story: In '00, after I came off the trail, my wife and I visited her family in Norwich, VT. Still with my trail beard and long hair, and wearing shorts and a tee - in other words, resembling a thru hikder - we went to the Dartmouth Co-Op to shop for something to read, and behold! There stands Bill Bryson schlepping his newest, about Australia, signing away happily. (A lot of Aussies felt some uncharitable thoughts about Bill, too, by the way.) I sidled up, stuck out my hand and said, "Hi, Bill! I'm the Weasel, just off the AT, and I read your book." He got a sort of worried look, and started slowly backing off in a nervous fashion. I got the sense he was wondering if he should call Security, or whether it was too late and he hadn't made out a will. I smiled and kept going.

The Weasel

slabfoot
10-16-2002, 00:37
I too though maybe inpired and bemused by bryson's rambling prose had to admire his ability to capture my attention, i volunteered my hardback copy to a shelter outhouse with express direction not to be read but only to use the paper for hygenic purposes. his hit's on pa (my home) after only driving through the palmerton wasteland made me shuddder with the unfairness he cast upon the beauty of our missippian pocono sandstone conglomerate witch is the common but beautiful backbone of our ridge formations. comon, give me a break! my sister kathy and my daughter spent the best part of this past monday on peters mountain near clarks ferry shelter and maybe i'm a bit biased but it was not much short of awsome(from my daughters vocabulary) still i don't discount bryson as a gifted humorist and writer. it's not a lost tome if it encourages me to spend more of my time enjoying a "walk in the woods".

chris
10-16-2002, 08:33
I thought the book was a very funny work of fiction. It did, however, bear some resemblance to reality as I met a several of the types of people that Bryson derides (including himself) during my Springer->Damascus hike this May. Most of these were in the very beginning and tended to leave the trail around Neels Gap or sooner. It should be read, as with Twain, with a complete skepticism towards the veracity of the text.

Peaks
10-16-2002, 09:18
Read the book for what it is, and is not.

It's certainly not a how to book, and I think that may be the principal reason why dedicated thru-hiker type people don't like it.

However, you have to admit that he has a different outlook on the Appalachian Trail than everyone else, and that what makes it an interesting book to read.

And another point. He yellow blazes and doesn't complete the trek. Now, being honest, about 85 to 90% of the people who start out to thru-hike don't finish either, so in that sense, he is writing about a much more typical hike eperience than those of us who did complete.

I enjoyed reading the book for what it was.

Now, I wasn't one of the people mentioned in the book either. I'm sure that they have a different take on things. Wonder what Jensine has to say.

jensine
10-16-2002, 10:17
Okay Peaks, I wasn't going to get in on this one, but since you asked I will respond. First this thread has been on every other AT Forum for the past 6 years. It's been disected, bisected, chewed, eaten, spit out.. oh well you get my drift. Anyway, first, unlike the majority of you folks, Bryson had no desire to hike the AT. He was contracted by his publisher to write the book. When the book was given to us and our 6-7 pages of "glory" were highlighted by our gracious gift givers. We took the book to our attorney. (Please Weasel no comments) We were not looking to sue or anything, what we were after was a public apology. The very first page of the book's intro states that names, etc. have been changed yadayadayada....
Well folks, how many of you know anybody named Jensine?? besides me??
The book clearly names us "Buddy and Jensine Crossman, owners of Rainbow Springs Campground on Old Hwy 64 in Franklin, N.C." Not many changes there!!! Some of you read my post yesterday about weather.
Well Billy boy and Katz were the last to arrive. All the cabins were
full, there were only two bunks left in the bunkhouse. Yes, it was snowing. We did our best to accomodate everyone. Most were satisfied under the circumstances. One part I loved about the book, was when he states they all climbed into the van that the kid had hitched into Franklin to get and Buddy and I looked in dismay as they left. No we were not dismayed that they left. We were dismayed that this kid had gone to the Franklin Plymouth dealer, rented a new 7 passenger van, and proceeded to pile 11 hikers with 11 wet packs in it. And you wonder why hikers don't always have a good reputation.
Folks, yes, we have had hikers sleep in the laundromat, they were grateful just to be out of the elements. We let one couple sleep in the store during bad weather. One year we were so packed, the weather was bad, I rented our guest room to a hiker.
You'd be suprised at how many hikers didn't plan on coming here, but came in just to see if we were the a** holes that Bryson made us out to be and were pleasantly suprised and stayed. I've had folks come in and ask me to autograph their copy of "Walk in the Woods". I've had folks want their picture taken with me holding the book, It's really become a big joke around here. So take the book however you want. I think this thread should be closed soon, as most of the posters here have been through it all on other forums.

Jensine
www.dnet.net/rainbowsprings

The Weasel
10-16-2002, 14:47
Well, haven't seen any rules that I can't comment, so I will....

