"The Hike" by Drew Magary

This book was a disappointment. I thought I had done my due diligence and made sure this would be the epic adventure I was sure to experience. It was billed as sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. From the blurb and other reviews, it looked like it could be a magic realism jaunt to boot. But no. I was sorely mistaken, and it pains me to admit it because this was a book I selected myself, used it as a bribe for myself, made my friend buy it for me when the bribe was over, and gleefully picked it up as a chaser to a dissatisfactory previous read.

The book takes an Alice in Wonderland sort of journey through a Grimm’s Fairytales sort of woods where our main character must complete Odysseyian sort of tasks to get back home with the help of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy sort of characters, despite the mild horrors inflicted by Yokai sort of creatures. I can’t decide if this book is two or three drafts away from plausible quality or just the daydreams of someone who had a great idea after reading some Lewis Carrol, Homer, Douglas Addams, and folk tales from around the world. I do think it is more the former, though. There is so much in the story that, if you stand far away and squint a little, makes it really fantastic. I think that is why it got published; it was close enough to greatness. But there are too many instances where the story is so self-aware that you as the reader are not allowed to piece things together yourself. I do not want to be told that the story is about this man processing the grief of his real life. I want it to dawn on me whether it dawns on him. If the book is committed to absurdism, then let the audience wish Ben would realize what is going on. If the book is trying to be more serious, then don’t chicken out and just hand it to us. Craft realization slowly.

Regardless, for me this book was a flop. I tried to like it, I really wanted to like it, I chose it and was looking forward to it, but I ultimately found myself trudging through it and hoping for the end (much like Ben). Which is especially disappointing because Drew Magary is from my state, and I would have loved to support a local author who loves walks too.

Here are the reasons I would recommend this book, despite the fact that I will be giving it away:

• It would make for a great reset in a reading slump

• Vacation is for light reading and you could finish this on a couple of plane rides (I finished it on the train to NYC)

• If you like the absurd, the adventurous, the random, this is a great intersection of those things

• You may or may not find yourself imagining that you might also be on a path (it’s nice when a book leaves a pleasant aftertaste in your mouth)

• I did like the ending a lot: 9/10.

Drew, if you ever see this, I’m sorry. It's not that I didn't like the book, I was just disappointed that it was almost awesome.