When it comes to non-fiction books about hiking, hands-down my favorite book is Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods.The book is a non-fiction, humorous account of Bryson and his chubby, alcoholic friend tackling the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from from Georgia to Maine. Bryson highlights his hardships in an amusing, yet moving, way.
That said, today I came across a post on Slashfilm.com that announced Robert Redford will playing the role of Bill Bryson in the new movie adaptation of the book with Barry Levinson set to direct.
As the post states, Redford and Paul Newman were looking for a project to do together before they croaked. They both mentioned this movie as a possibility. Although it would be nice to see the duo from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid back in the theater, I have my reservations and think that they should look for a younger person to play Bryson's sidekick.
As far as Levinson is concerned, I'm a fan of his work including Diner, The Natural, Avalon, Bugsy, Wag the Dog and Bandits. He also produced the hit TV series Homicide: Life on the Streets. But, he's been known to make a couple stinkers as well including Toys and Sphere among others.
All in all, I think he's a great dialogue guy when it comes to direction and writing for males. That's why I think he's a good choice for this particular film.
On a personal note, a through-hike of the Appalachian Trail is considered a monumental achievement that's highly regarded in the hiking community. It's basically an investment of 3-8 months of your life, depending on how fast you can hike and how much you're carrying on your back.
Some hikers love the book. Other's hate it. All I can say is the book definitely motivated me to hike bits and pieces of the trail, with hopes of an eventual through-hike in my 50's or 60's.
If you haven't read A Walk in the Woods, I strongly recommend you pick it up and read it. You won't be sorry.
Now all we need is for someone to produce and direct The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, the Appalachian Trail-inspired horror novel from Stephen King.
5 comments:
I enjoyed the book, but hated the fact that they didn't thru-hike the whole trail. I'll be looking forward to the movie.
Thanks for the comment...and for giving away the book. Just kidding.
I am the owner of a collection of remote animal cameras attached to trees throughout the App. Trail. If you would like to purchase a photo of yourself hiking, come check out my collection to see if you're in there:
www.seemyselfwalkingonsomeboringtrail.com
Thanks Anonymous.
Didn't see my picture there.
I suggest you take a walk on the trail before you call it boring.
In any event, have fun sitting on your butt watching American Idol and eating pork rinds.
Is that supposed to be some kind of insult? That's like saying, "Have fun at the orgy."
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