This is a valuable thread, I think, because while those of us who have some experience in past years in Trailplace.com are aware of each other's feelings and opinions, there are a lot of newcomers to the Trail who, like me (and I think like a lot of others) have read "A Walk In The Woods" and found in it things that brought them to the trail. Equally, there are things that give newcomers questions, such as, "Do people really throw a lot of gear away on the approach trail to Springer?", or "Do gearheads really drive you crazy?" and, yes, "Is Rainbow Springs populated with crackpots?" and the rest of all of it. I think there's a certain value in the newbies knowing that Bryson sometimes told the truth, sometimes exaggerated, and, yes, sometimes engaged in flat out misstatements and that his book is not particularly liked by a lot of the service providers along the AT. So I hope that people - particularly those who are new to this topic - continue to comment and ask, and that those who are old to it will continue to respond.

jensine
10-16-2002, 15:17
As I said, I wasn't even going to post on this thread, but Peaks asked me to. I didn't tell anyone NOT to read the book. And the No comment Weasel was a friggin joke!! Geez Weasel, lighten up alittle!!
I was asked as a service provider about my thoughts on the book. I don't believe I said anything bad about the book in my post. I merely did what Peaks asked me to do. And since there were quite a few providers mentioned in the book, with their names changed, with nasty comments about them too, it is not a true read on service providers. I feel he must have liked us best to write our real names and location and give of 7 pages in his famous book.

Jensine
www.dnet.net/rainbowsprings

Jack Tarlin
10-16-2002, 15:56
My main beef with the book is that whatever its intent, or however it was meant to be taken---as a humor/travel book, whatever----it's a pity that a work that serves to introduce so many folks to the Trail is such a shabbily researched, mistake-ridden, inaccurate work. AWITW contains over a hundred factual errors---geographical errors, historical errors, placename errors, Trail history errors, mileage errors, you name it. I can document this, and sometime, maybe this winter, I'll transfer what's on the legal pad and put it on the Web. But for an alleged non-fiction work, written by a former journalist, this is pretty low.
Just one example---when speaking about the history of Norwich, VT, and its most famous resident, one Alden Partridge (Pg 215 of his book), Bryson makes no less than 3 historical errors regarding the man's personal history. And all this in one paragraph! If his book was so sloppily writtten and fact-checked what he can't be trusted to write accurately about the history of a community only 3 minutes from his home, then why on earth should he be trusted when writing about communities he knows nothing about, such as small towns in the South?

Awww, I don't wanna get into this. It's a horrible, miserable book; I have no doubt that most of the people he talks about and incidents he relates were imaginary or highly embellished; the book was first and always written for its commercial possibilities; Bryson to my knowledge has given NOTHING back to the Trail, the ATC, or the Trail community even tho the book made him millions, as well as making him famous. In person, he's a perfectly amiable, perfectly nice guy. I see him now and again in town when he's not waltzing around the world researching equally inaccurate travel books---he's kind of a rabbity, plump, tweedy little fellow, looks like he teaches English composition or social studies at a second-rate private school. But no, he's not a bad fellow. He just wrote a bad book. My mom was a librarian and I learned at an early age that if a book is found in the non-fiction section, than the facts and statements contained therein should be genuine and true ones. This is decidedly NOT the case in A Walk in the Woods. Nice fellow. Miserable book.

The Weasel
10-16-2002, 16:02
Interestingly, while Bill Bryson is not welcome in significant parts of the area surrounding the AT - Jensine is quite right about his propensity for knocking service providers regardless of how good they really are - it's nothing compared to how the Aussies feel about him. Not content to irritate an area 2000 miles long by maybe 5 miles wide (counting hostels etc and trail towns), in his book about Australia he managed to piss off major parts of an entire continent!

The Weasel

The Weasel

Former Admin
10-16-2002, 18:14
I loved this book before I ever stepped foot on the trail. Then after I hiked some of the trail and met some of the service providers and visited some of the towns he mentioned, my view on the book changed some. a good example would be when I hitched into Hiawasee, I was expecting it to be full of toothless people driving pick-ups with Rebel Flag and Smith & Wesson stickers plastered all over the back window of they're pick-ups. That wasn't the case and I felt very comfortable being a Yankee in this southern town, as I did all towns I visited.

However will all this, the book is well written and funny as hell if you can look past the bashing and no it isn't a guide like Peaks said nor should be taken for one.

I can probably say this and most will agree, That no one man or writer has created more interest in the Appalachian Trail than he has.
Thousands and thousands of people read his book at first with out knowing squat about the Appalachian Trail and he opened the door for them. Then people would proceed to find other material about the trail, such as guide books, journal books etc..

