Scan barcode
Reviews
Hiking Through: One Man's Journey to Peace and Freedom on the Appalachian Trail by Paul Stutzman
ereidsma's review
4.0
I was considering picking this book as a gift for my dad and decided I better read it first. Well I'm not telling what he's getting for Christmas, but the book was great. I like Paul’s writing style and could relate with his story(what mid aged guy wouldn’t want to leave the job behind and go out on a five month adventure) That said, if you’re not into backpacking then you will probably find this book very monotonous. It goes like – got up early in the morning, hiked in the rain all day and got to such-in-such shelter or hostel for the night – over and over. OK there was more to it than that. Especially how he found and heard God out on the trail was cool. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys backpacking.
duparker's review against another edition
2.0
This book was not for me. I am glad the author wrote it and was able too deal with his loss and I applaud his sense of connection with Christianity, but the overtones were to much for me to enjoy. I prefer a more Trail focused book.
kimball_hansen's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn't a fan of his story telling. I couldn't picture or map his route easily like I could with other books. And I couldn't keep track of dates at all. I liked his spiritual thoughts, though. They were fun. One thing, he's a little naive in telling God that his aim in the lightning strike was bad. Had he truly known God, he would have recognized that lightning strike was very good because it missed him. Duh.
That's neat he did this trip during summer 2008 when I was doing my cross country biking trip.
I'd hate to be with the Motormouth guy. For a short while I wouldn't mind but it would get old after a long weary day of hiking, especially if you're trying to sleep and he wouldn't shut up.
How much money did he spend? Seems like he went out to eat a lot.
"What we can't comprehend we don't need to know."
I never heard of the Long Trail before in Vermont. That'd be fun to hike.
His message about telling the world that God is coming soon was neat. I hope so.
That's interesting how he said the technology of the radio robbed him of the present.
"What if the coincidences are just God's way of talking to us?"
What does he mean by being a purest hiker.
I don't understand why Pathfinder was able to get 10 feet from the sign and then not finish. Perhaps it's similar to how I was able to do all my pilot training except the check ride.
That's neat he did this trip during summer 2008 when I was doing my cross country biking trip.
I'd hate to be with the Motormouth guy. For a short while I wouldn't mind but it would get old after a long weary day of hiking, especially if you're trying to sleep and he wouldn't shut up.
How much money did he spend? Seems like he went out to eat a lot.
"What we can't comprehend we don't need to know."
I never heard of the Long Trail before in Vermont. That'd be fun to hike.
His message about telling the world that God is coming soon was neat. I hope so.
That's interesting how he said the technology of the radio robbed him of the present.
"What if the coincidences are just God's way of talking to us?"
What does he mean by being a purest hiker.
I don't understand why Pathfinder was able to get 10 feet from the sign and then not finish. Perhaps it's similar to how I was able to do all my pilot training except the check ride.
ashleyselland's review against another edition
4.0
I think that this book was fairly good. It wasn't just about hiking the AT, but he also threw in a lot of Christianity. He explained why he did so as an evangelical thing, but I didn't realize it was going to be more than just hiking the trail. I think a lot of people might not like this aspect of the book, but it is his book and his story.
hmonkeyreads's review
2.0
I'm being generous with the three stars. I feel like I'm somewhere between 2.5 and 3 on this book. However, the problems I had are my own and mostly due to the fact that I didn't read the back cover closely before buying the book and so I wasn't prepared for how much of it is about the author's relationship with God.
I'm fascinated by long distance hiking and I have read many books on this subject. The people who tend to go on these adventures are usually driven by something other than love of the outdoors (at least the ones who decide to write books about the experience) so there is always an undercurrent of something in the books. In this case, I expected it to be about grief (author's wife had recently died) and it was but it was more about him learning to talk to God and seeing God in nature. A small dose of that is OK but by it became a bigger focus eventually.
Stutzman's writing style is easy and quick but focused mainly on where he was going to eat next. There is some description of the trail and a few photos but not as much as I would like. When he does decide to spend time talking about nature (describing fog and bad storms and even snow) I found the book excellent. Unfortunately, those times are few and far between. He also makes reference to his "purist" style of hiking. He doesn't explain much why this matters so much to him and he is quite critical and condescending of others who decide to blue blaze or slackpack sections of the trail. He comes off as completely condescending especially because it seems to me that he took a rather cushy approach to the hike -- spending many many nights in hotels in a warm, dry bed.
He spends time with other hikers, and we get to know them a bit, but I found those sections to be under developed (Marathon Man and Sailor), annoying (Fargo's words always written phoenticly so you could catch his Wisconsin accent) and mildly offensive (his efforts to "trick" the Catholic priest into saying someting incriminating about Catholicism).
Some of his religious revelations gave me insight into how so many days on the trail can change a person but by the time those came, I think I had come to dislike Stutzman enough to not appreciate them.
As I've been writing, I've decided to downgrade from three stars to two.
FYI: I'm planning to start reading "AWOL on the Appalachian Trail" by David Miller next to do a direct comparison of the two books.
I'm fascinated by long distance hiking and I have read many books on this subject. The people who tend to go on these adventures are usually driven by something other than love of the outdoors (at least the ones who decide to write books about the experience) so there is always an undercurrent of something in the books. In this case, I expected it to be about grief (author's wife had recently died) and it was but it was more about him learning to talk to God and seeing God in nature. A small dose of that is OK but by it became a bigger focus eventually.
Stutzman's writing style is easy and quick but focused mainly on where he was going to eat next. There is some description of the trail and a few photos but not as much as I would like. When he does decide to spend time talking about nature (describing fog and bad storms and even snow) I found the book excellent. Unfortunately, those times are few and far between. He also makes reference to his "purist" style of hiking. He doesn't explain much why this matters so much to him and he is quite critical and condescending of others who decide to blue blaze or slackpack sections of the trail. He comes off as completely condescending especially because it seems to me that he took a rather cushy approach to the hike -- spending many many nights in hotels in a warm, dry bed.
He spends time with other hikers, and we get to know them a bit, but I found those sections to be under developed (Marathon Man and Sailor), annoying (Fargo's words always written phoenticly so you could catch his Wisconsin accent) and mildly offensive (his efforts to "trick" the Catholic priest into saying someting incriminating about Catholicism).
Some of his religious revelations gave me insight into how so many days on the trail can change a person but by the time those came, I think I had come to dislike Stutzman enough to not appreciate them.
As I've been writing, I've decided to downgrade from three stars to two.
FYI: I'm planning to start reading "AWOL on the Appalachian Trail" by David Miller next to do a direct comparison of the two books.