united states

I am at a point in this book where I am ready to set it down and never pick it up again. Bryson should have stopped around page 150. The first part of the book was hilarious. Bryson finds himself with a friend from college, whom is described in a way that puts an image of Chris Farley hiking the Appalachian Trail in my mind. Bryson narrates the story very well. His details make you feel like you are really there with them. It is an experience! However, about halfway through, Bryson decides to take a break and go home for a month, planning on returning at a later date. He does, but attempts to hike the trail via car. It is one of the most senseless ideas I have ever heard, and eventually he realizes this. However, then he continues to dig himself deeper by taking unimportant day hikes on the trail to justify not finishing it. He tries to cover up the lack of events by giving us all kinds of background information on the National Forest service, hypothermia, and all kinds of diseases that are killing off trees. These numerous sections of the book made me feel as if I was reading the book for a class rather than for pleasure. He presented this information in a very bland manner. Therefore, the first half of the book is worth reading, but reading part 2 is not worth your time.

Bill Bryson takes on the unknown, American Wilderness and writes about it. He and his old college buddy, Stephen Katz, decide to go on a 2,100-mile hike throughout the Appalachian Trail. Bryson is a little surprised when he sees his old friend incredibly overweight and discovers he's a recovering alcoholic. Yet, he is still happy to have someone to accompany him. Despite endless hours of research and state-of-the-art equipment, both unphysically fit men enter the AT unable to know what to expect. They begin their adventure in Amicalola Falls State, north Georgia with plans on ending it atop Mount Katahdin in Maine. The only survival equipment they have is dozens of Snickers bars and maps of the area that become inevitably useless. The Appalachian Trail proves to be almost everything the books said; minus the gruesome bear attacks, the AT provides astonishing beauty in forms of trees and sparkling lakes. While on their journey, they encounter a few off-the-wall characters, some even infamous for their downfalls. Although they fall a little short of the complete trail, they leave with a fulfilling sense of accomplishment. Bryson's incorporation of a real life horror story and comic relief makes the book hard to put down rather than a task to read. I would recommend one to read this, although I think that he could have done with less statistics and history. I was disapointed when they didn't push it to the end.

Though his book isn't the best book I've read in a while, it was entertaining and did make me walk to start hiking for often. The parts a appreciated most however dealt with the US Forest Service, logging, road building, acid rain, and hunting owls, lions, and bears for bounties. He cites some good sources for information on the destruction of the forests of North America, but fails to deal with the destruction of the planet as a global phenomenon. He also fails to connect the problem with choices being made by people--especially people just like him. While I learned something from his story, there is much more to be said about the violence of our culture and the demise of the natural world.