Customer Reviews

On the Beaten Path: An Appalachian Pilgrimage

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My first copy was free, but I'm going to buy more as gifts because I want this author to write more!

When I got my copy of this book at a recent booksellers convention, Robert Rubin asked me as he signed it, "So, is this a dream of yours, to hike the Appalachian Trail?" No doubt an amusing question to ask of a slightly plump, middle-aged woman exhausted after 4 hours of walking the floors, but in actuality, I had to tell him -- "Yes!"

Years ago I had a dream, to take 6 months off from work and life, and walk the Appalachian Trail, alone. There has to be more to life than working 9-to-5, I'd thought -- a sentiment Rubin shared when he made his decision to abandon job and wife for half a year. In my case, time slipped away. I grew older, with more responsibilities and limitations, and recently realized that for me, this long and lone journey isn't likely to happen. This book simultaneously put that dream to rest, while making it come as true as it can be for me.

In the beginning of the book, Rubin shares a quote you'd find at the start of the journey -- "Appalachian Trail - Georgia to Maine - A Footpath for those who seek Fellowship with the Wilderness." In this shared journal of his 6 month venture, Rubin finds just that, and more. From the start. he knows he's going on some sort of pilgrimage -- a search for meaning in his life. Though he never spells out what he found, by the end of his journey, it is clear that he has gotten where he needed to go.

Rubin is a true storyteller, weaving together day-to-day happenings with past events that put him on this path, pulling the reader in so close we are there with him as his body is put through the rigors of 2,160 miles of walking, climbing, falling (don't let hikers tell you they never fall on the Appalachian trail!), being sick and eating portable meals that eventually taste like paste. His humor shows through - I laughed outloud in several places (that's just not like me - I'm more of a silent smirker). He develops friendships with other thruhikers -- those who are hiking the trail from start to finish -- Kilgore Trout, RockDancer and many more - while struggling to assure his wife of ten years that though he's left her behind (alone at home with the dog), he will be coming back.

Hiking this trail is one of the last adventures in the United States -- it would be impossible to finish it without changing your self, to some degree. Each section has a map of the leg of the journey he's on with miles hiked, and miles to go. By the end of the book, as the 'to go' got down to less than 150, I was nearly as excited as he must have been -- almost there! Never once did I get the message from him (though others would strongly disagree) that those who don't make it all the way through are 'less than.' In fact, I find myself wondering now if I could be a "section hiker" -- for me, a month would more than meet my pilgrimage needs, while probably being the emotional and physical equivalent of Rubin's 6 month journey.

If you're a wanna be hiker, if you watch the Travel Channel, or liked watching "Survivor" for the adventure and camaraderie (before it started getting really mean), you will love this book! I'll be buying a copy for at least one of my three sons, the middle one who isn't quite sure what to do with the rest of his life. Meanwhile, I'm going to buy myself a book on short hikes on the Appalachian Trail. Anyone care to join me?

This book will inevitably be compared to Bill Bryson's recent book about hiking the Appalachian Trail, A Walk in the Woods. This book is far superior. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Walk, but it was mostly just an amusement, without any depth or real insight. Rubin's book gives a far more comprehensive and even realistic account of hiking the AT. For one thing, Rubin actually hiked the entire trail, while Bryson hiked about half--still quite an accomplishment. Bryson's hike is a lark, a way to find another topic to write about. But for Rubin, hiking the AT was far more personal and his reasons for more complicated. That's what we learn about, as we also discover the wonderful, oddball culture that makes the trail so unique.

I first saw this book erroneously placed in a book store and started reading the first page. After 40 minutes of standing and reading it, I brought it home and devoured it. It is the most enchanting chronicle of a man who does something that everyone in their lifetime thinks about doing. I have always wanted to trek the Appalachian Trail and this book has so much to offer to somebody sho has the vision of finding personal freedom.

No doubt many readers will compare this account of thruhiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine with Bill Bryson's 1996 bestseller, A WALK IN THE WOODS, but the two books are quite different. Whereas the reality of Bryson's humorous account of hiking the trail ends in boredom, disappointment, and a sense of failure, Rubin's more earnest "pilgrimage" ends with a bittersweet sense of accomplishment, mixed with fleeting fellowship along "the beaten path." I recommend reading both books. For me, however, Rubin better succeeds in bringing his Appalachian Trail experience to life.