This below is what is written in my journal at http://trailjournals.com

"Now that im on the subject of people with a sense of humor, whats the deal with so many people slamming Bill Bryson and his book "Walk in The Woods". I found his book and humor amazing. Yes he makes fun of people from the south, but the people from the south make fun of us yankees also, and I don't take that as an insult. I can't tell ya how many times I have heard "We should have won" I never tire of this phrase ........ its good humor ....... LOL. Anyways had I not read Bill Brysons book I would have never been on the AT or enjoyed the experience's I have. I literly read his book and went hiking weeks later, so I guess you can say he was a big influence on me. Yes he makes fun of people, but so does David Letterman and Jay Leno on a daily basis and we laugh at their jokes, whats the difference I don't see it."

Jensine please don't take offense " I know your place is nothing like he mentions as most do" If you remember my sarcastic first words when I walked through your door, "So this is the Imfamous place Bill Bryson writes about" As you can see his book for me, had no effect on me visiting the Imfamous Rainbow Springs or not.

jensine
10-16-2002, 18:39
No offense taken. I'm tougher than that. Everyone is entitled to the own opinion. And I still ike you anyway!!!! :)
Jensine
www.dnet.net./rainbowsprings

jensine
10-16-2002, 18:40
Oh doo doo, my fingers weren't working!!!

Uncle Wayne
11-12-2002, 10:06
I don’t know how I missed this thread but here is my take on AWITW by Bryson. I enjoyed the book, taken for what it is and what it clearly states in the disclaimer: the author’s experience and opinions as he walked the AT. It is not meant to be a “do it this way” book. It is not even meant to be scientifically or historically accurate although I guess the case can be made that when a writer states anything besides his personal opinion, the statement should be as accurate as possible. The disclaimer also states that “some” not all of the names have been changed to protect privacy.
I’ve never been to Rainbow Springs so I can’t comment on the conditions as Bryson saw them and no one except the people there under those conditions can do so accurately. But one thing is for certain, no matter what kind of facility Bryson would have entered under those extreme conditions he would have found the system in place stretched to the max, just as he did at Rainbow Springs. So I don’t think it fair to judge Rainbow Springs based on what Bryson said but if you read between the lines, the system in place at Rainbow Springs worked. It provided shelter, warmth and food to needy hikers, which is basically what each person who went there were looking to attain.
But there are several thoughts / feelings Bryson mentions that I have thought or felt while hiking the AT. Here are a few: The high price of backpacking gear; after leaving the confines of town and hiking again he says, “I just walked. I was very happy;” He stated somewhere “there wasn’t a day that passed on the Appalachian Trail that I didn’t give thanks for what was there.” The hurt and pain caused by the murder of hikers on the AT; needless technology on the trail; the loss of our natural environment, including wildlife, by the encroachment of “progress;” the longing to see your family; the withdrawal symptoms after leaving the trail, even as a section hiker; and after being home, the longing to get back on the trail. I’ve been the hiker who had to wait on a slower partner and then I’ve been the slower partner who someone else had to wait on. I’m sure most of you have felt some of the same things.
So I recommend reading the book and see if you don’t remember some of the same emotions Bryson felt as he hiked the AT.

MedicineMan
11-13-2002, 03:26
proud to say I have never read it....but I have given it away as a gift many times...all who recieved enjoyed

Lone Wolf
01-29-2008, 16:50
great book. highly recommend it to all newbies. can't wait for the movie

MOWGLI
01-29-2008, 16:54
great book. highly recommend it to all newbies. can't wait for the movie

You starting a dredging business Lone Wolf?

weary
01-29-2008, 17:13
A Walk ... is funny and well-written -- at least for a magazine article padded out to fill a book. My criticism is that he describes a trail that is at best only tangentially related to the trail I walked and worked on for a half century.

The trail reflects more library research than trail experience.

It's clear Bryson disliked the trail and the people he met on the trail from the beginning. There is no evidence in the book that he even talked to most hikers. The "characters" in the book are Bryson, Katz and a couple of mostly imagined stereotypes.

Yes, Bryson is a skilled writer. However, he wrote a novel this time, not a travel book.

Weary

snowhoe
01-29-2008, 17:34
I think it should be used as a thru- hikers hand book.

Grandma
01-29-2008, 17:48
Am I seeing this correctely...this thread is from 5 yrs ago? :-?

mrburns
01-29-2008, 18:00
I've wanted to thru-hike the trail since before I ever heard of the book, and once I heard of the book I chose not to read it because I did not want to start out with someone else's perception of the trail on my mind... not that I've really avoided other's perceptions anyway... but general research is different than reading a novel.

With that said, I just bought the book and plan to mail it to myself after GSMNP as a fun evening read before bed.

Just about everybody I mention the AT to recommends "A Walk in the Woods" and laughs about their memories of reading it. I'm looking forward to reading it.

It's perfectly fine that Bryson didn't like certain things about his hiking experience, and described them in those terms... but certainly it made an imprint on his life's experience since he was apparently able to articulate it it such a descriptive manner. Every hiker will have a different experience and opinion of distance hiking, and I think Bryson's descriptoin must resonate with many people's longing for adventure and cast the reader's own fears of adventure's realities in a humorous light as they read about Bryson and his buddy's follies.

