Robert Alden Rubin is a talented writer. He writes fluidly, sometimes lyrically, and always with the competence of a professional. His writing style seems to aspire to what writers call 'literary' prose. An author whose writing has literary quality is one who could write about a toilet plunger and keep the reader enthralled. The interest is in the fresh turn of phrase, the crafting of simple ideas into vivid experiences that jump off the page, the music and flow of the sentences, the emotional vice grip of the story.

Does an Appalachian Trail hike memoir lend itself to literary prose? Rubin thought he'd give it a try.

Here's the background. Robert Alden Rubin is a professional in the writing industry. He holds creative writing degrees from two colleges. He worked as an editor for a national trade publisher. He has edited a National Best Seller. But his editing job was becoming increasingly unsatisfying to him--even burdensome. It appears he was having trouble keeping up with the demands and pressures of his responsibilities. Maybe it was just a mid-life crisis, or maybe he had come up against his personal limit of competence. Or maybe the routine was just beginning to bore him. Whatever the reason, Rubin decided to quit his editing job and hike the Appalachian Trail--to embark on what he describes as a personal pilgrimage.

And not surprisingly he wrote a book about it.

The pilgrimage theme is Rubin's attempt at encasing the story in a single narrative arc. Yet by his own admission, he could never quite put his finger on what the object of that pilgrimage was supposed to be. It's not like the Hajj, where personal and community meaning is created, clarified, affirmed, and reinforced in a time-honored crescendo of spiritual energy. The AT is no Mecca, and Katahdin is no Ka'aba. The Appalachian Trail pilgrims have as many diverse reasons for making the journey as there are religions. Even on a personal level, Rubin confesses that the process of hiking doesn't lend itself to deep reflection and doesn't lead to any personal clarity. Instead it effectively forces the hiker to set aside the personal quest for the meaning of 'real life' in favor of the trail-life's much more elemental daily struggle to overcome pain, cold, hunger, thirst and exhaustion. So the over-riding narrative arc of Rubin's story comes off as less than compelling - no vice-grip here.

One of the things Rubin does relatively effectively (for a male) is to invite the reader into his emotional inner workings and the turmoil that is there. Rubin knows he is hurting his wife with his irresponsible decision to quit his job and then to physically abandon her in favor of the trail. But he just hurts too much inside to do otherwise--he has to get away. He never goes so far as to say he 'needs some space', and maybe that's my cliched interpretation, but in any case, he makes abundantly clear that he loves and misses his wife but is not willing to abandon his pilgrimage. Yet even here the emotional arc is less than riveting. Rubin and his wife have no falling out. She travels to visit him throughout the journey and he reveals that she has a good government job at which she is excelling. By the end of the book, when he has returned home but has failed to find a new job after seven months, I began to question whether he was little more than a freeloader in the relationship. So in the end, the emotional narrative doesn't endear the reader or inspire any empathy - no vice-grip here either.

On a chapter-by-chapter level Rubin alternates between direct description of his hike and a series of passages that encompass a 'bigger picture'. Many of these passages describe the psychological or cultural backdrop of the hiking experience, a few are flashbacks to his life before the trail, and many more are intended to add historical and physical context to his hike, describing the setting. There are passages about the Civil War as related to Harper's Ferry and the Mason-Dixon line, about Walt Whitman and Thoreau, about geology and the Appalachian 'Great Valley,' etc. These serve to add spice to the telling of his tale, and each such vignette is very well written. But the net effect of these digressions does not depend on the quality of the prose; and to me the fact that he goes to great effort to write them in a literary style only distracts. These passages tend to draw attention to themselves rather than blend into the story. I asked above: "Does an Appalachian Trail hike memoir lend itself to literary prose?" The answer seems to be "no".

Bottom line: 'On the Beaten Path' is a good quality book about hiking the Appalachian Trail, and the author's skill at writing prose is abundantly evident. But the disconnect between these two elements makes the whole, in this case, a little less than the sum of its parts.

My obsession with the AT has been fueled even more. Good trail narrative but I'm bummed he lost 75 pounds, then gained it all back. I'm not trying to judge, but one of the messages for the AT for me is healthy living.

