A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, 276 pages

I wasn’t expecting much out of this book. It came to me through a friend who said I would enjoy it and should read it. While we have similar taste in activities our reading choices are quite different. Given the name of the book and the bear on the cover I figured I knew what it was about and would be bored with it. I was also informed that it was a nonfiction book and was even more put off of it. So there it sat for most of a month till I knew I had to read at least the first chapter in case I ran into my friend again. So begrudgingly I picked it up and started reading.

Right off the bat I realized that this wasn’t someone just writing a book about a walk they took through the woods. This was a book about two people attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail. A small side note. The Appalachian Trail is about 2,200 miles long depending on who is measuring, and has always held a special interest with me. Namely I want to hike it someday. So instead of this being the boring novel I thought it would be, it became more of a guide.

Not only was I instantly able to connect with the people in the book, but also with all the challenges they faced. Bryson covers everything, from the high cost of starting to the fear and adrenaline that comes from being on your own out in the wilderness. As the chapters flew by I felt as if I was on a roller coaster of emotions. One minute I am pumped up and thinking if he can do it with as inexperienced as he was, then I could do it. Then he hits you with a big reality check that it takes MONTHS to hike this distance and most people can’t leave their job for months. Next all the wonderful people they meet and the rush that comes from being outdoors, and then the depression and longing he feels when takes some time away from it.

When I finished it I was left feeling emotionally drained and slightly depressed. Here was a man who loved to hike but for his own reasons couldn’t meet his goals, would I do any better?

If you love hiking you need to read this book.

Gilead

Gilead, Marilynne Robinson, 247 pages, 2006


      I was recently on our Reader's Advisory database and found Gilead on a list of recent Pulitzer Prize winners. I read a whole lot, and for a time did not read as much fiction as I once did.  I have been actively making an effort to read more fiction in the hope that I find a creative work that will stay with me, a work I will want to re-visit in the future. 
    
      I have tried to come up with how I am to describe this book- and it is difficult because this is the type of book that is akin to having my first few sips of coffee in the morning. (i.e. sublime)  The narrative is simple: John Ames is an aging pastor who writes a letter to his seven year old son, who he knows he will never see grow up completely.  His letter attempts to tell him everything he should know about himself and his thoughts of the world, and advice for living.  Robinson's prose is some of the best I have read in quite ahwhile.  This is a book that I savored the entire way through, much as I have done when reading writers like Capote or McCullers.  Although there is a religious slant to the book, the reader need not be a believer to enjoy.  I have put her first book, Housekeeping on hold, and plan to read the companion novel Home soon after. Rich, affective, humorus, and worth the time.