Bryson - A Walk in the Woods review
Hi All,
Thought I would post a link to my review of Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.
https://jpquinton.com/2016/02/13/a-w...bryson-review/
Cheers
" The majority of A Walk in the Woods is Bryson relaying information from other books,"
"This is symptomatic of the manner in which Bryson presents his lectures. His information is to serve an agenda and his research concludes at the point where the agenda has been satisfied. The agenda appears to be primarily to provoke people to keep reading."
Interesting.
A little late for a review, eh? The book was published nineteen years ago. No offense, but I found the review rather pretentious.
"It is somewhat troubling that a writer takes on a major project lasting a period of years to finally say to his readers, ‘don’t bother, my book is all you need’."
Seriously? Where the heck did Bryson ever say or suggest such a thing?
Here's the acid test regarding writing. I read and finished all 397 pages of Bryson's book. I never made it through your review.
I finished the review. It gave me something new to think about.
I read until I reached the word "phenomenology", at which point Google took me in an entirely different direction.Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard
I guess ya didn't care for the book. Huh?
I would love to read your review of "Deliverance"!
Lol. Ted Moseby in the flesh.
Though I do disagree with a lot of your conclusions, thanks for the thoughtful review. Not sure why others are bad-mouthing your review though, seems like a lot of the same WB crew loves to pick on anything that actually has some intelligence and thought behind it.
Have you read "A sunburnt country" (might be different title down there)? Probably my favorite BB book, though "A brief history of everything" comes close.
It looks more like an attack on Bryson than a book review.
Here is my review of the book: It's very entertaining. Don't expect to learn much from it about hiking the trail. Bryson's description of his attempted thru hike is much different than thru hikers I have talked to on the trail or watched on YouTube. But he is very funny.
I'd say the OP's review is ripe for a dressing down by the likes of Roy Edroso (Alicublog) or The Rude Pundit. Or Sadly, No! Or TBogg, if he were still around. (Hey, I had to look up Ted Moseby, that reference was lost on me.)
I could do a point by point rebuttal... very tempting, could even have some fun with it, but seriously, why bother?
Can anyone explain what the last line in the review means?
"Overall however, Bryson’s work is an intellectual, rather than phenomenological one."
Even with the help of the internet to inform the limits of my vocabulary, I sincerely have no idea what the heck that means -- unless, I reject the definition of the word "phenomenological" and make up my own to fill the void of my "pre-google" ignorance.
I assumed it was April Fools joke
If not, it should be
Didnt bother to click..
If only I could have been forewarned 19 yrs ago
Anyone know where someone has recently reviewed "All Quiet on the Western Front" ?
I read it about 40 years ago, was thinking about reading it again, but not real sure I should. Looking for new opinions.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 04-02-2017 at 10:39.
I don't disagree, but it's a person's thought out opinion. As to "why bother" I would say the OP made the post to open up discussions with those that care. Those that DON'T care, such as most of the subsequent posters, indeed why bother? Because those that have responded are many of those on WB who are just looking to always express their opinion on, in this case, "not bothering" to express their opinion. Yes, I am many times in this same category.
So yea, if you're not interested in expressing counterpoints to the OP arguments, what the heck are you doing responding at all?????? Just to vent hot air. Like me.
Bored, looking to be entertained by all the verbal flatulance
Maybe because it's been hashed over thousands of times already? Not just on Whiteblaze but pretty much every other trail forum there ever was?
Reminds me of watching movies with my late father in law, who was a lifelong artist and even taught cinematography for a while. He'd always be critiquing the film as if he were Luis Bunuel or DW Griffith.
The OP's review makes a comparison to Cervantes (Don Quixote.) That's interesting, but I'm not sure how far you can go with that. Interesting to speculate whether it was a conscious literary ploy on Bryson's part. Katz is (was) real, and AWITW was not the first book featuring Bryson and Katz, nor the last. In comedy, straight man vs. foil is a common ploy. Katz gets some of the best lines, both in the book and in the movie.
Like rickb, I looked up "phenomenological" in an effort to understand the final line in the review. I might guess at what the OP might be saying, but not impressed at the big words hauled in to say it.
OP's review cites other reviews and criticisms, but curiously, does not cite interviews with Bryson. Here's one that's worth the read: http://www.townandcountrymag.com/lei...son-interview/
If one is to speak of a "right of passage" -- well, I think the proper word in that context is "rite", not "right." Just sayin'.
Here's a bit of Bryson, from that interview I linked to, above:
I'm very pleased with it in the sense that it was so hard. The thing about walking is that it's not eventful. It doesn't generate material. A long walk, a really long walk, is an exceedingly repetitious experience. I can't keep saying, "I walked all day, and I was really tired when I finished." Coming up with fresh material all the time is a real challenge.
All the time I was doing it, I remember thinking, "I don't know how I'm going to get a book out of this," because whether we'd had a good or a bad day, it was pretty much like every other day. At the time it felt like nothing much is happening. When I finally got a book out of it, I was kind of astounded.
Now THERE ya go, actual discussion of the OP's topic!Maybe because it's been hashed over thousands of times already? Not just on Whiteblaze but pretty much every other trail forum there ever was?
Reminds me of watching movies with my late father in law, who was a lifelong artist and even taught cinematography for a while. He'd always be critiquing the film as if he were Luis Bunuel or DW Griffith.
The OP's review makes a comparison to Cervantes (Don Quixote.) That's interesting, but I'm not sure how far you can go with that. Interesting to speculate whether it was a conscious literary ploy on Bryson's part. Katz is (was) real, and AWITW was not the first book featuring Bryson and Katz, nor the last. In comedy, straight man vs. foil is a common ploy. Katz gets some of the best lines, both in the book and in the movie.
Like rickb, I looked up "phenomenological" in an effort to understand the final line in the review. I might guess at what the OP might be saying, but not impressed at the big words hauled in to say it.
OP's review cites other reviews and criticisms, but curiously, does not cite interviews with Bryson. Here's one that's worth the read: http://www.townandcountrymag.com/lei...son-interview/
If one is to speak of a "right of passage" -- well, I think the proper word in that context is "rite", not "right." Just sayin'.
Here's a bit of Bryson, from that interview I linked to, above:
I'm very pleased with it in the sense that it was so hard. The thing about walking is that it's not eventful. It doesn't generate material. A long walk, a really long walk, is an exceedingly repetitious experience. I can't keep saying, "I walked all day, and I was really tired when I finished." Coming up with fresh material all the time is a real challenge.
All the time I was doing it, I remember thinking, "I don't know how I'm going to get a book out of this," because whether we'd had a good or a bad day, it was pretty much like every other day. At the time it felt like nothing much is happening. When I finally got a book out of it, I was kind of astounded.
Just as a side point: What topic HASN'T been discussed ad-nauseum on WB? I do agree, the AWITW topic does get old... but this OP was a bit different as his was at least in depth. Also FWIW, I am a huge BB fan, I've read almost all of his books (with AWITW being in the lower half of enjoyment), and yeah, I do disagree with the BB bashing in the OP's review, I think he basically doesn't "get" Bryson. I'm so much of a fan that we almost paid $100 (for two of us) to see him last fall in Denver. We had a conflict or we would have gone.
It's funny the most-selling AT book was written by the least-miles author.
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
Maybe because it was a funny, honest account by someone who actually had some cred at writing for the general public.
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