A Walk in the woods

I read this book after watching Robert Redford’s movie by the same name . Bill Bryson is a renowned travel author and is very loved for his works .

This book is about his tryst with the mighty Appalachian Trail , the 2100 plus mile foot path which traverses across the wooded , wild lands of the Appalachian mountains in the United States .

This book is strongly recommended to those who love outdoors and have hiked before . The author has done an extensive research on the history and the geography of the Appalachian trail and the book is loaded with a lot of information on how the terrain would be on what part of the trail. He lists best practices on how to pack , what to pack , what is necessary and what is not and how to live in the woods with minimal means and requirements. Every hiker can understand that the woods have a charm of their own and they pull you into a different world , where there are no commitments , no

Obligations , you are surrounded by tranquility and a force which is much bigger and mightier than one of our kind . There are dangers of wilderness, the bears , the blizzards , the rain and the cold , and the hikers have to brave all these elements to conquer the nature .

Coming to the humor part of the book , parts of it are extremely hilarious. Bryson attempts this trail with his reformed friend , Stephan Katz , who is physically not fit to attempt the trail . Their dialogues and certain encounters are hilarious and I found myself laughing aloud . Though they never meet a bear , the scary stories the author comes across and his frightful imagination on what would happen if he ever encounters one on the trail is outrageously funny . “ if you see a bear, by all means run!”

Having said that I personally did not like the humor on the other hikers in this book. After a point , I felt it was disrespectful . Each hiker , whether he or she would succeed or not , has aspired to hike the mighty Appalachian trail , which is a huge deal by itself . Making casual remarks on them consistently was something I personally did not like . The author does mention Bertram Wooster once , so it is possible he is very inspired by P.G.WodeHouse and wanted to make his own book humorous and witty . Overall , it’s a very well researched, thoughtful book filled with wit , and if you like hiking and have hiked before , go for this book. You will enjoy it .

Rating: 👍👍👍👍

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