Bill Bryson
Author; published in '98.
I actually completed this read in October, but have been backed up in my reviews. So here goes: I have to first preface this by saying that Janet commented (when we had a girls' night out on Friday with Kathy at the Sagebrush for margaritas) that all my books are given 5-star ratings. Well, that's simply not true. If you look back in the archives, you'll see that there have been some 1s, 2s, and an occasional 3. It's simply that I choose to read high quality, entertaining books (why waste a perfectly good hour or 2 on a weekend reading crap). So I choose to spend my leisure time reading "good stuff". We were commenting on this and Kathy, noting my last review on "The Appeal" said "Karin, I just can't imagine a Grisham book ever being 5*". I countered her and said that it was his 1st work of nonfiction and, IN MY OPINION, which is what reviews are all about, it was that good of a book. So there. She obviously didn't read my whole review and said "mmmm, ok didn't know it was non-fiction."
Anyway, back to Bryson's novel....
This was my 2nd time reading this hilarious travel writer. If you haven't read him before, he's really quite wonderful. His books are full of sarcasm and are delightful. I also read his "In a Sunburned Country". "A Walk in the Woods" is about his attempt to walk the entire Appalachian Trail. Glenn would love this read, being an avid walker. Bryson convinces a friend to join him, an out of shape and alcoholic friend named Katz (I think of him as Bryson's sidekick) whom he hasn't seen in years. This makes for some rather amusing and hysterical anecdotes. Jeff read this book, too. If you love the great outdoors and have a strong sense of humor, you will get a kick out of this highly entertaining read.
I think Greg gave us this book but don't know if he's read it. If not, he should. Bryson recalls his adventures on this famous trail with pure honesty. He writes with a sense of abandon, leaving nothing to the imagination. All the juicy, gritty, dirty parts are there (bad intestinal experiences, freezing cold nights sleeping on hard ground, and practically starving after all the food that's left for that day is an old candy bar). I wished he would've completed the entire trail (a super duper amazing feat, being that it's an astounding 2,100 MILES from Georgia to Main), but he certainly tackles a very respectable portion. He stops for a while, takes a restful hiatus, and then gets back on the trail after that well-deserved break. Bill runs into a grizzly and a host of colorful characters of the human persuasion (yet his encounters with them are few in number as the trail is a lonely place in the springtime when he decides to hike it). Most of the time, it's just Bill and Katz, speaking very few words, listening to the sounds of nature and utter silence along the trail, and listening to his thoughts as he is introspective in such solitude and silence. He has bouts of loneliness, yet at other times, simply relegates in his happiness in being alone in the wilderness.
This was a NY Times bestseller and I highly recommend this most amusing of all the travel memoirs I've read.
Alas, living up to my reputation, I have to (without any reservation) rate this:
