The Wild Birds' Song: Hiking South on the Appalachian Trail by Jim Coplen
183 pages
Published 1998
Read January 8
Rating: ★★½ out of 5
In a time when hiking videos, some of good quality, document thru-hikes of various long trails, is there really any point to the long-distance hiking narrative anymore? Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods made a fine comic spectacle of it, Cheryl Strayed's Wild made an Oprah-ready memoir of recovery out of it, Dan White made us stare at his ex-girlfriend's ass in The Cactus Eaters -- but is there any need, now, for a backpacking tale that isn't buttressed by some pseudo-literary gimmick? After spending last autumn, and the winter so far, watching countless hours of hiking on YouTube, courtesy of the likes of Will "Red Beard" Wood and Joe Brewer, I'm no longer convinced that books like The Wild Birds' Song serve a purpose, not when I can get my daydream fix with GoPro color and sound.
I'm sure this book must have been more of a novelty when it was published. Heck, even two years ago, this would have been more of a novelty for me, personally. It's no fault of Coplen's that his narrative now seems flimsy and inessential, a mildly diverting way to spend the evening and little more. Back when this was written, a book like this was probably the only way most people could have a taste of day-to-day life on the Appalachian Trail. Now that we have people carting untold numbers of gizmos through the woods, a vlog (or a video diary -- does anyone say "vlog" anymore? is that a failed neologism?) is a much better fit for the vicarious thru-hike experience, which makes a book like this something of a quaint little relic.
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