OT: So they've made a movie out of one of my favorite books, "A Walk in the Woods."

[LionJim]

By Bill Bryson. Only just coming out, 45% Tomatometer. I could have told them that it wouldn't have worked, despite some potentially brilliant set pieces.

 

[smaturin]

I will still go see it, but I am not a fan of the casting. The guys are too old. Just listened to the book on tape though.

 

[paternophile]

There are two versions of the audiobook...Bryson reading anything is a treat, anyone else less memorarble...

 

[jjsocrates]

By Bill Bryson. Only just coming out, 45% Tomatometer. I could have told them that it wouldn't have worked, despite some potentially brilliant set pieces.

I'm going to guess that since the book Wild actually became a semi-decent movie, that they thought they could do a similar thing with A Walk in the Woods. Except that one was a memoir, the other a non-fiction (with a bit of a memoir/travelogue bent). So much gets lost in the translation of these books - especially books that are essentially memoirs and require lots of internal dialogue. So much of what will be lost in translation Bryson's book will be his vivid description of the trail, the history, etc. Just doesn't translate well into a movie narrative.

What they SHOULD have done, was have a 6 episode documentary-ish TV show on PBS or Discovery/Travel channel where Bill recreated his famous walk and was able to intersperse it with all the crazy history, geography, etc.

 

[PSUTENN1]

By Bill Bryson. Only just coming out, 45% Tomatometer. I could have told them that it wouldn't have worked, despite some potentially brilliant set pieces.

If you would like read a truly funny, but written by a much less known author, about through hiking the AT....check out "Walkin On The Happy Side of Misery" by J.R. "Model T" Tate. On Amazon I do believe.

I could throw a stone and hit the AT from our summer home on the NC-TENN line in Madison County, NC. I read Bill Bryson's book and agree he is a good author, but was disappointed to hear they skipped a lot of the AT when they got bored.

 

[LionJim]

If you would like read a truly funny, but written by a much less known author, about through hiking the AT....check out "Walkin On The Happy Side of Misery" by J.R. "Model T" Tate. On Amazon I do believe.

I could throw a stone and hit the AT from our summer home on the NC-TENN line in Madison County, NC. I read Bill Bryson's book and agree he is a good author, but was disappointed to hear they skipped a lot of the AT when they got bored.

They didn't get bored, they just realized that it was beyond their capabilities. There is a hysterical scene when they're in Gatlinburg and they look at a map of the AT and realize that they hadn't done a damn thing. It was just too much for them.

 

[Nitwit]

Bryson is a great writer. Read A Sunburnt County (about his travels in Australia) if you have a chance. This movie however, can't be good given the cast. Too old guys walking?