# Books to read while living in the woods for 6 months **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 23, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326 "2006-12-23T06:23:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/21 "2006-12-23T22:56:10Z")
A good follow-up to \*Walden \* is Annie Dillard’s _Pilgirm at Tinker Creek_. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/22 "2006-12-23T23:32:52Z")
The last time I had way too much time on my hands I read Gravity’s Rainbow, and kept notes on each new character and his-her pseudonyms and connections as they came up so I was able to (get this!) follow along and _understand_ what the hell was going on. Other good candidates for this anal retentive could be Neal Stephenson’s Baroque cycle. Or Umberto Eco. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/23 "2006-12-23T23:41:14Z")
[QUOTE=newcrasher] I was going to suggest this one too. I read it in 5th grade, and have wanted to revisit it. [/QUOTE] I re-read it recently and it held up well. The only thing that bothered me when reading it as an adult was wondering what his family was thinking! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/24 "2006-12-24T00:03:53Z")
_Industrial Society and Its Future_? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/25 "2006-12-24T00:21:45Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] _Industrial Society and Its Future_? [/QUOTE] I’m going to be hiking and passing through towns often. I’ll also have a partner and we’ll see plenty of other people along the way. But since you were probably joking, :D. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/26 "2006-12-24T00:26:54Z")
[QUOTE=Motorgirl] [My Side of the Mountain](http://www.amazon.com/Side-Mountain-Jean-Craighead-George/dp/0141312424/sr=8-1/qid=1166889106/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-8590647-2926833?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Jean Craighead George, of course! It’s not big, epic, profound, or viewpoint-changing, but it _is_ about living in the woods for 6 months. [/QUOTE] Wow. I hadn’t thought about this book in damn near 40 years. Wow. Excellent bood. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/27 "2006-12-24T00:28:01Z")
Or do you say “book?” ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/28 "2006-12-24T00:29:44Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Or do you say “book?” [/QUOTE] Bood works. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/29 "2006-12-29T05:38:09Z")
Musashi - if you want a real samaurai book. really it’s about a poor kid in mediveal japan and his lifelong quest to hone his personal fighting skills. his quest goes through a lot of japanese countryside. it’s also epic length ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/30 "2006-12-29T10:51:47Z")
My husband read my favorite book aloud to me. He was hooked and then we got another friend hooked also. The book is **Trinity** by Leon Uris. It is long, but a paperback edition wouldn’t be that heavy. It takes about 150 pages for it to get a grip on you, but once it does it is totally absorbing. It’s set in Ireland in the mid and late 19th Century. It’s about Ireland’s struggle for independence. I’ve read it three times now. It is beautifully haunting. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/31 "2006-12-29T13:12:20Z")
Ayn Rand’s ATLAS SHRUGGED - go for the gusto! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/32 "2006-12-29T13:34:03Z")
Hmmm. My experience is that hikers on the AT tend to keep it as light as possible. Maybe some Spiderman comics and a Chick tract? ``` Just joking. But have you considered an MP3 player and some books on tape? That way you don't have to settle for a single book. You'd probably need a solar charger, though. Might be nice to have some tunes on the trail as well. If you want actual books, though, try Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series. Six months should take you through the whole series, I would think. ``` ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/33 "2006-12-29T15:21:17Z")
[QUOTE=chappachula] You going to do a major hike, and you want to read interminable Russian novels about war and evil? Huh? [/QUOTE] They aren’t all about that, and when they are, they mostly tend to focus on how the wars affected the Russian aristocracy. I suppose the interminable part is in the eye of the reader, but Dostoyevsky, especially, had the capability of writing some incredibly true-to-life characters. Indeed, Friedrich Nietzsche once called him “the only psychologist from whom I had anything to learn.” I still consider _The Idiot_ (which, incidentally, has nothing to do with war) to be the best novel I’ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/34 "2006-12-29T15:30:19Z")