I'm totally looking forward to reading it, and figure I'll have my own travel woes by the time I pass GSMNP and hope the book's humor will help remind me to see the humor and beauty of the experience through the rain and blisters and hunger etc... that I'm expecting to be getting sick of by about that time.

Dholmblad
01-29-2008, 18:11
Book might have been good for the community, but the movie will definitely not.

rcli4
01-29-2008, 18:14
:)Wolf are trying to stir the ****pot:):):)

Lone Wolf
01-29-2008, 18:14
what community?

Dholmblad
01-29-2008, 18:21
I think it should be used as a thru- hikers hand book.

Would be more helpful then wingfoots book.

Miss Janet
01-29-2008, 18:33
what community?

Regardless of LW's long known dislike of the term "Appalachian Trail Community"... Do YOU think we meet the definition?

"A community is a social group of organisms sharing an environment, normally with shared interests. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.
The word community is derived from the Latin communitas (meaning the same), which is in turn derived from communis, which means "common, public, shared by all or many"[1]

Lone Wolf
01-29-2008, 18:36
............

Lone Wolf
01-29-2008, 18:37
then the AT community is extremely small

weary
01-29-2008, 19:20
then the AT community is extremely small
Such cynicism makes one a hero for the ignorant.

rafe
01-29-2008, 19:30
I share LW's skepticism about the "AT community." In a churlish mood, I'd call 'em packsniffers. But in any case, that community is a mutable, flexible, intangible thing, and is different for every thru-hiker or section hiker. No offense, Miss Janet (or Ron Haven or Bob Peoples) but you weren't part of that community when I walked your part of the trail. Strangely enough Mr. Lone Wolf was part of my "community" for a while. ;) As were Buddy and Jensine, Levi Long, Wingfoot, et. al., but they've all moved on...

(I met spooky boy Ward twice that season, but he wasn't part of anyone's community... )

Do the members of these online forums constitute the "hiker community?" I think not. I've met less than a handful of WB'ers (or AT-L'ers) on the trail. I met far more of them on a single day -- off the trail, at last year's Gathering.

The trail itself is the only constant, and even that changes a bit from year to year. Hikers, vendors, hostels, hotels, and other services come and go. I don't mean to to be rude about it but the "AT community" is a bit of a myth.

Mags
01-29-2008, 19:39
"There's this book I read...by a Bill Rice? Brice? By a Bill BRYSON..yeah that's it!"

"It is called..WALK ON THE TRAIL..er..WALK IN THE MOUNTAINS? ..no WALK IN THE WOODS!"..

"Have you ever read that book ?!?!"


So..how many people have heard that line of questioning before? If you've walked any long trail..you'll have this conversation. :)

Kirby
01-29-2008, 19:41
"There's this book I read...by a Bill Rice? Brice? By a Bill BRYSON..yeah that's it!"

"It is called..WALK ON THE TRAIL..er..WALK IN THE MOUNTAINS? ..no WALK IN THE WOODS!"..

"Have you ever read that book ?!?!"


So..how many people have heard that line of questioning before? If you've walked any long trail..you'll have this conversation. :)

Every time it gets brought up that I am thru hiking this year, I am always asked that.

Kirby

Lone Wolf
01-29-2008, 19:41
Such cynicism makes one a hero for the ignorant.

the so-called AT community is extremely small. fact. not cynicism :)

-SEEKER-
01-29-2008, 20:14
I enjoyed the book. I read it before I knew anything about the AT other than that it was a trail that went from Georgia to Maine. It caused me to seek out more information and books about the trail and now here I am hiking it!:banana

Lone Wolf
01-29-2008, 20:15
wait'll you see me and ron haven in the flick. they's gonna issue depends at the door cuz you'll pee yourself laughin' :D

Jan LiteShoe
01-29-2008, 20:23
With that said, I just bought the book and plan to mail it to myself after GSMNP as a fun evening read before bed.

Just about everybody I mention the AT to recommends "A Walk in the Woods" and laughs about their memories of reading it. I'm looking forward to reading it.

One of my most fun fall nights on the AT was at Vanderventer shelter listening to a taciturn SOBO laughing as he read the book by headlamp at 5:30 PM.

It was pitch black except for the light, and silent except for his laughter and the passages he read to his partner and us. It was a little AT community right there in the sucking shelter, it was.

Twenty-five to one you laugh out loud.
:)

Hoop
01-29-2008, 20:24
A different perspective: no hiking experience, first section will be this year, have never done what you all have a lot of experience with. The guy had an agent, a contract and a deadline so he bends the story to meet his needs. Travel writers like to criticize, it's what they do, so readers get buzzed when he disses something that's rightfully revered. It's been a while since I read that book but one thing I do remember is his concern for the trail's welfare, its vulnerability in the face of an uncertain future. When he shared his experience about the lousy night he spent sardined with a bunch of other refugees I didn't think the owners were knuckle-draggers, what I thought was what a pussy, just be glad you're not out there with the rabbits. Anyway, I thought the book was an ok read but didn't take it too seriously.

