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milo10000's review
informative
medium-paced
2.0
Extremely okay. Appalachian Odyssey is, like the single other reviewer for this book mentioned, surface-level in its narrative, and I didn't find the writing itself as enjoyable as they did. There's only so many times I can read "we went to this feature and looked around and decided it was better to be on our own" before it gets tiring.
liralen's review
3.0
Sherman and Older hiked the Appalachian Trail in the 70s, when only a handful of people had completed the thru-hike—155 men and 24 women (p. 178). For those who have read other thru-hike memoirs, this is largely interesting as a product and representation of its time. It's the little things: that it's completely natural to them to hike in jeans and sweatshirts and cotton T-shirts, that they make no mention of a water filter, that there are periodic mentions of Watergate, that they send and receive plenty of mail. (Although we'd now consider their equipment very low-tech, they did have quite lightweight backpacks.)
In other respects this is somewhat less interesting, as the two authors remain firmly in the first-person plural: we did this, we saw that. Every so often they'll note something specific to one author or the other, but it's always an action rather than a thought. Who are they outside the hike? It's not for the reader to know. Do they miss family, friends? Again, not for the reader to know. Do they ever doubt that they'll make it? Perhaps not—they don't seem to suffer from a lack of confidence—but the reader cannot be certain.
Instead it's a description- and observation-heavy book. Lots of mountain, lots of path, the occasional person (though they seem to have been happiest without additional company). The odd bit of cultural commentary that still feels relevant: Those who were kindest to us and most understanding were not white collar workers with high income and education, but the middle class construction and factory people. Invariably, the latter gave us rides into towns to re-provision. Rare was the occasion when someone in a business suit picked us up, and although we traveled as a couple, no woman had yet chanced us and our packs (104–105).
Plus ça change and all that. I wouldn't recommend this as an intro to AT memoirs, but it made for a reasonably satisfying read.
In other respects this is somewhat less interesting, as the two authors remain firmly in the first-person plural: we did this, we saw that. Every so often they'll note something specific to one author or the other, but it's always an action rather than a thought. Who are they outside the hike? It's not for the reader to know. Do they miss family, friends? Again, not for the reader to know. Do they ever doubt that they'll make it? Perhaps not—they don't seem to suffer from a lack of confidence—but the reader cannot be certain.
Instead it's a description- and observation-heavy book. Lots of mountain, lots of path, the occasional person (though they seem to have been happiest without additional company). The odd bit of cultural commentary that still feels relevant: Those who were kindest to us and most understanding were not white collar workers with high income and education, but the middle class construction and factory people. Invariably, the latter gave us rides into towns to re-provision. Rare was the occasion when someone in a business suit picked us up, and although we traveled as a couple, no woman had yet chanced us and our packs (104–105).
Plus ça change and all that. I wouldn't recommend this as an intro to AT memoirs, but it made for a reasonably satisfying read.
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