[pct-l] Books for tent reading

[m_factor at hotmail.com (Mara Factor)]

Two books:

"The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz.  It's the incredible story of a Polish 
cavalry officer, caught between two sides, who is caught by the Russians, 
put in the Gulag and force marched to Siberia where he and a few others 
escape by walking south through Siberia, the Gobi, and the Himalayas to 
India.

I rarely reread books and this is one I think I've read three times now.  
I've bought the book about six times because I keep "lending" it out and it 
never comes back.

"Rabbit Proof Fence."  Here's what I wrote in an earlier email to the list:

"I heard about the movie, "Rabbit-Proof Fence" when I was in Australia but 
didn't have the opportunity to see it while I was there.  I wanted to see it 
both to find out more about the Stolen Generations and to see the footage of 
Australia.  I didn't realize that it might also be of interest to
long-distance hikers.

For those of you who like books like Slavomir Rawicz's "The Long Walk" and 
other stories of long walks, this movie is for you.  If you prefer to read, 
Rabbit-Proof Fence is based on a book of the same name by Doris Pilkington 
and Nugi Garimara.  I definitely want to read the book.

>From the 1930s to the 1970s, a government edict pulled aboriginal children 
from their homes to be educated and assimilated into white society.  These 
people became known collectively as "The Stolen Generations."  Rabbit-Proof 
Fence is the story of three children pulled from their family, and how they 
escaped their settlement to walk over 1200 miles through the Australian 
desert to get home.

Like The Long Walk, Rabbit-Proof Fence makes our own long-distance hiking 
seem like a walk in the park."

I still haven't read the book.  One of these years...

Just last year, I added a page to my web site with book reviews.  Neither of 
these are reviewed there but quite a few other "adventure" books are 
reviewed there.  In addition to a few long walk books and a bunch of books 
that came out after the 1996 Everest tragedy, there's a review of Leopold's 
"A Sand Country Almanac", a book about the first non-stop, non-refueled, 
flight around the world, and a Mexican caving expedition.

You can find the reviews at

http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor/bookreviews.htm

Mara

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit my Travels and Trails web site at:

http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



>From: light_of_aton@mindspring.com
>Reply-To: light_of_aton@mindspring.com
>To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>Subject: [pct-l] Books for tent reading
>Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:34:27 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
>
>I'm looking for names of books that would be good reading while 
>backpacking.  I would prefer a paperback for obvious reasons, something not 
>too scary or too sappy would be good.  Something funny, or romantic would 
>be acceptable as well.  Of course, subjects of hiking and wilderness travel 
>are always top of the list.
>
>My husband and I will be reading this book to each other over a 1 week 
>trip.  Planning a trip along the North Coast Wilderness trail, Olympic 
>National Park, end of March.  With long nights still in effect (7p-6a) of 
>darkness, we will be spending more time in the tent than sleeping 
>procludes.
>
>Have read "Ecotopia" by Ernest Callenbach with good results, and am 
>listening to "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson which is going well.  
>This general genre or similar would work well for me.
>
>Any and all tips/suggestions are welcomed.
>
>Terriann (Drag-n-fly)
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