I finally finished A Walk in the Woods and oh what an underwhelming walk it was. A mediocre tale spun against the backdrop of the Appalachian Trail, the promised laughs just didn't deliver. Only the scattering of facts and statistics regarding the history of the trail itself kept the pages turning. I hope this doesn't spoil it for anyone but in the end, Bryson and his companion didn't even complete half of it's length, and they hardly even attempted the dramatic Hundred Mile Wilderness which marks the final pitch into Maine. This man is no Krakauer.
Just for kicks, i went back to the blurbs at the front of the book. The Boston Globe touted it as "an almost perfect travel book" perhaps because it has a spine, jacket and pages inbetween. My favorite came from the Providence Journal-Bulletin which declared "nobody has written anything like this book" which i can't even begin to make fun of. Kind of like saying Smiley Anders is compelling.
After seeing the success this book had, i'm tempted to write about my adventures in the 2004 Bicycle Tour of Colorado. The chapter on Jeff's confrontation with Tour officials and eventual formal banishment would make it a NYTimes bestseller and i did come across my journal the other day...hmm. Maybe I'll start by writing them here.
Now i'm on Bob Dylan's Chronicles. I began this book the way i ended AWITW, by reading the blurbs at the front, the best of them came from Greil Marcus who confessed, "I've written a lot of books, and after reading Dylan's book, I realized I would never write a book that good." Whoa! These got my super-psyched and immediately it didn't disappoint. After one chapter, it's clear this is a book you won't need a bookmark for, you're afraid to miss a sentence. This is going to be good.
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4 comments:
Thanks for the warning. I've had the book on my shelf for years, but never read it. I've always wanted to tackle the AT. I'd need to do it over two years because of my Reynaud's Syndrome, which makes it pretty difficult for me to deal with cold weather. Reynaud's is the medical term for someone who looks like a guy but is actually a big female genitalia.
Greil Marcus -- there's a blast from the past. Check out "Lipstick Traces" if you ever need a good read.
Hey, how many miles do you log this time of year, and how much of that is indoors?
LPM
Hey Lance,
The AT is pretty awesome, this is good stuff. I've become a wikipedia fan a bit later than everyone else.
I never heard of Reynaud's Syndrome before, sounds tough.
I will check that out, i wasn't familiar with Greil Marcus before this book.
Normally, i'd say 10-15 hours per week, but in these post-Ryan times i'm ecstatic with 7-10. Last weekend, i got 110 outdoors in 2 days, which i'm happy with. The rest of it comes on computrainer, rollers or spin classes. I may buy a new track bike soon, to work the velodrome in and actually get some outdoor time under the lights.
I also stopped riding to work recently due to road rash seepage issues which i won't go into. :)
p.s. Lot of links in this post eh?
Sweet bike. You'll cut quite the "Les Dupuy" figure on it.
Ah! Less Doopie
I hadn't heard that name in a while. I wonder what he's up to.
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