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elizabethalley's review against another edition
3.0
I'd rate this about a 3.5. I really enjoyed reading it, especially as a lot of it aligns with how I think about experiencing places and then translating that into my paintings. If you're going to read this, you just have to do so with a grain of salt because of the way she makes declarations throughout.
It kind of petered out at the end, as I find books of this type - a dive into both history and culture with a personal slant - can do. But I still loved it overall.
This is my rating scale:
5 masterpiece
4 holy crap that's good
3 would recommend to a friend
2 not a complete waste of time
1 eh
It kind of petered out at the end, as I find books of this type - a dive into both history and culture with a personal slant - can do. But I still loved it overall.
This is my rating scale:
5 masterpiece
4 holy crap that's good
3 would recommend to a friend
2 not a complete waste of time
1 eh
klagge's review against another edition
4.0
It's interesting for me to compare this book with "On Trails," another nonfiction book about walking that I recently finished reading. To some extent, I could make the same criticism of Wanderlust that I did of OT--it attempts a sort of comprehensiveness that I'm not sure it needs to attempt, and I felt like I might have enjoyed it more as a series of articles than as a book. (Again, my completionism as a reader may be somewhat to blame.) But on the other hand, Solnit is a wonderful writer. She has an admirable ability to write about issues of justice relating to seemingly non-political topics (such as walking) without seeming at all preachy. It helps that she writes a lot from personal experiences that were clearly not specifically oriented toward writing a book, but rather just a part of the fabric of her life. I come away from her writing with a very strong feeling that she writes from the heart, though I'm sure in reality this involves a lot of hard work. Her discussions of the class- and gender-related aspects of walking as a pastime are quite compelling, and I learned about several things I didn't know of before, such as Peace Pilgrim. My only complaints would be that, later in the book, she writes rapturously about some performance art that frankly seemed very unengaging to me, and while she takes a critical eye to ideas about the virtue of walking outdoors, she seems totally uncritical of the virtue of walking in the big city; in a way, it seems like she has traded in one type of romanticism for another. But really, she's a great writer and you should read her!
shelgraves's review against another edition
5.0
Rebecca Solnit is my author crush of the year. Wanderlust does not have the lyrical inventiveness of The Faraway Nearby. It's a straightforward nonfiction read by someone who has nerded out on research — more along the lines of Solnit's "A Paradise Built in Hell," but it's fascinating nonetheless.
While I was reading it I kept wondering, "Could there really be this much to say about walking?" but there was.
And then, "Am I really interested enough to read more?" but I was (fervently highlighting passages, pausing to read Henry David Thoreau's essay "Walking" and making notes for further reading as well).
Best of all, Solnit makes a case that walking is a creative, revolutionary act. It's empowering.
If you like to walk and read and create and change the world, this book is fuel.
I've been taking a lot of long walks and my joy in them is increased since reading this book. The way I move through space, through my community, with my love — it's amazing.
"I stride along with calm, with eyes, with shoes, / with fury, with forgetfulness" — Pablo Neruda
Quotes:
"Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in the conversation together three notes suddenly making a chord."
"Exploring the world is one of the best ways of exploring the mind, and walking travels both terrains."
"So stories are travels and travels are stories."
"To write is to carve a new path through the terrain of the imagination, or to point out new features on a familiar route."
"Walking is an indicator species for various kinds of freedoms and pleasures: free time, free and alluring space, and unhindered bodies."
While I was reading it I kept wondering, "Could there really be this much to say about walking?" but there was.
And then, "Am I really interested enough to read more?" but I was (fervently highlighting passages, pausing to read Henry David Thoreau's essay "Walking" and making notes for further reading as well).
Best of all, Solnit makes a case that walking is a creative, revolutionary act. It's empowering.
If you like to walk and read and create and change the world, this book is fuel.
I've been taking a lot of long walks and my joy in them is increased since reading this book. The way I move through space, through my community, with my love — it's amazing.
"I stride along with calm, with eyes, with shoes, / with fury, with forgetfulness" — Pablo Neruda
Quotes:
"Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in the conversation together three notes suddenly making a chord."
"Exploring the world is one of the best ways of exploring the mind, and walking travels both terrains."
"So stories are travels and travels are stories."
"To write is to carve a new path through the terrain of the imagination, or to point out new features on a familiar route."
"Walking is an indicator species for various kinds of freedoms and pleasures: free time, free and alluring space, and unhindered bodies."
trishmill's review against another edition
2.0
i had wanted this to be more philosophical in a poetic way. definitely way more historical than i had anticipated. kinda felt like reading a textbook at times. the beginning chapter on the evolution of bipedalism though was great, reminded me of my human evolution phase i had at 14 years old.
leonarkr's review against another edition
4.0
I've been trying to catch up on everything Rebecca Solnit-authored that I've missed (and it's quite a bit) and discovered this gem of an exploration of walking. That's right--walking. Solnit looks at history, landscape, walking tours, social class-- I enjoyed it all.
ursulamonarch's review against another edition
I keep thinking this is such a great topic, and I like the author's works, and there's so much potential... but I haven't been a fan of the book so far.
a_garcia's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.75