[QUOTE=Finagle] Hmmm. My experience is that hikers on the AT tend to keep it as light as possible. Maybe some Spiderman comics and a Chick tract? ``` Just joking. But have you considered an MP3 player and some books on tape? That way you don't have to settle for a single book. You'd probably need a solar charger, though. Might be nice to have some tunes on the trail as well. If you want actual books, though, try Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series. Six months should take you through the whole series, I would think. ``` [/QUOTE] I second this…long range hikers often do things like saw the handles off their toothbrushes to save weight. War and Peace and the like are not going to be welcome weight when you get down to packing everything you need for the trek. Another thing is that if you stay at shelters, there’s often books people leave for the next hikers, etc. ---
**Author:** ![robz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@robz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robz)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/35 "2006-12-29T15:35:35Z")
I don’t really have a good book suggestion other than "Hollows, Peepers, And Highlanders: An Appalachian Mountain Ecology " . I would want to learn about the natural history of the forest and land. I can see the ridge where the Trail is on (in the distance) from where I live near Lehigh Gap. When you make it to Pa, here is a local note. Ashfield Road ( a rough dirt road), crosses the trail North of the BakeOven Knob and before Lehigh Gap. ( This is the Lehigh Gap to 309 section). If you hike down this road to rt 895 this is a convience store with a deli at the corner in Ashfield. You can get a sandwich or pizza if you want a break from trail food. There is also a small post office. What would be cool is if there was some way of knowing aprox when you pass, I could leave a book or two at the Bake Oven shelter? take care ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/36 "2006-12-29T16:27:45Z")
Forget weighty tombs (physical and intellectual). Having spent a lot of time with thru-hikers and on long distance hiking you want escapism. Most folks read mystery or adventure novels that have nothing to do with hiking. You really don’t have the intellectual reserves to tackle anything profound while on the AT. And I’ve never met a thru-hiker who liked Bryson’s book. It’s a fun read, but it has nothing to do with the real AT. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/37 "2006-12-29T17:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=Finagle] But have you considered an MP3 player and some books on tape? [/QUOTE] I dunno . . . Part of the experience of the Trail is the absence of modern distractions and listening to the symphony of nature. I’ve never been on a really long hike, so maybe it gets old after a while and you start craving some rock, but I don’t think I would enjoy it. Secondly, there are a lot of tactile pleasures which come from reading a book which can’t be replicated electronically. My idea: Take along a dog, trained beforehand to function as your book pack mule. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/38 "2006-12-29T17:19:36Z")
Hey, how about one of my favorite recent reads, [Into the Wild](http://www.amazon.com/Into-Wild-Jon-Krakauer/dp/0385486804/sr=1-2/qid=1167412452/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-0343317-2251311?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Jon Krakauer? It’s a true story about a young man who decides to abandon society to live off the land in the wilderness, isn’t heard from for months, and is never seen again, until his decomposed body is found in a… …oh. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/39 "2006-12-29T17:52:02Z")
Two more from the big fat classic novel collection: _Moby Dick_ (which has a lot to say about the relationship between man and nature) _Les Miserables_ What about _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_? I second _Into the Wild_, one of my all-time favorite reads. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Sable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@Martin\_Sable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Sable)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326/40 "2006-12-29T23:57:58Z")
If you want another epic 6-month man-against-nature journey, but with different scenery, I recommend _The Worst Journey in the World_ by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. It’s an account of the race to be the first to the South Pole. And it has penguins. Some good follow-ups to Thoreau. (They’re also slim books that won’t weigh down your backpack too much). McPhee, _Uncommon Carriers_. Short essays, one of which follows the route of a river journey Thoreau took with his brother, while poking some fun at Thoreau. Pinder, _North to Katahdin_. Asks, why do people want to walk in the woods for 6 months, anyway? And pokes a little fun at Thoreau. Abbey, _Down the River_. Funny, funny writer. Especially when he’s mercilessly poking fun at Thoreau. And for light reading completely unrelated to Thoreau, how about a novel: _Sick Puppy_, by Carl Hiaasen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-to-read-while-living-in-the-woods-for-6-months/385326.md?page=3)