"I've done it," Rubin writes, as he starts his six-month hike of the trail, "--gotten clean away. I'm no longer the husband kissing his wife goodbye, an embarrassing midlife spectacle to friends and family. I'm the Rhymin' Worm, solitary pilgrim" (p. 9). Like most thruhikers looking for something missing from life, 38-year-old Rubin walks the trail for "some time to think," and to leave behind all the "obligations" and the "minute-by-minute demands of work" (p. 40), and somewhat sadly, his home without feeling--"not love, not compassion, not happiness, not pride, not excitement, only anger and remorse" (p. 182).

Rubin learns, while hiking the trail, that each day passes "deliberately, unfolding slowly, and in detail, like a stop-action film of a flower blooming" (p. 55), a valuable discovery in itself. Along the way, he experiences "Fellowship with the Wilderness," and unexpectedly encounters plenty of bad weather, bears, snakes, a moose, a naked hiker, a burned Bible, Walt Whitman, blistered feet, and bad karma. He also enjoys the companionship of a truly memorable cast of fellow hikers, RockDancer, Trail Snail, Fiddlehead, Happy Feet, Loon, Tonic, Lost Soul, and Time to Fly.

My only criticism of Rubin's book is that it ends with a few off-trail loose ends. But I enjoyed this book so much I was sorry to reach the end of THE BEATEN PATH.

G. Merritt

I recently completed reading "On the Beaten Path" by Robert Rubin. It is a (recent) release about an Appalachian thruhike pilgrimage. You have probably read other journals if considering walking the 2100 mile journey but I am sure you won't find one better. It is not a "how to" book. Rather, his prose are that of a trained writer which makes reading the journal swift and entertaining. Rubin somehow doesn't write much about his gear not unlike a surgeon omitting comments about a particular scalpel. Being a gear addict, I was dissappointed because of this omission but accepted the fact that his load was just plain heavy. Rubin does write of the heavy feeling in his heart as each step takes him further and further from his wife but closer to his ultimate goal of completing the trail.

I never really considered thruhiking the Appalachian Trail. Too many sacrifices and excuses at this stage of my life. Robert Rubin felt the same way but one day realized he needed to do something meaningful for himself. I may not ever find myself on Springer Mountain in Georgia where the trail commences but after reading this delightful book, I will always look at thruhikers with a renewed amount of respect. - John

Both my wife and self have just finished this book, and highly recommend it to all who are intereted in hiking and/or the AT, and we believe it is excellent first rate reading. Robert Rubin reveals the human side of man, the real life stresses which resulted in his need to walk this walk, and the conflict created in doing it, and leaving all behind until he's finished.

We absolutely disagree with the very pious and judgemental thoughts of person who wrote, "Bryson says it better". As much as I enjoyed Brysons, A Walk In The Woods, and thought it an excellent and humourous read, Rubin finished his AT walk, which unfortunately Bill Bryson did not. Both left wives behind, so what's the difference. Rubens walk no doubt strengthened him and maybe brought him and his wife closer together. Leaving wife and home behind for six months to walk the beaten path was no doubt hard, and caused it's share of stesses and anguish. In Rhymin Worm's case, this walk seemed to be just the therapy he needed to sort out the conflicts of mid life, and he had one hell of an adventure along the way in doing it.

All in all, good sence of humour, great adventure, excellent reading, and if I could give it six stars I would. This book is very well written, and kept us riveted to the last page. Both thumbs up from down under, "New Zealand".

This is a good book that lets you not only see what a thru-hiker sees, but also feel what a thru-hiker feels. It is very well written too. Rueben, being a former editor, knows where to stop and what to cut out from a book (sometimes this is not as easy to do as it seems). Rueben's "pilgrimage" is as much a personal, even spiritual journey as it is a physical one.

It is not fair to even mention this book in the same sentence with Bryson's. Rueben's hike, as well as his book, is a much more sincere effort. For one thing, he hiked the whole AT. For another, he hiked the AT because it was a pilgrimage for him, not because he just wanted to get some material for his next book. Bryson, on the other hand, only finished less than 40% of the AT, and he wanted nothing but just some material for his next book. Rueben's journey is a triumph whereas Bryson's is a failure. Rueben is consistent throughout his book in writing and storytelling, whereas the second half of Bryson's book ultimately falls into some random, chaotic and awkwardly put together bits and pieces (can you say hypothermia?)