Fiddleback
01-29-2008, 20:43
Parts of the book made me laugh out loud, parts of it angered me...and eliciting emotion is part of being a good (fiction?) writer. But since I now live a long way from the AT and probably will not return to hike it again the only inspiration I got from the book was to not be like Bryson or Katz.

FB

gumball
01-29-2008, 20:56
It's just a book.

Its just a guys opinion, drawn out into a story. Its funny. It draws some folks into the AT. They make their own judgements, just like we all do here. Our opinions on guns. Our opinions on shaving. Our opinions on tents. On shelters. On food and stoves and trekking poles. On each other. I dunno--it flirted with me, I went out on the trail, I found my own pace. My book would be a lot different. Hike your own hike, you know?

Gum

WILLIAM HAYES
01-29-2008, 21:11
the book is nothing more than entertainment -Bryson is a crafter of words not a backpacker or someone who values a resource like the AT

Hillbilly

Lone Wolf
01-29-2008, 21:15
the book is nothing more than entertainment -Bryson is a crafter of words not a backpacker or someone who values a resource like the AT

Hillbilly

MOST who start the AT aren't backpackers and MOST don't value the AT as a resource. But it's one funny book! :banana

Mango
01-29-2008, 21:17
Most of my opinions abut THE BOOK are mentioned here, with one exception. Like many thru-hikers, I have been asked to speak to groups about the hike. One thing I like to always mention is the sense of family that springs up so early and remains so strong among thru's. Both Bryson and Bill Irwin have similar and well-written paragraphs about the "family" phenomenon. Also check out Pinkie's (nobo '06) on TJ.com. If she's not a professional writer, she should be.

cavedive2
01-29-2008, 21:32
No offense taken. I'm tougher than that. Everyone is entitled to the own opinion. And I still ike you anyway!!!! :)
Jensine
www.dnet.net./rainbowsprings (http://www.dnet.net./rainbowsprings)


Just clicked on your link and it did'nt work for me :confused:

The Old Fhart
01-29-2008, 21:37
cavedive2-"Just clicked on your link and it did'nt work for me :confused:It is 6 years old and the campground is no longer there.

Lone Wolf
01-29-2008, 21:39
some Ahole brought this out of the dumps

ed bell
01-29-2008, 21:40
wait'll you see me and ron haven in the flick. they's gonna issue depends at the door cuz you'll pee yourself laughin' :DMake it happen. I'm not kidding. There are ways to involve yourselves and it could be a lot of fun and a once in a lifetime event. Lets face it, the movie is gonna happen.

My co-worker's dad is an extra in "Leatherheads". It was filmed in upstate SC. He ended up in a lot of the film. Paid good and was a lot of fun. He is an older fella in the pressbox during games. The casting agent wanted his contact info for more work.

Wise Old Owl
01-29-2008, 22:21
thought the book was a very funny work of fiction.

88BlueGT
01-29-2008, 22:41
I have read numerous times that it "misinforms" people, etc. I read the book when I was just getting into backpacking so I didn't catch the errors, etc. End result while reading the book was that I thought it was great. When I finished reading it I went back and read the last chapter again because I didn't want it to end. Very nice book IMO.

Tin Man
01-29-2008, 23:35
some Ahole brought this out of the dumps

probably the same Ahole who brought a lot of other threads out of the dumps. must be a dumpy day somewhere.

MuddyBugger
01-30-2008, 00:04
My 2 cents.......

Found it one day on a Salvation Army shelf for 75 cents, maybe the best 75 cents I'd ever spent.

I'd alway dreamt about hiking the AT as a kid but had forgotten the dream as I grew up and found other things to fill my time ie- canoeing, snowboarding, hunting etc. This book and another I found about the AT (I think a National Geo book green cover very nice addition to the library) the same day on the same shelf have allowed me to get to know the AT through others eyes and lead me to all the TJ's, here and other places like it.

This was 3 years ago and though I've only recently registered here I've been a window shopper all that time. As well, I have now begun to plan for a possible SOBO in 09'. Soooo... if you wanna give me my 2 cents back now I'll take it, every penny is a penny closer to me making the dream a reality.

Ender
01-30-2008, 11:13
some Ahole brought this out of the dumps

Ha! OK, that made me laugh out loud. Funny stuff. :D

Heater
01-30-2008, 11:19
It's time. There's a 300 pound elephant in our living room, and everyone's avoiding mentioning him. And it's a needful discussion. Let's keep it fairly civil, though; strong opinions don't have to be stated offensively....Here it goes:

What is your feeling about "A Walk in the Woods", by Bill Bryson? If you haven't read it, you'll hear a lot in following posts, I suspect, and you should if only to understand what we're talking about.

