Audiobook of a very famous travel memoir!
It is a long haul! Over 5 hours or more of bill!
For the uninitiated the Appalachian Trail or the AT is the world’s longest hiking only trail!
And bill Bryson is not so fit author who is not even a sportsman! Then you have his friend called KATZ (which I heard as cats!) who used to provide the comic relief! But Katz is even more non sports like than Bill!
Which is when the question always used to linger in my mind whether they would cover the same! It is of course a non fiction so there is no suspense there! They would hike and hike and fall and get lost and even nearly die so many times but unfortunately they do not cover the whole trail!
It actually takes a full hiker at least 6-7 months to even hike it in one go!
In between Bill gives the amazing history of the trail and of the various shelters and the interesting people he meet on the way!
He also mentions the bear attacks and the death toll telling us in each step that it is not a simple task!
The book details Bryson’s humorous and often grueling attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT)—a footpath stretching over 2,100 miles across 14 U.S. states from Georgia to Maine!
After living in the United Kingdom for two decades, Bryson returned to the United States and settled in New Hampshire. Wanting to reconnect with the American wilderness, he impulsively decided to hike the trail despite being drastically out of shape and having virtually no backpacking experience!
To avoid tackling it alone, he recruited his estranged old friend Stephen Katz (a pseudonym for Matt Angerer). Katz proved to be a hilariously mismatched partner: overweight, a recovering alcoholic, and deeply averse to physical exertion. Their journey is marked by immediate comical ineptitude, heavy backpacks, freezing weather, and fear of bear attacks!
The best thing is when KATZ throws most of the content of his backpack since either they were heavy or not necessary! Including in the end, a water bottle!
Written in a laugh-out-loud, self-deprecating style, the book contrasts the grand romantic myth of the American wilderness with the harsh, grueling reality of blistered feet, bad trail food, and eccentric fellow hikers!
Interspersed between their misadventures are deeply researched, accessible chapters on the history of the trail, forest conservation, the impact of pollution, and the sociology of the backwood towns they pass through!
I loved the part where they meet an annoying know it all gal who constantly used to hike with them and tent with them but always cribbing! The way they got RID of her is so funny!
Then KATZ adventures with gals, beer and bear! In that order!
The best part of the novel though was the ending!
While they do not successfully complete the entire thru-hike, the narrative centers on their personal boundaries, their renewed friendship, and the realization of how precious yet threatened America’s remaining wilderness is!
In the end there is a incident which would wake you up and take notice! Katz is missing! I was on the edge of my seat while driving and I had to know what happened to him! Don’t worry this is non fiction so I will tell you that he is ok! But till the time Bill could locate him it was nerves and anxiety in big amount! When he finally finds him all broken and injured but still resting on a rock (typical KATZ!) we all sighed a big relief! Which is when after all these Bill goes to him and asks him, “Shall we go back home!” Which is what they did!
The most realistic ending of a hike travel diary! They had enough incidents to write a book or two but more importantly they have their life and health and they actually have no reason to be hiking along in the wild!
A beatiful walk indeed!
