I feel like I’m one of the very few people who read this book and didn’t feel the urge to rave about it. I read a lot of hiking memoirs, and I just don’t feel like this was one of the better ones. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t stand out either. Admittedly, I have a pretty high bar for the genre. Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods was not only my introduction to the subject, but it was the book that essentially fueled my passion for non-fiction. I try very hard not to compare anything too closely to this favorite of mine–writing styles and narrative focus differ from writer to writer, after all–but even so, I didn’t find anything in this book to elevate it above the crowd. My issues with this memoir boil down to two things. The first is a minor gripe: the dialogue sometimes comes across as stilted. Much of this book focuses on the interactions Lugo had with various people during his hike, so there are lots of conversations. I felt that there were several instances where the dialogue didn’t flow like a normal exchange would. My larger issue has to do with the pacing. As I said, I’ve read lots of hiking memoirs, and one thing that they have in common is best described as a sense of the time taken during the hike. This is especially true–and especially important–for thru-hikes, in which the hiker does the entirety of a long-distance trail (like the Appalachian Trail ) in a single summer. It usually takes anywhere from six to eight months and is done between March and October. Lugo’s book comes across as more of a series of vignettes seen in the course of a bunch of unconnected outings. I didn’t really get a feeling of the whole scope of the hike over the arc of the book’s narrative. There is one thing for which I want to commend the author, though. Hiking is most often a pastime undertaken by white people (for various reasons that I’ve read about but do not feel qualified to discuss at any length), and Lugo notes that he was the only Black person thru-hiking the trail that year. He also notes how far outside his comfort zone it was to do the hike. The fact that he did so, and the fact that he wrote about it and was able to give his voice to the experience, should be taken into consideration. Any shortcomings that I perceive in the actual writing shouldn’t take anything away from that accomplishment. I mean, I don’t think I could do what he did, so I certainly give him props for it! This book has a place in the hiking genre, certainly, but I think that there might be better gateways into learning about the sport.
Tag: Non-fiction
The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff
I have to wonder if people who were not old enough to remember 9/11 can have any concept of what it felt like to live through that day. I am extraordinarily lucky that I was not personally touched by the events of that day, and yet I doubt that anybody in America can truly say that they were not touched at all. Even if we didn’t lose someone to the horrible terrorist attacks, I think that we all felt something of the fear and anguish brought about by the crashing of four planes and the massive loss of life. As it is, even those of us cognizant of what was happening that day have little idea of the experiences of the first responders and government officials tasked with dealing with 9/11’s events. This book admirably fills in that story by telling the history of that day through interview snippets with those who were involved. Until reading this book, I had no idea of what was going on aboard Air Force One, or the state of affairs at the Pentagon, or how it felt to breathe the air after the Twin Towers collapsed. Now I do, and I have such an appreciation for everyone who helped the victims of the attack. This book is tough to read due to the subject matter, but I think it’s important to understand all of the moving parts on that day and appreciate the many men and women who risked their lives–or gave them–to keep America safe.
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
This year I started re-reading some old favorite books, and I had to include Bryson’s works in that category. His narrative A Walk in the Woods was the book that truly got me interested in non-fiction and sent me down the rabbit hole of learning about subjects that I never would have imagined being interested in. In the case of this book, it’s not that I was never interested in Australia, but more that I never really saw anything about it. The most that I thought I knew was that it is home to tons of things that can kill you. In a Sunburned Country doesn’t gloss over the murderous capacity of the continent and its resident critters, but it also conveys the stark beauty of the place. From Uluru, the massive rock formation sacred to the Aboriginal people, to the beach where a former Australian prime minister was swept out to sea and vanished, Bryson’s wanderings take him to both large cities and isolated hamlets, to sweeping vistas and small forgotten corners. What it turned out that I appreciated the most was Bryson’s commitment to learning about Australia’s history, politics, people, and culture. During his narrative, he writes about the books that he reads along the way, the newspapers he picks up, and the people that he talks to. He doesn’t shy away from touching on the plight of the Aboriginal people or the uncomfortable reactions of white Australians when the subject is raised. He delves into scientific discoveries and foolhardy ventures. All in all, Australia is a much more interesting place than its lack of prominence in the nightly news would lead you to believe. And of course, being Bryson, he infused his narrative with his own signature brand of humor, that dry combination of American sarcasm and British absurdity. I always laugh out loud when reading about his attempts to body board with friends, or hearing his observations on some of that lethal wildlife. Learning and laughter–that’s what Bryson excels at. Curious about the land of kangaroos and koalas? I wholeheartedly recommend this book as an excellent starting point. This book was a personal purchase. (Description nicked from Goodreads.com.)