A lot of people dislike Bryson, for a lot of reasons. He didn't hike the whole AT, he exaggerated wildly (to be charitable about it) and got a lot of information incorrect. He mocked a fair number of types of people, especially "gearheads", and had some pretty pointed opinions about others that were clearly stated, even if they weren't welcomed by the targets.

Still, Bryson's book was the reason I started the AT in '00, and as a result fell in love with this wonderful, strange, boring, exciting, unusual, repetitive rut through a green tunnel (summer) and through snowbanks (winter). It started when my daughter gave me a copy. "Dad, you've always said you wanted to walk this trail. This book is pretty funny, maybe it will help you decide." I read it, and found that he was a travel writer (and not a hiker) much like Mark Twain was as a travel writer ("Innocents Abroad", "Roughing It" and a lot more). Twain, also, made a lot of fun of targets that didn't necessarily like it, exaggerated wildly (that bullfrog incident may not have exactly have happened as he relates it), and wrote scathingly of people and groups who maybe he shouldn't have taken on. But they're still great books.

I enjoyed it. I discounted a lot of what he said, wondered about the accuracy of other parts (to my regret, I didn't find a lot of gear thrown by the sides of the Springer approach), and ended up feeling that, despite it all, he'd made me want to walk this Trail. So despite its faults, I'm grateful to him for what he led me to do.

OK, folks. Other opinions?

I enjoyed the book overall but really just wanted to finish it about halfway through. It started out good but the last half was just filler.

tazie
01-30-2008, 11:30
It was a selection in our Book Club years ago. We all read it and thought it was light-hearted, funny and entertaining. No one in the group was either encouraged to "go hiking" or even cared where or what the AT was...Later on in Book Club I picked an erotic thriller, which was not well-received and I was kicked out of the group. Ok, I didn't feel welcome anymore. I started hiking and found some really nice, new friends. And my favorite genre is still erotica.

Chenango
01-30-2008, 11:32
It was very funny. I laughed throughout. To put it in persepective, though, it was my bathroom reader.

Heater
01-30-2008, 11:38
some Ahole brought this out of the dumps

You said it. :D

The Weasel
01-30-2008, 11:42
the so-called AT community is extremely small. fact. not cynicism :)

I think Wolf is confusing 'community' with 'community leaders'. I live in a modestly sized town, of about 25,000 people. It has a very strong sense of 'community', however, because there are a lot of values that are basically either shared, accepted, or tolerated, that make it coherent. But those who really get out and make those values public -whether conservative or liberal (and there about equal numbers of both) or otherwise - to remind the town of them are rather small, and are sometimes chosen (elected officials, community group leadership, church leaders) or self-appointed (vocal citizens, ad hoc groups). Many other people just "live here", but they chose to do so because they could accept or even prefer those overall values.

For the AT, there really is a sense of generally shared values: The vision of the thru hike, concern for trail quality, ideas about equipment, safety and more that are different, as a whole, from other trails (vasly different from the PCT) or other interests. But hundreds here share those values in a "I live here" type of way. Leaders are seen, in organizations (ATC, ALDHA, trail clubs and other groups), self-appointed or generally recognized (Dan Bruce, Warren Doyle, or even Lone Wolf), or others. Wolf's right: The active leaders or participants in the 'community' may be rather small, but the overall "town" of the AT is, I think, far, far larger. It's a real community.

TW

jlore
01-30-2008, 11:43
if you want to read a book for accurate information on the AT then a walk in the woods is not for you. if you want to read a fiction story about the AT then good for it. if you were expecting to learn useful information about backpacking then you may be in for a let down.

weary
01-30-2008, 13:24
if you want to read a book for accurate information on the AT then a walk in the woods is not for you. if you want to read a fiction story about the AT then good for it. if you were expecting to learn useful information about backpacking then you may be in for a let down.
I didn't expect to read fiction. Nor did I expect lessons in backpacking.

I did seek an honest account of two guy's adventure with the AT and the people they met. The book failed to deliver on that promise.

Weary

weary
01-30-2008, 13:30
if you want to read a book for accurate information on the AT then a walk in the woods is not for you. if you want to read a fiction story about the AT then good for it. if you were expecting to learn useful information about backpacking then you may be in for a let down.
I didn't expect to read fiction. Nor did I expect lessons in backpacking.

I did seek an honest account of two guy's adventure with the AT and the people they met. The book failed to deliver on that promise. The author told us very little about his "walk in the woods."