I liked this book. The “philosophical” parts seemed forced at times, but I really enjoyed the story of walking the AT. I think it probably deserves a 3.5

Rhymin' Worm

the best hiking book i've ever read. also the best written travel book i've ever come across. provides great descriptions of the scenery, towns and characters encountered on an appalachian thru hike.

Most AT thruhike memoirs have this formula - start in Springer, have lots of pages about the pain of the trail, talk about the people who dropped out, have a couple thoughts about society (don't work desk jobs! don't pay taxes! hiking is great!) and get to Katahdin, often without any mention of the landscape itself.

This is not one of those memoirs.

As an AT enthusiast, this book is now my "go-to" for showing people why a thruhike is truly magical. Rubin is a great writer - it comes, in part, from his M.A. at Hollins University and his many years of work as a book editor. As a result, this book reads beautifully: it weaves through all the mountains have to offer, stops to look at the scenery nearby, and gives you all of those long contemplations that people do have about their desk jobs, and what they are running away from, on the AT. Rubin is not one to say that his thruhike is without pain, but he is the only memoirist I have read that takes the time to reflect on it, recognize it was good, and focus on the positive parts of the trail. The result is a book that is both honest about the pitfalls of thruhiker culture in the late nineties, while showing that there is beauty, self-discovery and happiness to be found on the trail. I devoured this book in one sitting (and this is as a busy graduate student) because of how important it was.

I've had this book a long time and just re-read it recently. I always love a good appalachian trail book.
Seems like I'm rereading every book in my house this year!

Having wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail I was interested in learning what one goes endures hiking for 2000 miles for 6 months. Robert Alden Rubin made is interesting and I leaned a great deal. In fact I learned that I'm not going to attempt it at my age!!! but would have liked to.

Rubin's descriptions are poetic and lyrical and he was transformed by the trip in a spiritual sense, similar to how you might feel when you see a breathtaking sunset and are in awe of the vision stretched out before you.
The author's story is just as compelling as his descriptions of the nature and travel experience. Rubin shares his confusion and guilt quitting his job and leaving his wife behind for six months. He s an example of how each hiker is transformed by the experience. He weaves his story with the stories of others he meets to explain why some people "need" to make this journey. It is not a running away from the world but a running towards something much larger and authentic.
I loved this book and may like it better than Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. Both authors were professional writers but while Bryson was sarcastic and sometimes pompous, Rubin’s writing is lyrical (His trail name was the Rhyming Worm.) and thoughtful. I didn’t want it to end.
But it did and here's his thought on why some people dream of walking the entire Appalachian Trail. "Perhaps, all along, we have been dreaming of wilderness, of that most primeval of stories. If you go to the wilderness, if you climb to the mountaintop, if you sail away to the forest savage, surely an answer will present itself." At a time when so many old stories seem hollow, something quickens in the blood when we hear of people hiking the AT. It reminds us of the stories we grew up with in our history books: Pilgrims, Oregon Trail blazers, Lewis & Clark, and Daniel Boone.
Excerpts:
“The first pilgrim to hike entire App Trail was ex-soldier from WWII in 1948 who walked to escape the horrors and his depression. By 1972 only 36 people had completed the 2,170 miles.
Hazards throughout Georgia and S & NC: breaking an ankle or leg by slipping on lichen-bearded rocks or moss-slick ledges.
The ground underfoot becomes like a character in the story of your hike, its personality changing from ridge to ridge, valley to valley.
Atop the ridge in upstate New York lies a pile of dead trees like skeletons of fallen soldiers after a battle.
Atop Mount Washington, where he camped in late September, the temps were in the 20s at night with wind at 80 mph.
Few visitors to Disney expect their lives to be changed; after they’ve been beguiled, they climb back into their cards and drive home. It’s all most of us have come to expect in the age of information and entertainment: a brief diversion. But in the woods, you find Katahdin: a real, solid, solitary and so beautiful it can break your heart

Best written book on an AT thruhike yet

Absolutely on eo fo the best books written about the Appalachian Trail.

A great narrative of one man’s walk on the Appalachian Trail. Reading this gives you real insights into the culture of the hiking community that makes this trek. Ruben’s writing style and the balance he maintains throughout this book make for an enjoyable read.