I usually don't read memoirs. But three things made me read this one.
1. I love the concept of longish hikes and this involves the PCT(about which I have seen many documentaries).
2. It has a film adaptation and I prefer to read the book before seeing the movie.
3. It was about a badass young lady going solo.
Unlike many people who deemed the author dimwitted and cocky for setting out unprepared for the PCT, and ruining her perfectly happy marriage for silly reasons. I kind of understood why she look those decisions. Myself having encountered a low period in life when you take rash decisions and don't care about your future, I was able to relate with Cheryl. From having an abusive father, gaining a stable family and again seeing her family crumbling down with her mother's death, made Cheryl felt like losing everything she had gained.
She in this mental state indulges in adultery and feels that this distorted person she has become does not belong with her husband. She does drugs, aborts her baby and decides to hike the PCT(after just reading about it from a guidebook).
She decides to hike for about 100 days on the PCT with the journey ending on her birthday. And post that relocating to Portland, Oregon to start life afresh. Being a novice she makes many mistakes including packing too much, filling her gas cannister with the wrong fuel and choosing a pair of boots a size too small. She also vastly underestimates her budget which makes her resort to penny pinching throughout her hike. She meets fellow hikers and develops a sort of kinship with them, though they are people who wouldn't be her friends in her previous life. I especially loved Cheryl's description of the books she read on the trail and those of the landscapes she came across. Being a reader and traveler myself I loved those bits.
But Cheryl also came across as dumb and self-absorbed many times. Also she got many privileges being a solo female on the trail. So I don't like those character aspects of her that she is trying to portray herself as a strong, independent woman, but still craves those perks for being a woman.
Overall this book was a 3.9/5.
I read ths book slowly chapterwise as a part of my nighttime routine. And I felt that this helped me immerse fully into it as opposed to my usual way of reading in sprint mode.
1. I love the concept of longish hikes and this involves the PCT(about which I have seen many documentaries).
2. It has a film adaptation and I prefer to read the book before seeing the movie.
3. It was about a badass young lady going solo.
 |
| A scene from the movie |
Unlike many people who deemed the author dimwitted and cocky for setting out unprepared for the PCT, and ruining her perfectly happy marriage for silly reasons. I kind of understood why she look those decisions. Myself having encountered a low period in life when you take rash decisions and don't care about your future, I was able to relate with Cheryl. From having an abusive father, gaining a stable family and again seeing her family crumbling down with her mother's death, made Cheryl felt like losing everything she had gained.
She in this mental state indulges in adultery and feels that this distorted person she has become does not belong with her husband. She does drugs, aborts her baby and decides to hike the PCT(after just reading about it from a guidebook).
She decides to hike for about 100 days on the PCT with the journey ending on her birthday. And post that relocating to Portland, Oregon to start life afresh. Being a novice she makes many mistakes including packing too much, filling her gas cannister with the wrong fuel and choosing a pair of boots a size too small. She also vastly underestimates her budget which makes her resort to penny pinching throughout her hike. She meets fellow hikers and develops a sort of kinship with them, though they are people who wouldn't be her friends in her previous life. I especially loved Cheryl's description of the books she read on the trail and those of the landscapes she came across. Being a reader and traveler myself I loved those bits.
But Cheryl also came across as dumb and self-absorbed many times. Also she got many privileges being a solo female on the trail. So I don't like those character aspects of her that she is trying to portray herself as a strong, independent woman, but still craves those perks for being a woman.
Overall this book was a 3.9/5.
I read ths book slowly chapterwise as a part of my nighttime routine. And I felt that this helped me immerse fully into it as opposed to my usual way of reading in sprint mode.
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