Weary

partinj
01-30-2008, 13:47
Hi well just got done with the Bryson's book it was fun to read most of the time however i am doing a thur-hike in april this year and if i had not hike pars of the trail
it would have a little scare. And i would never form a opinion on any think or any service with out staying their or talking to the persons first one of the early part i like was the run in with the woman name mary. well anyway just my two cent worth

rafe
01-30-2008, 13:52
I did seek an honest account of two guy's adventure with the AT and the people they met. The book failed to deliver on that promise.

Weary, I usually like your posts but this one is just plain whacked. Ignoring the many short narrative passages of the book -- in what way was this book not about Bryson and Katz's "excellent adventure?" And what "promises" were made, in any case? I don't remember any such promises.

Sometimes I think you're just plain jealous... from your professional point of view as an ex-journalist.

Terry7
01-30-2008, 14:30
I did not like the book, but very few movies stay true to the book. So I hope the movie is better than the book was.

BigCat
01-30-2008, 14:51
I can document this, and sometime, maybe this winter, I'll transfer what's on the legal pad and put it on the Web.

Why don't you just scan it and post it as an image? ;-)

Lone Wolf
01-30-2008, 14:53
Why don't you just scan it and post it as an image? ;-)

along with that register entry accusing warren of telling folks to ford the kennebec

Tin Man
01-30-2008, 15:05
Why don't you just scan it and post it as an image? ;-)


along with that register entry accusing warren of telling folks to ford the kennebec

Snarf, do you realize that quote from Jack is over 5 years old?

LW, why you bringing up all this old bs then stirring it up some more?

rafe
01-30-2008, 15:07
I did not like the book, but very few movies stay true to the book. So I hope the movie is better than the book was.

I did like the book, but I have a hard time imagining it as a movie... :-? It's not exactly cinematic in any way that I can see. But I'm hoping to be surprised...

Lone Wolf
01-30-2008, 15:08
Snarf, do you realize that quote from Jack is over 5 years old?

LW, why you bringing up all this old bs then stirring it up some more?

cabin fever? fun? entertainment?

BigCat
01-30-2008, 15:23
Snarf, do you realize that quote from Jack is over 5 years old?

Hmmm... I do now. Well done, Lone Wolf. You got me!

You win this round, sir.

weary
01-30-2008, 15:24
Weary, I usually like your posts but this one is just plain whacked. Ignoring the many short narrative passages of the book -- in what way was this book not about Bryson and Katz's "excellent adventure?" And what "promises" were made, in any case? I don't remember any such promises.

Sometimes I think you're just plain jealous... from your professional point of view as an ex-journalist.
One of the wonders of the trail are the many fascinating fellow hikers. I met dozens in the first few weeks alone -- a 17-year-old who had been living on the streets; a construction worker doing the trail with a son during layoffs between jobs; the Israeli forces from Israel, who criticized my blue blazing habits, but then went off the trail "to meet some New York City girls;" a physical education major with bipolar rushing to be on time for his first job; the Shoeless mare, hiking in her 40th year because a relative had died of cancer at 40; A 45-year-old woman who had studied for the ministry, but ended up living unmarried with a guy who had died the previous fall after months of illness; the new geology graduate whose goal was to find at least one edible wild food daily and who brewed up the root that became "root beer"; ... the list goes on and on.

Sadly Bryson missed them all. The only trail people he describes in any detail was "mary ellen" who offended him with her nose-blowing technique, and a guy who kept losing his way.

Oh, and then there was the book editor I met in the Whites. I asked him if there was a market left for an Appalachian Trail book. No!, he said, "That market is already over crowded." "A Walk in the Woods" came out a couple of years later.

I have a partially completed manuscript that one publisher showed an interest in -- even after "A Walk ..." came out. But I've gotten involved in land trust work and it's been neglected.

I don't have a book, but I've helped buy the top of a beautiful mountain, and one of the last undeveloped wild beaches in the east -- both of which will last far longer than any book I'm likely to write.

Weary

Tin Man
01-30-2008, 15:32
cabin fever? fun? entertainment?

Why not do something productive like ventilate a shelter or kick a hippy?

Lone Wolf
01-30-2008, 15:35
there's no hippies or shelters in town. how do you vent a shelter? and why don't you put me on ignore or go to another thread or get a friggin job, yum yum

Tin Man
01-30-2008, 15:47
there's no hippies or shelters in town. how do you vent a shelter? and why don't you put me on ignore or go to another thread or get a friggin job, yum yum

burned all the nearby shelters and kicked all the hippies out of town, have ya? well you can vent a shelter by placing a target on it and take it from there, burn what is left.

i thought the ignore button was for weenies? get a job? good idea, but no one seems to need me at the moment. okay, i get the message, i'll leave you be and let the newbies discover your charms on their own. no hard feelings. bye. :)

Lone Wolf
01-30-2008, 15:52
no hard feelings. bye. :)

course not :)

rafe
01-30-2008, 16:22
Sadly Bryson missed them all.

Sadly for whom? The book is/was a runaway best seller, soon to be a movie. The book has lots of interesting characters... it just so happens that most of them aren't hikers. That's his choice, being the author and all...

