Customer Reviews

A Walk In The Woods

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Having read all of Bill Bryson's travel books, this was the last one left. I hadn't read this because I had been told it was one of his weaker novels but I decided, through no other reason that I needed a hit of Bryson, to read it. People couldn't have been more wrong. From the very initiation of assesing the feasibility, to arranging for Katz to accompany him to the purchasing of his equipment (the careful selection process and how easy it is for us to get blinded by science - ie ripped off) and the purchase of 'a large knife for killing bears and hillibillies.' Bryson is at his absolute best. His encounters along the trail and Katz anti-social, childish antics make the first 150 pages more than laugh out loud funny. I couldn't have been more suprised. The encounter with the, erm... 'bear' and Katz' reaction compared to the wimpy Bryson is simply classic.

And then halfway through it stops.

They leave the trail to take some time off and from then on, I tried hard but it never seemed to pick up again, it was funny but you no longer felt you were joining you old mate Bill on this adventure, but just reading a somewhat disjointed collection of tales. Also, after they leave the trail, the book becomes bogged down in history which some may like, but personally, I was more interested in the humor which in the second half is often lacking. However, halfway through this book, I can guarantee theat you will have contemplated at least once, trying to walk the trail - even just a part of it! If flabby, smoking, unhealthy eating Billy boy can do it, I'll bet you I can!

Still, Bryson is and always will be in my mind, a pure genius and this book is well worth the money even just for the first 150 pages and maybe it was just me, no-one else seems to have found this a problem - maybe I'm just thick!

Stupendously funny! My wife hates it when I laugh out loud when reading a book, and I had to keep apologising. I tried to stifle a laugh, but the next line makes it burst out. Probably the funniest book I have ever read. Not only makes you want to be there but also forces you to buy every book he has ever written. I read his 'Short History of Nearly Everything' and 'Dictionary of Troublesome Words' almost immediately.

This book made me chuckle within the first ten minutes (and that is an unusual sight believe me as I'm usually a miserable person). Bryson bares all of himself for the world to see. His attitude, sense of humour, determination and stamina accompanies his every step across the longest continuous footpath in the world. His honesty is breath of fresh air which many forty somethings who want to be fitter and younger will identify with.
I listened to this on a long train journey, shut my eyes and I was there.... in his sleeping bag, itching at the thought of the insects.... smiling at the thought of his mad travel companion and chuckling at his sarcastic comments, which are sharp, witty and ones you would want to remember. The characters he meets on his journey are just great. A real insight into other people's alternative lifestyles. I enjoyed this more than the Australian 'Down Under' one which has put me off ever visititng the place. Bryson seems to be at his best when stressed.

Two chracteristics that are fantastic to have are humour and wit and Bill Bryson has them in abundance. To write humour with such a comanding voice is an admirable quality indeed. The book is well written, planned, informative and funny.

My only comment is that towards the end the geographical, historical and geological information became a bit repetitive and I did find my interest waning. Aside from this it is another solid effort from a fantastic author.

I am a great Bill Bryson fan, and I loved reading this book.
Although, to tell the truth, it was so realistic that I felt I was camping out with him. I felt so relieved when he finally reached a decent place to spend the night, or when he found a supermarket where he stocked up on mostly junk food.
My heart went out to Katz, who stoically brought up the rear (and sometimes the front).
I tell you, I felt as if I walked every inch of that way with them and I was very happy when it finally got to the end. I was exhausted.
I felt I had to go the whole way with him, otherwise he might never make it!
If you don't want to get exhausted, worried about being attacked by bears, poisoned by mice dung or just plain lose your way or starve, go for some lighter Bryson reading where he gets in a car and travels somewhere relatively safe (like Britain).

This Bryson tome differs from earlier outings in that he drags along a reluctant companion with him, as he embarks on the epic Appalachian Trail through rural wooded America. The relationship with the grumpy Katz is one of the best things in the book as they form an unusual bond despite the latter's evident dislike of physical exercise.

Unfortunately Katz's co-starring role doesn't last all the way through and the bits were he's absent are not quite so compelling although meetings with a group of posh hikers and an incompetent but know-it-all teenager provide highlights. Bryson and Katz's glee when they return to comfort-laden civilization is hilarious.

Overall, I liked this as much as the other Brysons especially as it isn't overloaded with facts and figures, which I thought unbalanced "Down Under".

After being introduced to our friend Katz in "Neither Here, Nor There", I was delighted to be reunited with the troblesome twosome in "A Walk in the Woods". Here is a normal guy who decides to do something a bit unusual, and out of desperation takes along the only prson who was insane enough to go with him - Katz. He should have known better, but yet the two of them still embarked on this incredible trek through the Appalachians with poor fitness, and absolutely no tolerance for each other. The enormity of this walk amazed me, and the fact that these two were able to stick at it for so long down right astounded me. After reading all of Bryson's books, it was like a journey with an old friend. This guy has a incredible talent for making even the worst moments on a journey seem amusing and wonderful, in their own little way. If you have read all the others you will feel right at home with this book, and the greates sympathies for Bryson and Katz. Leave it till last, it's a real treat!

A ' Walk In the Woods' by Bill Bryson - I found to be a both interesting and amusing recount of trekking the Appalachian Trail in the Eastern United States. Bryson's style in this book is to switch between the narrator and knowledge-giver throughout. With the aid of a helpful annotated map at the beginning of the book, I was constantly flicking to and fro to pinpoint wherever a particular episode of the story was taking place. Bryson's perceptions of the various other 'AT' trekkers and dwellers , I found to be hilariously spot-on. Katz was constant as the ever grumbling but inherently stalwart friend who agreed to accompany him on the journey. The grizzly and brown bear data was informative and horrifying. I now know which bear to stay still for and which one to turn and run quickly away from in order to evade! The true magnitude of the task at hand was brought home when after arriving in Gatlinburg after what they thought to be a heroic effort , Bryson and Katz clapped eyes on a map of the full trail length from Georgia to Maine. They realised that they had only done two inches of the four feet map !

There's no questioning Bryson's flair for laugh-out-loud (embarrasing on the train) anecdotes. A walk in the woods is peppered with hilarious moments from Bryson's trek along the grueling 2000 mile Appalachian Trail, with his home-town-friend and reformed alcoholic, Katz. When I say he hiked the Appalachian Trail, I mean he only hiked 870 miles of it, missing out north and south Carolina. 870 miles is comendable, but it was a little bit of a dissapointment. The main nag I have is a trait that affects quite a few of Bryson's works, that is a tendency of his to get bogged down in facts and figures or gratuitous history lectures. A walk in the woods, I have to admit, is Bryson's biggest perpertrator of this crime. I think he struck the best balance between facts and anecdotes in Notes from a Small Island. However, maybe I'm a bit of simple minded young chap, you might be more embracing of Bryson's love of facts and figures. And if this is your first Bryson you will be hard pressed not to laugh out loud at least once.

Bryson at his best. Funny, witty and a real talent at setting the atmosphere for the reader. Even my Dad liked it.