Customer Reviews

A Season on the Appalachian Trail

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

 

 

Lynn's account of the AT class of 1996 was delightfully conversational, and the clarity of her writing gave me a unique perspective of the hikers' progress in a chronological interpretation of life on the `Trail.' Her month by month account of several hikers told the stories of not only the hikers who finished, but some of those who fell off along the way. It is necessary read for anyone contemplating the Appalachian Trail. This is a story of glory and a humility as told to the author through correspondence and Lynn's first hand interviews of hikers as she followed their progress North. -= Ed Daniels =- Pensacola, FL

This book is a mish-mash of stories about thru hikers from Georgia to Main. The author did not actually thru hike but hopped between points - Interviewing and keeping up with certain individuals along the way. When I first started reading the book I was a bit disappointed. You get the feeling of being a dispassionate observer watching a carnival of naive rookies about to "hit the trail" for a fun time. But as the book progresses the feeling becomes more serious and moving. I would recommend reading Jim Coplan's "Wild Bird Song" about his personal thru hike from Main to Georgia.

I was a little disappointed in the format of this book. Basically, the author strings together comments and observations pulled from interviews and trail registers throughout the 1996 hiking season. Some comments were certainly interesting and entertaining, but they didn't blend together very well. The epilogue, written a few years later based on interviews of some of the 1996 thru-hikers, was a little better.

This was the book I read in late march of 2001 (well, 1st edition) - right before starting the trail. It was the first that made me realize how much I was going to HURT, and that it would still be fun. I thought she did a good job of capturing the spirit and the community that forms among the thruhikers. --sugardaddy topher AT01

This book does contain a lot of information, and I think it gives the reader an idea about what life is like on the Appalachian Trail. But I didn't have that much fun reading it. I really get into reading a hiker's account of their own physical and spiritual journey, and their impressions of nature and their fellow man, and this wasn't that kind of book. I wish more through hikers would write their own story. I am always so happy when I find another such book to read. My favorite so far has been "Walking Home" by Kelly Winters. I am going to look up "Wild Bird Song", suggested by an earlier reviewer, right away!

So far this book is one of my top recommendations to friends and acquaintances who are considering a long-distance hike on the Appalachian Trail. While perhaps not as entertaining as the first half of Bill Bryson's "Walk in the Woods", or as personal an account of the trail as books written by many, that's not what this book is about. This book does an incredible job of capturing the essence of what a Thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail is like. I read it before and after my hike, and I can't say enough about how well it chronicled the experiences I shared with the class of 2002! Thanks Lynn, for a book that will sit along-side my trail journal, always.

Still a remarkably well written account of the AT, told with a journalistic eye that avoids the quixotic romanticism that plagues more individualistic, personal narratives. By drawing upon a number of sources, such as oral interviews, trail registers, and later recollections, Setzer gives a multidimensional view of the pains and glories of undertaking such a heroic endeavor. Readers, at least those concerned with both substance and style, should take into account the insightfull analysis and meditations upon mental and physical conditioning, planning, and the changes that occur in both spirit and body as the thru-hike fluctuates through days of joy and adventure, rain and pain, tedium, and unforseen challenges.

Be wary of early reviewers, despite their badge of being a hiker, thru-hiker, day-hiker, whatever. In my opinion, these reviewers actually read the book without appreciating the depth, as well as the brave and original approach Setzer undertook in trying to present a narrative quite unlike any book on the AT that has come before.

As a hiker, and I'll keep my background and experience level a secret, I suggest that those contemplating a thru-hike, or even a long distance hike on the AT, pay close attention to Setzer's objective observations. As several reviewers seemed to have gone to great pains to point out, Setzer was not a thru-hiker in '96. This, I think, is one of the great strengths of her position as a writer trying to document the thru-hiking experience. And despite the more journalistic point of view Setzer employs, the book is hardly dry as earlier reviewers have claimed. She is unencumbered in her narrative by the tiresome, often egocentric perspective of the first-person voice that permeates most thru-hiker accounts.

Those who say I haven't hiked the Trail have missed something very important about the book: it was never intended to be about me! From the beginning I resolved to keep myself and my experience out of the story. Further, those who say I didn't hike the Trail don't know that I accumulated some 400 Trail miles in collecting the comments of hikers that season, and they also discount some of the friendships I made that last until this day.

Is it the best book ever written about the AT? Probably not. But is it a true story, told by as many hikers as I could find? Yes. The reader will get perspectives from those who never wrote a book, but who hiked anyway and got wet and went hungry and hurt a heckuva a lot as they made their way to Katahdin.

Like many of the other comments, I also did not feel particularly drawn to liken to the author because he had not actually hiked the trail. This book was full of good stories that kept my attention, but would have been better coming from a 1st person point of view.

This book is a gem. The details in Lynn Setzer's book are wonderful and memorable. No one who desires to hike the AT in any depth or who merely wants to live the AT experience vicariously should miss Setzer's outstanding achievement. There may be some trail snobs out there, as one clearly learns from the book, and naturally they would be dismissive of this work, but I am confident that most in the hiking community who read this book will greatly appreciate it and be touched by its insightful and loving portrayal of hikers and their world. A joyous work!