So Bryson didn't write the book "your way" and you're pissed. There are plenty of dull journals that talk all about Glorious Hikers. ;)

earlyriser26
01-30-2008, 17:02
Funny book, at least until he goes yellow blazing and gets all preachy. Take it for what it is, humor.

Wise Old Owl
01-30-2008, 17:07
Want a good laugh click on the shortcut to see a pic of Bryson and who is going to play him on the AT!

http://buzzsugar.com/995042

jrwiesz
01-30-2008, 17:11
...LW, why you bringing up all this old bs then stirring it up some more?

This is a great service to a few of the newer members. Saves time in "search" of the "ole juicey threads". Kinda like, "The Best of WB".

Still looking for "the" Baltimore Jack photo in the gallery; or is it, to my dismay, gone into cyber-space forever? Anyone?

Lone Wolf
01-30-2008, 17:27
Want a good laugh click on the shortcut to see a pic of Bryson and who is going to play him on the AT!

http://buzzsugar.com/995042

no kiddin? redford is playin bryso? you don't say

gold bond
01-30-2008, 17:32
I will say for someone who only hiked about 500 miles (I think) He had a good time and wrote a very funny book. He made memories and wrote about them....whether there true are not they are funny!!

jrwiesz
01-30-2008, 17:40
My 2 cents.......

Found it one day on a Salvation Army shelf for 75 cents, maybe the best 75 cents I'd ever spent.

I'd alway dreamt about hiking the AT as a kid but had forgotten the dream as I grew up and found other things to fill my time ie- canoeing, snowboarding, hunting etc. This book and another I found about the AT (I think a National Geo book green cover very nice addition to the library) the same day on the same shelf have allowed me to get to know the AT through others eyes and lead me to all the TJ's, here and other places like it.

This was 3 years ago and though I've only recently registered here I've been a window shopper all that time. As well, I have now begun to plan for a possible SOBO in 09'. Soooo... if you wanna give me my 2 cents back now I'll take it, every penny is a penny closer to me making the dream a reality.

Great post.
I agree about the book; may lead others to the AT trail and possibly, to an understanding of "trail life", or to get out and hike instead of being a couch blob. As long as it has sparked an "interest". It has helped spark mine.

I gave my copy yesterday, to a coworker. He came back to me with a great big grin. He said, "I've read 30-40 pages so far"..."Fun read". He was just chuckling, we both had a good laugh. I'll bet he reads the book overnight.

As another poster put it. "It's just a book".:sun

jrwiesz
01-30-2008, 17:47
Want a good laugh click on the shortcut to see a pic of Bryson and who is going to play him on the AT!

http://buzzsugar.com/995042

Redford better start hitting some AYCE establishments soon!!:D

weary
01-30-2008, 18:37
.....So Bryson didn't write the book "your way" and you're pissed. There are plenty of dull journals that talk all about Glorious Hikers. ;)
Who said anything about being pissed. We were asked to express our opinions and I did.

I know all about the dull journals. I kind of hoped that Bryson being the first top tier professional writer to taxkle the trail would do better. He didn't.

BTW I've never met any "glorious" hikers. Just quite a few interesting people that someone with Bryson's talent could have spun into a good book. He didn't really need to restrict himself to a couple of imagined stereotypes.

I suspect that after contracting for a book, he discovered he really didn't like long distance hiking, or the kind of people who practiced it, so he faked an account of the trail. That's also probably why when the Gathering was held in Hanover, the town where he was living, he first agreed to speak -- and then decided not to show up.

He had his bucks, why subject himself to an hour of discomfort with people he didn't like.

Weary

Skidsteer
01-30-2008, 18:42
I'd like to see P.J. O'Rourke do a backpacking book or even a magazine article.

He's even funnier than Bryson, IMO.

rocketsocks
06-25-2015, 18:11
wait'll you see me and ron haven in the flick. they's gonna issue depends at the door cuz you'll pee yourself laughin' :D
I'll be in the back row, heaven help anyone sitting in front of me if your in that movie. I don't do depends :D

Pedaling Fool
06-25-2015, 18:20
great book. highly recommend it to all newbies. can't wait for the movieIt's been a long wait...hopefully it's worth it:D

Traveler
06-26-2015, 10:01
I have read Bryson since Notes from a Small Island and found Walk in the Woods to be a lot of fun. Sure he pokes fun at things and slams stuff, rather like people in this forum do. His wit is based around nuisances of life, which include cars, houses, service establishments, growing up (Thunderbolt Kid is a must read for anyone born in the 50s), relationships, travel, hiking, and of course people.

Of course its not a "how to" manual, or a "travel book", nor is it claimed to be. Its a fictionalized account of a small amount of time on the AT. But it is fun, a perfect summer read essentially. Its not Walking with Spring.