A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail Review

This is much more than a travelogue of two neophyte hikers on the Appalachian Trail, and readers looking for a blow by blow account of the travails of Bill Bryson and his companion, Stephen Katz, will bedisappointed.Hiking provides only a backdrop to a heartfelt discourse onthe social condition of America, local history, the environment, and thecomplexities of friendship.The pretext for the book was Bryson's returnto the United States after twenty years in Britain, and his interest in"rediscovering America" after such a lengthy absence.
The vastmajority of the reviews of the book cite its hilarity (one reviewer calledit "choke-on-your-coffee funny"), and indeed there are very manyfunny parts.However, the deeper I got into the book, I detected a strongshift in the author's sentiment from satire to deep introspection.Hisobservations became more acute, more angry, and more individualized as hislong hike constantly brings to his mind the fragile environment of theTrail, the insanity of bureacrats entrusted with the AT, and his ownpersonal limitations.
This was my first encounter with Bill Bryson, andwhile I found him entertaining, a beautiful writer, and an astute observer,some readers will be put off my his sharp satiric wit.It is certain thathe will offend somebody.A friend of mine, who also read the book, wasvery much upset by the fact that Bryson and Katz didn't hike all 2,200miles of the Trail, and that somehow their "failure" shouldprevent the telling of the story.This is utter nonsense and just throwsmore manure onto the present dung heap that has accumulated from theparticipants involved in peak bagging, wilderness races, and experientialtherapy groups.
Bryson and Katz at least tried to hike the entire AT, andthey returned from their hike as changed men who learned many lessons aboutthe wilderness and friendship.Towards the end of the book, the two menare talking about the hike.When Katz remarks that "we did it,"Bryson reminds him that they didn't even see Mount Katahdin, much lessclimb it.Katz says, "Another mountain.How many do you need to see,Bryson?"I agree with Katz (and ultimately Bryson).They hiked theAppalachian Trail.

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