I nabbed this from my house’s get rid of pile during our garage sale and read it on my train ride from Nice back to Paris.

My favorite parts: Bryson’s info-dumping about geology and science, the history of the trail and the NFS, and at times, his prose! I found many passages to be quite cleverly written and entertaining. I also enjoyed the perspective of the AT from an inexperienced hiker who wasn’t afraid to quit. That’s so much more responsible than trudging on and risking it! I also appreciated the bit about saying the completed the AT even if not in its entirety. It was an accomplishment!

My least favorite parts: Bryson and his hiking companion Katz. While there were some funny moments, the vast majority of their jokes are at others’ expense. Sure, some of the people they encounter are unlikable - like Mary Ellen - but most are simply existing, and even being annoying doesn’t justify the ridicule they’re subjected to. I found Bryson and Katz pretty repulsive in this way, especially considering they’re not without their own set of very obvious flaws. They have the vibe of your fat drunk uncle who makes an offensive joke at thanksgiving and then yells at you when you get upset. Pretty juvenile and crass!

Realized at the very end that the audiobook was actually abridged. Read by Bryson himself.

Listened to the whole book on audio in one day, which made for a lot of laughs in one day. Really enjoyed Bryson's voice, though sometimes I was a little annoyed at him. In my opinion, though he did readily admit to being out of shape and afraid of bears and intimidated about this whole adventure, he mostly came across as calm, cool, and collected, constantly having to wait patiently for Stephen.
Poor Stephen got a lot of negative commentary from Bryson. Yes, I understand that perhaps Stephen's personality was difficult and that he was not always making life easier for either of them while on the trail, but I felt like Bryson was looking down on him a bit. When the two first struck out on the trail together, I thought that they would hate each other at first and then grow to be best friends by the end, but I didn't feel like that happened, and that Bryson was ambivalent about Stephen coming back for the second portion. Stephen's heartfelt "speech" toward the end was rewarding but I didn't get the impression that Bryson's opinion of him overall was changed or that the speech made Bryson consider him a closer friend.

Also, was thinking for a long time, more than half the book, that they were actually going to do the whole trail, so when they were like "OMG we've barely moved after 6ish weeks (even though we know how many miles we've done and how many there are total), let's skip a bit." I was rather disappointed. I also felt like for most of the book, Bryson was so focused on doing the trail and keeping going that when they decided to quit in the big hard stretch, this was a disappointment. I understand, on some level, that they didn't have to do the whole thing and that what they'd done thus far was awesome, but I was a little bummed. I may try to find other books by people who've done the whole thing. Not because they had more of an achievement, but because their books may be more inspirational.

Though I enjoyed Bryson's voice and his humor (had many laugh out loud moments), I didn't get the message(s) I thought I would. Bryson took a bit of time to tell the reader about how important it is that we save the trees and the trail, this is important land/ecosystem/history!!! YES, stop shoving that down our throats, I got it.
I would have liked a little more personality--more conflict on a personal drama level between the two men, and perhaps some inspiration or deep thinking. As far as I could tell, Bryson left this part of his life with a deeper appreciation for nature and with a love for hiking.