TOW #8: A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson (IRB)

Bill Bryson's memoir A Walk in the Woods is so good. He finds a way to engage readers even as he rattles on about details that would normally put them to sleep. On page 90, he goes into detail about the National Park Service. He says that they have "something of a tradition of making things extinct" (90). He then goes into detail, giving facts and numbers about species extinctions. Rather than just stating the facts, Bryson introduces them with humor and irony. With a name like the National Park Service, it would not be expected that the organization hurts nature. Maybe they don't. But approaching the situation from this side, Bryson is able to pull readers in, because audiences want to hear his opinion, after his sweeping statement. Along with the National Park Service, Bill Bryson shares his low opinion of seemingly all nature organizations. He brings up facts and logistics, which prove his point that these associations actually do a lot of harm to nature that "survived in Bryce Canyon for tens of millions of years before the Park Service took and interest in them" (90). On page 91 though, he is quick to dispute this assumption saying that he, "never met a ranger who wasn't cheerful, dedicated, and generally well informed" (91). It is the actually organization that he has an issue with. Bryson's figurative language makes readers feel a connection to the novel. The author writes, "Katz was scrabbling around on his hands and knees, as if trying to pass for a mouse himself..." (96). By reading about the stupid things that Katz and Bryson do, the reader has a ton more to relate to. I definitely know there have been moments where I have done something like this in the many times that I have gone camping. I still believe that Bryson's purpose is to highlight all aspects of trail life. There is the good, the bad, the funny. And anybody that has gone camping or hiking knows that all those aspects truly are there. I would not limit readers to just seasoned campers and hikers, but I do believe that those people are better able to relate to Bryson's anecdotes. I really enjoy reading these book, and I believe that is has provided much more insight on camping than what I previously had. I am looking forward to reading some of Bill Bryson's other books, due to his humorous style.

A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson