Scan barcode
bookwormcat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Terminal illness
heini's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.0
"'We could just walk.'
It was a ridiculous thing to say but I said it anyway.
'Walk?'
'Yeah, just walk.'
Could Moth walk it? It was just a coastal path after all. It couldn't be that hard. And we could walk slowly, put one foot in front of the other and just follow the map. I desperately needed a map. Something to show me the way."
Book about seaside, nature, the landscapes of the South West Coast Path. About long distance walking and homelessness. About illness, age(ing), living, and not having a choice but still actively choosing.
Took some time to get used to the narrator's voice, in the end it was lovely to have had the writer as the audiobook reader too.
At times it was difficult to know who spoke, and what even was spoken out loud.
The Simon bit was hilarious.
But also sad.
Poet Simon Armitage walked a part of the path around the same time as Raynor and Moth. With different starting points and obviously different kinds of books, his journey's premise is "Along the way, he takes no money, stays with strangers, and gives poetry readings to pay his expenses." (Wikipedia)
I haven't read Armitage's book, but that summary highlights the difference of walking long distance as a poet/eccentric/bohemian or it being Cool Big Awesome Thing To Do, and the reality of the Salt Path's couple as homeless hikers who people want nothing to do with. Except when people mistake Moth for Simon.
This is not the kind of travel book with life-affirming encounters with strangers or deep spiritual awakenings. There aren't many nice people around, the towns passed by seem terrifying and the writer has been close to the nature and the "quiet" life all her life.
The hopefullness is about individuals' hope.
The "topics" of homelessness and state of nature are gross in the (UK) politics. This beautiful book highlights the unbelievable stupidity of people in power.
/Some passages I wrote down:
"Spotting didn't come. She always came to the stile for her slice of bread. Always.
As I walked around the fields for her I already knew what I was going to find. Her favorite spot under the beech trees. Her head laid out on the grass as if she was sleeping. She knew. She knew she couldn't leave her field, her place, and had simply died. Put her head on the grass, closed her eyes, and died."
"-- trying to will ourselves to take that first step. Excited. Afraid. Homeless. Fat. Dying. But at least if we make that first step we'd have somewhere to go. We'd have a purpose. And we really didn't have anything better to do at half past three on a Thursday afternoon than to start a 630 mile walk."
"I stirred the tea with odd realisation that I had no work to concern myself about. No domestic problems to be solved. I had no problems at all really. Other than that we were homeless and Moth was dying."
It was a ridiculous thing to say but I said it anyway.
'Walk?'
'Yeah, just walk.'
Could Moth walk it? It was just a coastal path after all. It couldn't be that hard. And we could walk slowly, put one foot in front of the other and just follow the map. I desperately needed a map. Something to show me the way."
Book about seaside, nature, the landscapes of the South West Coast Path. About long distance walking and homelessness. About illness, age(ing), living, and not having a choice but still actively choosing.
Took some time to get used to the narrator's voice, in the end it was lovely to have had the writer as the audiobook reader too.
At times it was difficult to know who spoke, and what even was spoken out loud.
The Simon bit was hilarious.
But also sad.
Poet Simon Armitage walked a part of the path around the same time as Raynor and Moth. With different starting points and obviously different kinds of books, his journey's premise is "Along the way, he takes no money, stays with strangers, and gives poetry readings to pay his expenses." (Wikipedia)
I haven't read Armitage's book, but that summary highlights the difference of walking long distance as a poet/eccentric/bohemian or it being Cool Big Awesome Thing To Do, and the reality of the Salt Path's couple as homeless hikers who people want nothing to do with. Except when people mistake Moth for Simon.
This is not the kind of travel book with life-affirming encounters with strangers or deep spiritual awakenings. There aren't many nice people around, the towns passed by seem terrifying and the writer has been close to the nature and the "quiet" life all her life.
The hopefullness is about individuals' hope.
The "topics" of homelessness and state of nature are gross in the (UK) politics. This beautiful book highlights the unbelievable stupidity of people in power.
/Some passages I wrote down:
"Spotting didn't come. She always came to the stile for her slice of bread. Always.
As I walked around the fields for her I already knew what I was going to find. Her favorite spot under the beech trees. Her head laid out on the grass as if she was sleeping. She knew. She knew she couldn't leave her field, her place, and had simply died. Put her head on the grass, closed her eyes, and died."
"-- trying to will ourselves to take that first step. Excited. Afraid. Homeless. Fat. Dying. But at least if we make that first step we'd have somewhere to go. We'd have a purpose. And we really didn't have anything better to do at half past three on a Thursday afternoon than to start a 630 mile walk."
"I stirred the tea with odd realisation that I had no work to concern myself about. No domestic problems to be solved. I had no problems at all really. Other than that we were homeless and Moth was dying."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Terminal illness
lma34's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, and Terminal illness
inkysplodge's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Vomit
lennie_reads's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Terminal illness
mscalls's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, and Grief
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Winn has such an evocative way of writing, when she and Moth are at their lowest on the Coast Path, hungry and filthy, you can really feel their discomfort. Which means when they carve joy out of such small moments, you can really feel that too.
It's horrendous what this couple went through and what led them to their decision to walk the 630 South West Coast Path, and I so worried for Moth's health. But the journey is inspiring and, despite some understandable despair, full of hope.
The connection with nature that Winn captures really left me craving it for myself. It's a really beautiful book and I can't wait to read more.
It's horrendous what this couple went through and what led them to their decision to walk the 630 South West Coast Path, and I so worried for Moth's health. But the journey is inspiring and, despite some understandable despair, full of hope.
The connection with nature that Winn captures really left me craving it for myself. It's a really beautiful book and I can't wait to read more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Terminal illness
lott_oh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Chronic illness
Minor: Vomit
ruthmoog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
I really enjoyed listening to this, and would recommend hearing the author narrate their journey; her accent reminded me of Victoria Wood which felt warm and familiar.
The beginning of the book is incredibly tense and difficult, but the journey is explorative and peaceful as Raynor and Moth become a part of the wilderness, rambling along and through the coast and encounters with mostly dog walkers and tea rooms ... Hugely British 😂
How Moth coped with his pain and illness was a highlight: long-term we don't discover his end of life health, but no doubt walking the path gave quality to his life despite a diet of fudge bars and noodles, for at least while they walked.
Plenty to contemplate!
The beginning of the book is incredibly tense and difficult, but the journey is explorative and peaceful as Raynor and Moth become a part of the wilderness, rambling along and through the coast and encounters with mostly dog walkers and tea rooms ... Hugely British 😂
How Moth coped with his pain and illness was a highlight: long-term we don't discover his end of life health, but no doubt walking the path gave quality to his life despite a diet of fudge bars and noodles, for at least while they walked.
Plenty to contemplate!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness and Terminal illness
Minor: Violence
Homelessness, financial difficulty, legal difficulty, trespass, nudityalice_hesse's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Terminal illness