SPOILER ALERT???
I wonder if she's gonna kill her horse in the movie too.
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. -Kahlil Gibran
Spoiler Alert????
Apparently she kills her horse.
LOL
Me: Ricky
Husky: Jack
Skeeter-Beeter Pro Hammock.
From Dalton, Georgia (65 mi above Altanta, 15mi south of Chattanooga)
I think that the title has helped the book's being noticed. Also, the author's name hinted at there being something secret that some would want to know. But, yeah, I found it a drag.Originally Posted by magneto
OTOH, there was the moment-by-moment description of her first struggles with becoming upright under her pack. That really hit home, couldn't have been described better. Having gone through the same situation too many times to count, I howled with laughter.
Maybe she should have named it HOWL, reckon?
You never know just what you can do until you realize you absolutely have to do it.
--Salaun
+1 on the heavy pack experience. I did the same thing - tried to carry 40+ lbs and paid the price. Then I went light, and now finally ultra light, as I have gotten older but still love to hike.
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WTH! I know this is the book in motion picture but darnit, they finally make a high-end Hollywood flick about hiking one of the greatest trails in the world and looks like the epitome of depression.
I read the book pretty quickly. I was going through a stage where I was devouring anything related to hiking that I could get my hands on. I didn't think it was all that bad as a story about redemption and personal discovery but I agree that it didn't really appeal to me as a hiker or as someone who enjoys books about people trying to survive in the wilderness. I thought her writing was very easy to follow but I was a little bored by it still, especially all the parts about her trying to justify her promiscuity. As someone said earlier in the thread, the book wasn't written with the hiking community in mind, much like A Walk in the Woods. It will probably introduce a lot of people to hiking (particularly young women), which I think is a good thing (A Walk in the Woods pretty much got me obsessed with the AT).
Hahahaha. Laughing at you people who thought her book was about hiking.
Pain is a by-product of a good time.
In fairness the book cover is a photo of a beat up hiking boot.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Perhaps because the extended title is Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail?
Because of the commentary on this, many (!) other websites and even Facebook, wrote my own nickel's worth of thoughts:
http://www.pmags.com/that-book-cheryl-strayeds-wild
I am lazy and putting it up in one place.
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
http://pmags.com
Twitter: @pmagsco
Facebook: pmagsblog
The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
That's actually kinda funny
Because of the commentary on this, many (!) other websites and even Facebook, wrote my own nickel's worth of thoughts:
http://www.pmags.com/that-book-cheryl-strayeds-wild
I am lazy and putting it up in one place.Ok, I had to look up kvetching...good word!
You live in Jersey and never heard of kvetching ????
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
http://pmags.com
Twitter: @pmagsco
Facebook: pmagsblog
The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
When I met RS, the impression I got is that he doesn't realize that he lives in Jersey.You live in Jersey and never heard of kvetching ????
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
You live in Jersey and never heard of kvetching ????Geographically I live in joisey, but me heart belongs to Texas...I like Pennsiltucky too.When I met RS, the impression I got is that he doesn't realize that he lives in Jersey.
It wasn't about hiking, but I'd argue that the best books that center on the trail aren't either. For instance, the Barefoot Sisters books are centered on trail life, but what makes them compelling reads is the personal journey the two girls go through. Otherwise, the book would just be a trail journal.
I guess I just think the personal journey in Wild didn't captivate me. I was never rooting for the "character" which I think is an element in any good story. I'd argue that the best "trail books" out there are the best because of the back story and characters in them, and not because of the trail.
I am sure I will go watch the movie though
+one on the back stories and character studies....that adds the flavor flave.It wasn't about hiking, but I'd argue that the best books that center on the trail aren't either. For instance, the Barefoot Sisters books are centered on trail life, but what makes them compelling reads is the personal journey the two girls go through. Otherwise, the book would just be a trail journal.
I guess I just think the personal journey in Wild didn't captivate me. I was never rooting for the "character" which I think is an element in any good story. I'd argue that the best "trail books" out there are the best because of the back story and characters in them, and not because of the trail.
I am sure I will go watch the movie though
It was an Oprah's Book Club Selection, that's how.
In fact, it was Oprah's FIRST selection of the second iteration of her book club, when she re-launched it in 2012.
I enjoyed the book. It was an easy read. But I didn't open it thinking it would be a how-to manual on long-distance hiking.
It just so happened that Strayed was a keynote speaker at a completely unrelated industry conference last year -- I didn't find her all that interesting or compelling.
you left to walk the appalachian trail
you can feel your heart as smooth as a snail
the mountains your darlings
but better to love than have something to scale
-Girlyman, "Hold It All At Bay"
That would have been a bit presumptuous. That said, the book's more a meditation on grief/wailing/threnody than it is on long-distance hiking, especially the post-2010 style of long-distance hiking. So maybe something about lonely grief or howling would have been a more apt title, but probably wouldn't have sold so well. And I've never liked the subtitle "From Lost to Found ..." since it implies that a clean 180-degree change is possible in a life and a personality if all one does is take a long adventure.
But ... I did really appreciate the quality of the book, the writing and editing both. I'll probably go see the movie too, although, to me, it looks even less subtle than the book, which is saying something. I will not, however, be dressing up as Cheryl for Halloween again.
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"Hahk your own hahk." - Ron Haven
"The world is a book, of which those who do not travel read only a page." - St. Augustine
http://www.scrubhiker.com/
P-Mags, you never fail to amaze me. As a sub-30 year old, you hiked what seemed to me to be almost the perfect AT hike as far as getting from point A to point B was concerned. Watermelon on the top of Katahdin to end your journey was so understandable to someone who could exist on a totally watermelon diet. Coming to Colorado after leaving your Rhode Island earlier years, marching through your college education from Ft. Collins to Boulder, becoming who you are--yes, amazing. I applaud you and remember warmly when I had the privilege of meeting your young, determined self at Damascus, maybe Pipestem, and Estes Park. Thank you for sharing.Because of the commentary on this, many (!) other websites and even Facebook, wrote my own nickel's worth of thoughts:
http://www.pmags.com/that-book-cheryl-strayeds-wild
I am lazy and putting it up in one place.
You never know just what you can do until you realize you absolutely have to do it.
--Salaun
HA HA that's funny Scrub...I think they should make the movie Katz meets Cherl and call it "Wild thangs"
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