thoughts on "a walk in the woods" by Bill Bryson

[prozac]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Rosco]

[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!

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]

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]

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.

[lobster]

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!!!!!!!!!!

[John B]

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.

[HapKiDo]

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.)

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]

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.

[aspen]

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

[MOWGLI]

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. IMO you could legitimately accuse him of being a bit insensitive in his pursuit of yucks.

[lobster]

Didn't a part of what he said about Rainbow Springs ring true?

[MOWGLI]

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]

Didn't a part of what he said about Rainbow Springs ring true?

totally true

[Lone Wolf]

totally true

And I second that.

[smokymtnsteve]

And I second that.

thank U LW,,,hope u are doing fine

[Lone Wolf]

I'm well. You?