The Last Englishman: A Thru-Hiking Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail Review

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I had the opportunity to work with Keith and he has gladly shared one of his bestselling books on Amazon with me. It is such an entertaining book that I can’t recommend it enough.

You and I both know that there are seemingly limitless books in Amazon printed about trips in a different country.

Despite the mountains of books, Keith’s book stands at the peak. It has enthralled me to read through all the chapters.

PS. I am a selective reader so I tend to skip certain chapters or details that do not interest me.

Keith, whose trail name is Fozzie, has written an exciting and interesting account on his trip from Mexico to Canada. He covered every part of his trip seamlessly – the people he met, good and bad, the scenery, the towns he stayed in and re-supplied, his feelings, etc.

For someone who hasn’t been on a thru-hike, it aroused my interest and encouraged me to try it out.

Pros

Candidly written
Great overview of a thru-hike
Provided useful tips and guide for beginners like me
Easy to read
Engages readers into the story
Humor included

Cons

One of the people Fozzie met didn’t have a proper closure – leaving you to find out and to bug Fozzie about it
Descriptions of the scenery were great but would be better to have visuals

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Detailed Review

Expressiveness

The main character is the main author of the book. As a book written based on personal accounts, the author was able to describe his feelings in detail.

Fozzie even went to the extent of giving his mind a nickname, which establishes a character by itself. The author is very candid about his feelings at every stage of the trail. You can also see the transition in his state of mind at every event.

Fozzie also talked about post trail life and this leads me to think whether I am actually a suitable candidate for a thru-hiking experience.

Engagement

Each personal encounter is accurately narrated. I could create a sharp imagination of how the surrounding looks like and the interaction between Fozzie and other hikers.

There are plenty of dialogues and humor as well. For people who have done thru-hiking before, they could relate their experiences to this story.

Clarity

Although the main bulk of the story is focused on Fozzie’s experiences, there is valuable advice for other hikers out there, even for the beginners. He shared hiking tips such as hitching a ride, the type of gears suited for each environment and many others.

Fozzie also described hikers’ terms such as Trail Name, Hiker Box, Trail Angel, etc. These terms might not be familiar to people who just started hiking.

Characters

There are a lot of characters introduced in the story and Fozzie has vividly described their personalities. Even for the people whom Fozzie was not fond of, we could also understand why there were miscommunications.

Continuity

The Last Englishman is a linear narrative. Each chapter moves on to the next one in a logical manner. This also makes it easy to follow through the story.

However, there is a character that didn’t have a closure. I was wondering what happens to the character? Fozzie seemingly had a great relationship with him and they were like buddies. The story didn’t feel complete when we still don’t know what happened to him, and if he finished the hike.

Did that guy disappear? Did he went into the mountains and become a monk? That’s quite a cliffhanger there and I wished Fozzie could reveal more on that.

I’m guessing he finished the hike though.

Conclusion

Fozzie’s book deserves the bestseller title. Each personal encounter was accurately narrated, putting the readers in the main character’s shoes. It allows the readers to have a sharp imagination of how the surrounding looks like and how the conversation between the other characters went.

For someone who has not been on a thru-hike before like me, I now have a better idea of how a thru-hike generally feels like. The information is easy to digest and I learned some hiking tips along the way.

The best part I love most is how Fozzie met up with other hikers along the way, how they motivate each other along the way and how people of different personality can adapt to each other and form a strong relationship.

If you are considering the Pacific Crest Trail or even curious on how a thru-hike is like, definitely have a go at Fozzie’s book.

You can read Keith’s first book, The Journey in Between, about his 1000 mile hike on El Camino de Santiago, absolutely free just by signing up to his website.