This book makes me want to take "A Walk in the Woods" as Bill Bryson puts it. The book makes me want to live outdoors for a while, reconnect with nature, get healthier and more outdoorsy all at once. It brings the spirit of adventure that I so crave, and I want to see it fufilled. But then I remember that I'm irrevocably attached to my computer, that the internet is my lifeblood. Which may be a bit of a hyperbole, but in most senses its true. When I was born, dial-up internet was the thing and in my short lifespan, it has grown to so much more than that. To say I am anything but a baby of the Information Age would be a farce, because I was weaned on technology in and out.
Which brings me back to Bill Bryson, and the way that books transport us to another reality. I'll probably never walk the Appalacian trail, probably never spend more than a few nights under a tent, but I will always have the yearning to do so. Or at least, I'll always have the feeling that it could be possible for me. This suspension of reality is the great thing books give us, and before this class I didn't realize that nonfiction books could do that too. I thought nonfiction books were dry textbooks on whatever subject they chose, maybe greek mythology, or the anatomy of a bird, and etc. This class has opened my eyes up to how nonfiction can also be mystical and interesting, because our world is mystical and interesting. And who knows, maybe one day I'll walk a day or two on the Appalacian trail. All I know now is that its always an option, and always will be, for the rest of my life.
Which brings me back to Bill Bryson, and the way that books transport us to another reality. I'll probably never walk the Appalacian trail, probably never spend more than a few nights under a tent, but I will always have the yearning to do so. Or at least, I'll always have the feeling that it could be possible for me. This suspension of reality is the great thing books give us, and before this class I didn't realize that nonfiction books could do that too. I thought nonfiction books were dry textbooks on whatever subject they chose, maybe greek mythology, or the anatomy of a bird, and etc. This class has opened my eyes up to how nonfiction can also be mystical and interesting, because our world is mystical and interesting. And who knows, maybe one day I'll walk a day or two on the Appalacian trail. All I know now is that its always an option, and always will be, for the rest of my life.
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