Mini Reviews: A Pearl In The Storm || A Walk In The Woods

A Pearl In The Storm: How I Found My Heart In The Middle Of The Ocean by Tori Murden McClure

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 304

Publication date: April 2009

In June 1998, Tori McClure began rowing across the Atlantic Ocean solo in a twenty-three-foot plywood boat with no motor or sail. Within days she lost all communication with shore but decided to forge ahead—not knowing that 1998 would turn out to be the worst hurricane season on record in the North Atlantic. When she was nearly killed by a series of violent storms, Tori was forced to signal for help and head home in what felt like disgrace. But then her life changed in unexpected ways. She was hired by Muhammad Ali, who told her she did not want to be known as the woman who "almost" rowed across the Atlantic.

Likes: Some people are nuts. I understand having ambitious goals, but rowing a plywood boat through hurricanes? Nope. No thank you. That’s just plain crazy.

This is the type of adventure story I would have adored as a young teen. Pretty much all of the books I read were “person does something extreme in the wilderness” stories. Rowing a boat across the Atlantic definitely counts as extreme. She actually rowed. Like, with her arms. Her boat had no other source of power. Just her body. That’s hard to wrap my lazy mind around.

The author is a badass. When she set out to cross the ocean, she was only a few years older than I am now. Rowing across an ocean wasn’t her first accomplishment. She had also skied to the South Pole, climbed mountains, traveled around the world, become a chaplain and a lawyer, and had a series of fairly awesome jobs. I’m impressed. Most days, I can’t find the motivation to put on pants and leave the house.

This memoir is a quick read. I read the majority of it in one night. It’s fast-paced, kind of funny, and kind of terrifying. There were moments when I didn’t want to put the book down. I stayed up until 2 in the morning to read the hurricane scenes. I knew that Tori would survive (because she wrote this book and because I’ve met her in real life), but I didn’t know how she’d survive. She was trapped in a tiny boat during a hurricane! How could anyone live through that?

“First the bad news. I am 980 miles from shore in a half-submerged boat without engine or sail. My body has been beaten to a bloody pulp. I have precisely one liter of fresh water. The good news is that I am alive.” - A Pearl In The Storm

Dislikes: Tori spends most of her ocean journey rowing, so the book gets repetitive quickly. There are flashbacks to other parts of her life, but those are repetitive, too, especially in the beginning. I struggled to get into the story because it was all scenes of boat rowing or scenes of child-aged Tori beating up kids at her elementary school. I wanted more variety.

This is going to sound mean, but Tori comes across as pretentious. She screamed long Shakespeare monologues at the waves during a hurricane. I (mostly) liked her, but I could imagine a lot of readers rolling their eyes.

The Bottom Line: If you like real-life adventure stories, I recommend giving this one a try.

A Walk In The Woods: Rediscovering America On The Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 284

Publication date: 1997

Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes—and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.

For a start there's the gloriously out-of-shape Stephen Katz, a buddy from Iowa along for the walk. Despite Katz's overwhelming desire to find cozy restaurants, he and Bryson eventually settle into their stride, and while on the trail they meet a bizarre assortment of hilarious characters. But A Walk in the Woods is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike. Bryson's acute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America's last great wilderness.

Likes: One of my goals in life is to do a long through hike, like the Appalachian Trail. When I heard that there was a book about someone doing that, I knew I had to read it.

If you’re a hiker, you’ll be able to relate to Bryson’s story. It’s very funny at times. I laughed especially hard when Bryson went to the camping store and spent too much money. I’ve had that experience. You walk in there, say you’re going on a trip, and they shove a bunch of overpriced junk into your arms. Why is everything so expensive? Why do I even need this stuff?

This book is part travelogue, part history lesson. I didn’t know much about the Appalachian Trail or why it exists, so I enjoyed reading about it. Learning about the American government is always a depressing experience. The people in charge of protecting nature are often the ones who do the most to destroy it. The author has some accurate observations about hiking in the wilderness and how it changes the way you see the world.

“Distance changes utterly when you take the world on foot. A mile becomes a long way, two miles literally considerable, ten miles whopping, fifty miles at the very limits of conception. The world, you realize, is enormous in a way that only you and a small community of fellow hikers know.” – A Walk In The Woods

Dislikes: Whenever the hiking becomes difficult, the author and his friend quit and hitchhike to an easier part of the trail. That’s hilarious, but it also changes the focus of the book in a disappointing way. The first part is about hiking. I liked that. When Bryson starts hitchhiking, it becomes a book about tourism. He drives to a place, gives us a history lesson, drives to a new place, repeat. I wanted to read about hiking!

Bryson is kind of a jerk. To be fair, I’ve encountered many obnoxious weirdos in the forest, but why is the author so mean to them? He’s an overweight, under-prepared hiker. Why is he judging people who are just like him?

I’m not a wilderness expert (and I don’t think Bryson claims to be), but I’ve spent a chunk of my life in various forests. I cringed at some of Bryson’s observations. He wastes a lot of pages blathering about bear attacks, which are rare. Then he says that moose aren’t dangerous. Um . . . maybe he should look up statistics about which animals injure the most people.

The Bottom Line: Entertaining, funny, and quick to read, but I was disappointed by the lack of hiking.