Ever been profoundly dissapointed by a good book?

[steve]

I just finished Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods."

It's an account of the author's attempt to thru-hike the appalacian trail with his friend.

Yes it was well-written.
It was very funny. It made some good points. I learned a lot.
And it was gripping! It made me want to go out and do the AT!!


But I'll be damned if I'm not pissed off at the author for putting in the effort of writing this book after doing the trail in such a half-assed way.. He gave up hope that he'd complete it about a third of the way into the book, and spent the rest of the time just doing tidbits of the trail here and there. It was painful to read. He wrote at the end that he only did about 850 miles of the trail, less than 40%. His friend couldn't have done more than 500.

All of that wouldn't be so bad if, at the end of the book, at the supposed climax, he and his friend actually completed the 100 mile wilderness (in ME) that had them reunited in the fall.. but even then they bailed out after a few days. If he had just completed that portion, I would have at least been happy enough with the thing that I wouldn't be posting about it here.

Dammit I'm pissed.. and it was a good book! shit.





sorry.

-steve

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

Grrrrreeeeat! Unfortunately, that book is sitting here right on top of the "things to do" pile.

No apologies necessary, though. Pretty much everything east-coast related is a fucking letdown in one way or another. We don't blame you, Steve.

[CUBUCK]

Grrrrreeeeat! Unfortunately, that book is sitting here right on top of the "things to do" pile.

No apologies necessary, though. Pretty much everything east-coast related is a fucking letdown in one way or another. We don't blame you, Steve.

I read the book and a few months later hiked the 100 mile wilderness. Will definetly read it again before my thruhike. I thought it was a fun read.

[steve]

The book did get me jonesin' to do some backpacking. Like I said, it was a good book. Not sure if I want to thruhike the AT though..

Maybe one day I'll do the VT long trail.. God knows I drink enough of it's namesake beer.

For now, however, I think I'll be happy traversing harriman/bear state parks on the AT from the hudson river to rt 17.. should take 2-3 days, and that's at an easy pace.

[iceman]

The first quarter or so of that book is funny as hell, the rest is pretty tedious.

From the thread title I thought Steve might be pissed at the bible, what was I thinking?

[Dexter Rutecki]

If Bill Bryson is the guy who always writes the somewhat comical accounts of his travels and/or foreign experiences, then it would've been impossible for me to be disappointed. After the first ten or twenty pages of the one book by him I tried to read I was disappointed. As ice said, I found him tedious and a bit obvious.
But maybe I've got the wrong guy, in which case I'm being tedious and obtuse.

[The AD]

Have you ever read any of Bryson's book other than this? I think if you had, you wouldn't have really expected him to actually finish the AT.

Bill has actually got more serious lately. I really enjoyed both In a Sunburned Country (about Australia) and A Brief History of Nearly Everything.

[steve]

never read any other of his books..
but still - it wasn't him not finishing even 40% of the AT that dissapointed me, it's the reasons he didn't complete 40% of the AT. It just seemed half-assed.. quit because he got bored.

[biggins]

never read any other of his books..
but still - it wasn't him not finishing even 40% of the AT that dissapointed me, it's the reasons he didn't complete 40% of the AT. It just seemed half-assed.. quit because he got bored.

I've heard this sentiment from a number of people who've read that book. Interesting.

[cj001f]

quit because he got bored.

I liked that. Never really understood the appeal of thru-hiking, the ATs boring relative to other trails. Can't say I care for any of the Bryson books, pleasant reads but pointless.

[lemon boy]

The Kite Runner could've been great if the author wasn't such a fucking douche.

[Steven S. Dallas]

"Manhunt," the story of the escape and capture of John Wilkes Booth, sucked. Interesting factually, but the writing was straight booty.

[steve]

I liked that. Never really understood the appeal of thru-hiking, the ATs boring relative to other trails. Can't say I care for any of the Bryson books, pleasant reads but pointless.

I can see that.. I guess my main point is this - you set out to hike the AT. You quit because it was boring - yet, you still write a book about hiking the AT, and detail why you quit.

who gives a shit?