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Book: A Journey North |
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Don't beat me up, but this is another book review about someone thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. "A Journey North" is Adrienne Hal's account of what she called her "6 month date" she went on with her boyfriend. What it mainly turns into is a few anecdotes about her hike, and a lot of preaching about environmentalism. I suppose that is why it took me about two months to read a book that is only 197 pages long. Don't get me wrong. I'm worried about the future of the Appalachian Trail, endangered species, pollution, and a lot of other topics that she covers. And since she holds an M.S. in environmental studies, she is very knowledgeable about these things when she talks about them. She goes into some deep detail at times about different situations from the re-introduction of wolves to acid rain among other things. But, she seems to have spent more time writing about these things than recounting her hike which is what I wanted to hear. When I got the book, the tag "One Woman's Story of Hiking the Appalachian Trail" was what drew me in. I wanted to see what a woman's perspective to thru-hiking would be. But she only occasionally mentions a few things like crying at being dirty or cold and wanting to wear a dress. I was beginning to be really let down by the book, but she did finally cover some of her philosophy about female hikers, and some of her female oriented experiences, but for some reason transitions to discussion about religion and Earth Mother vs Monotheistic religion. Honestly I wish she had pursued the female angle on thru-hiking a lot more and left some of the environmental things at a slightly lower depth of coverage. So would I recommend the book? Well not really. I feel you can get enough information about environmental concerns from a lot of other avenues, and honestly that is what this book seems to mainly be about. If you want some insight into a female thru-hiker's perspective you may want to hope someone else writes a book. Honestly this reminded me more of a conversation with a campus activist than with a hiker.
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