Everything Trump Touches Dies by Rick Wilson
Full disclosure before we get into this: I’m a registered Democrat, and as you can probably guess from that nugget of info, not a fan of our current president. One thing I try to do, though, is to seek out points of view that I may not agree with so that I have a more rounded view of things. Now admittedly, I haven’t been able to bring myself to read books by the likes of Cory Lewandowski or Newt Gingrich, but I have been trying to read books by conservative commentators who take a more neutral view of things. By doing so, I have learned a lot about the way our two major parties and their politics have evolved (or devolved in some cases) since the Nixon era and how we got to the point we’re at now. I’ve encountered critiques of the Democrats that I think have merit as well. All of this is by way of saying that no, I’m not perfect and I do have my own personal views, but I make a conscious effort to not get caught up in a liberal echo chamber. I was initially drawn to Wilson’s book not because of the title (although I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give me a snicker), but because he is described as a longtime conservative and Republican strategist. I thought that he might have interesting insights into the current state of the country that gave me a few laughs in the bargain. Goodness knows we can all use one nowadays. Sad to say, this book didn’t live up to expectations. That has nothing to do with the content, honestly; rather, it’s more a matter of how the book is written. The whole issue of “dark comedy” that the book jacket espouses never quite materializes. It’s obviously something that can be done–late night comedians do it all the time. Seth Meyers, in particular, has excelled at blending comedy with in-depth looks at current issues, often devoting up to twelve minutes to his “Closer Look” segment. In Wilson’s book, I think he was just trying too hard to be edgy. He does have some witty bits, but there were many times that I wanted him to just stop looking for superlatives and get on with the book already. On the other hand, the author does offer up some interesting food for thought on various topics. One that sticks out in my head is his statement that it seems that China’s retaliatory tariffs were aimed squarely at industries in the mid-America red states. If that’s true, that’s a fascinating tidbit of info about current global politics. I wish these little factoids had been presented a little more cleanly, simply because some of the internal structure of individual chapters sometimes gets slightly messy, but there are there to be discovered. All in all, this isn’t the worst book that I’ve read about our current political situation. There are some thought provoking ideas scattered throughout, and even…
Monkey Mind by Daniel B. Smith
“Daniel Smith’s Monkey Mind is the stunning articulation of what it is like to live with anxiety. As he travels through anxiety’s demonic layers, Smith defangs the disorder with great humor and evocatively expresses its self-destructive absurdities and painful internal coherence. Aaron Beck, the most influential doctor in modern psychotherapy, says that “Monkey Mind does…
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
“October 1991. It was “the perfect storm”–a tempest that may happen only once in a century–a nor’easter created by so rare a combination of factors that it could not possibly have been worse. Creating waves ten stories high and winds of 120 miles an hour, the storm whipped the sea to inconceivable levels few people…
The Cactus Eaters by Dan White
“The Pacific Crest Trail stretches from Mexico to Canada, a distance of 2,650 grueling, sun-scorched, bear-infested miles. When Dan White and his girlfriend announced their intention to hike it, Dan’s parents—among others—thought they were nuts. How could two people who’d never even shared an apartment together survive six months in the desert with little more…
Geek Wisdom by Stephen H. Segal (ed.)
“Computer nerds are our titans of industry; comic-book superheroes are our Hollywood idols; the Internet is our night on the town. Clearly, geeks know something about life in the 21st century that other folks don’t—something we all can learn from. Geek Wisdom takes as gospel some 200 of the most powerful and oft-cited quotes from…
Tudors by Peter Ackroyd
“Rich in detail and atmosphere and told in vivid prose, Tudors recounts the transformation of England from a settled Catholic country to a Protestant superpower. It is the story of Henry VIII’s cataclysmic break with Rome, and his relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief reign of…
Caesar’s Last Breath by Sam Kean
“It’s invisible. It’s ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell. With every breath, you literally inhale the history of the world. On the ides of March, 44 BC, Julius Caesar died of stab wounds on the Senate floor, but the story of his last breath is…