Adventure

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.

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Too much religion. Just too much Christianity. The author is shocked that he gets along with a Catholic priest--that kind of Christianity. I am completely lost as to why the subtitle does not reflect this, especially has he tries to convince the reader that God talks to him (and you too! just listen!). GAH.

The hiking parts (other than when he thinks God is talking to him) are pretty good. I find it fascinating that so many middle aged men head out on the trail after their wives have died. As a woman who really wants to do a thru hike (and whose husband has no interest)--did their wives not like hiking, or not like anything more than a day hike, so this vague dream came forward when they were at a loss as to what to do? Or do they all not think this is for women? Other than 1 overnight hiker who came in high heels and people from a few church groups, Stutzman mentions no female hikers. None. I know male thru hikers outnumber women by a lot--but what about section hikers? No women really?

And how can he have spent 25 years in the restaurant business yet have no idea about "pasta and beans" in soup? Minestrone? Or pasta fagioli? (p 286). He thinks it's weird--too Catholic maybe?

And why the racing? I appreciate he likes the sounds and sights of nature (or God, as he says) and enjoys hiking without headphones to hear what's out there. So why does he race to Maine, 20 miles on many days? He was not racing winter, or a scheduled break from work, he just wanted to get there faster? This was not clear to me. ( )

Paul Stutzman (he has a web site) was a restaurant manager in Ohio and a liberal Mennonite when his wife died of cancer. He had to find himself in life and with respect to what is ultimate, in his estimation God, when she was gone. He had thought for years that he might hike the Appalachian Trail from one end to the other. His loss led him to do it. His book Hiking Through tells that story.

I am not a Christian, but I am a God-fearer. At first I found his theology facile, but then, though it is different from mine, I saw that it was genuine and suspected we had an important tale here, despite his corny humor and his occasional lack of depth. He and his wife had leaned on the 91st Psalm which essentially guarantees protection by God of people who accept His protection; I don't know the Psalms well and had to look it up when I finished the book. He did succeed at his hike, at finding the importance of other people as ends, and at growing closer to God.

I think even a non-believer could find out about acceptance from this book.

I recommend this book except to people whose antipathy to Christianity is overwhelming. ( )

Paul Stutzman decides to hike the AT after the death of his wife from cancer. I enjoyed the book, learning about some of the facts of the trail, knowing I don't think I could ever complete something like this. I admire him for that. I am not religious, so I didn't need some of the religious talk so much. BUT whatever helps the man get through...more power too him. I would/have recommended this book to friends. ( )