Comparing this book with those of Colin Fletcher who certainly had some long hikes would be more appropriate. There are two differences between the two (over-simplifyingly): 1. Rueben is a better writer and editor, while Fletcher goes on and on and on, Rueben knows how to write a compact yet insightful book; 2. Fletch is a true naturalist and truly enjoys the outdoors, whereas for Rueben, the hike was just a vehicle on which he hopes to carry out his personal and spiritual search.

As a semi-serious "section" hiker (i.e., more than a day-hiker, but not quite a thru-hiker), I've found that there is very little hiking literature that "speaks" to me.

Oh, sure, I can certainly find books to tell me what kind of pack and boots to buy or to help me choose what trails to walk. And, there are plenty of books filled with trail wisdom from those who have met the challenge of thru-hiking the AT.

But, I have yearned for a book that would help me to understand the mental and spiritual side of Everyman "making the long walk."

Not since Earl Shaffer's "Walking with Spring" and Taylor Morris' "Walk of the Conscious Ants" have I enjoyed a hiking book so much.

Many will look to compare Rubin's book to Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods." Bryson's book was well-written and beyond funny, that's for sure, and it served to introduce many a soul to the trail I love so much.

But, I feel more a kinship with Rubin...

Rubin's book was well-written, honest, and exciting. It put me "on the beaten path" next to the author. I couldn't put it down.

The scope of this book might have been a little broad for me. I've been trying for a couple of days to figure out what my problem with the book was, and can't come up with a good enough answer to drop my rating. I think perhaps Rubin covers a lot more ground (ahem) than I would have liked, and none of it particularly thoroughly. This is not a personal journal, probing into profound issues of relationships or the human psyche. It's not an environmental manifesto, a meditation on the beauty of the Appalachians, a nuts-and-bolts description of the mechanics of trail life, or an investigation of the personalities who undertake a thruhike. Rubin's book is, instead, a pretty straightforward diary of the trip, honest but superficial on personal matters, hit-and-miss on interpersonal matters, and pretty spare on natural matters.

But here's why I think I'm missing the, errr, boot on this one: This is not a book by, about, or for those "reacreational backpackers" Rubin seems to hold in mild disdain (not to worry: he holds himself and everyone else in mild disdain, as well). I am one of those recreational backpackers, and this book didn't deliver the kind of stuff I would have preferred. A more focused treatment might have been easier for me to like--an AT version of version of one of Colin Fletcher's journals, maybe, or a Tracy Kidder-style profile of a set of thruhikers would have been more engaging. But that's not what Rubin was writing, and I can hardly fault him for not writing the book I wanted to read.

What he did write is a very well-written, complete, well-paced, largely thorough narrative about his hike. I like the fact that he could never fully describe the reason or result that made this a "pilgrimage," because sometimes life lessons don't serve themselves up like that. I like Rubin's self-effacing honesty, because in it I recognized where I could be personally and professionally in years to come. I rather suspect I might like Rubin himself. And while I didn't love the book, I did like it, and I'll heartily recommend it to anyone with an open mind about what a trail journal can be.

(Note for the author/publisher: in the paperback, add a postscript explaining how Rubin ended up working for the AT Conference. The absence of that detail made me nuts.)

Bryson's book was comedy. Rubin's book is reality. Each is a worthwhile read, but for different reasons. Rubin has captured the essence and magnitude of a long distance hike, including plenty of humor. Bryson did what Bryson does, exaggerate his perceptions and make people laugh out loud. If pure fun and laughter are your goals, go read Bryson. If you want a personal peek inside a real thruhike, follow Rhymin' Worm from GA-ME. While his occasional mention of job and marital woes may be distracting for some readers intent on the guts of the hike, such thoughts and emotions are indeed typical of the stuff which stirs in a thruhiker's mind during the seemingly-endless, thousand-plus hours he or she is striding the trail. This book is well-crafted, and gives the reader an authentic look inside the thruhike experience.