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edtkeith's review against another edition
Boring, no coherent narrative, no characher development, uninspiring
megdvs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Macfarlane’s prose is beautiful as always and his love for the walks he goes on shines through. This deserves to be read slowly. I enjoyed the range of characters Macfarlane meets throughout his travels, who bring the book alive. I also thought the parts in Edward’s Thomas were moving. My only complaint is that the quality of the chapters is slightly inconsistent, some are incredibly strong and evocative, others don’t quite reach that same high standard.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
gwit's review against another edition
5.0
The old ways, before us. (Re)Tracing. Peripatetic excavation of mind-matter. Past criss-crossing present. We make the path by walking.
haroldhv's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Has to be read slowly unless you know all about botany, geology and physics!
redheadreading's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
Reading the first few chapters I thought this was going to be a new favourite because I loved the meditations on walking, on how landscapes change us just as much as we change them, on linguistics and poetry and more.
Unfortunately, whilst some chapters were super strong others really weren't. I'm not overly interested in the poet he loves so the biographical elements there were a bit dull. Didn't care at all for the chapter focused on the guy who bought a human skeleton for art purposes (explicitly through deceit!) and kills and eats loads of birds (?). Some of the travelling abroad chapters veer a bit into viewing landscapes as quite barbaric in a way that carries some real implications.
I was really moved reading the chapter on Ramallah, thinking about how even those discussions of walking as a dangerous and lost act will have only gotten worse by now. There is a moment in that chapter that feels incredibly disrespectful, when an older Palestinian woman is telling him about writing to President Reagan, he says "I stopped listening" and then goes on a waffley thought anecdote about the etymology of a word. Rude!!
Unfortunately, whilst some chapters were super strong others really weren't. I'm not overly interested in the poet he loves so the biographical elements there were a bit dull. Didn't care at all for the chapter focused on the guy who bought a human skeleton for art purposes (explicitly through deceit!) and kills and eats loads of birds (?). Some of the travelling abroad chapters veer a bit into viewing landscapes as quite barbaric in a way that carries some real implications.
I was really moved reading the chapter on Ramallah, thinking about how even those discussions of walking as a dangerous and lost act will have only gotten worse by now. There is a moment in that chapter that feels incredibly disrespectful, when an older Palestinian woman is telling him about writing to President Reagan, he says "I stopped listening" and then goes on a waffley thought anecdote about the etymology of a word. Rude!!
katyab's review against another edition
4.0
"Landscape and nature are not there simply to be gazed at; no, they press hard upon and into our bodies and minds, complexly affect our moods, our sensibilities."
I think Robert Macfarlane's philosophy is my kind of philosophy. There's just a way he expresses a feeling, or a sight, or an experience, or a thought, that is so precise and powerful that it just leaves me itching to get out of the damn house. He might be more experienced than me in terms of long-distance walking and extreme mountaineering and wild camping etc, but the way he writes about it makes it seem like the easiest thing in the world. Even when he's walking on one of the most dangerous pathways in Britain, with the risk of fast-incoming tide just on the horizon, or experiencing severe altitude sickness and freezing cold on the side of a mountain in Tibet... he tends to draw your attention back to how peaceful he feels, or how amazed he is by the landscape or a random event. Hell, there were some scary moments in Chanctonbury Ring and the Grey Corries where I was nervous to continue, but I had to because of how devilishly enticing it was.
And I think the fact that he has a lot of these adventures with other people is great; there's something different about walking with someone and seeing something together. He's got a lot of thoughts to share, and the people he's with often come out with some gems. For example, I love Steve Dilworth, even if he mostly (significantly) scares me:
"Had he eaten [...] swan? Steve's face lit up. Memories were whirring across his inner eye like an old home movie, and he told me a story that I can't repeat here - swan-murder still carrying a substantial penalty - involving a pigskin mannequin, an electric chair, two swans, a fireplace and an estate agent."
...jesus WTF.
Also, I think it helped that I had Roy McMillan's voice in my head when I read this, courtesy of the audiobooks. However, I think that, because this was the first time I was reading Macfarlane in print, I found it a little difficult to concentrate sometimes. I don't know, something about Roy's voice really hooks me.
Anyway, this was a wonderful read, and now I want to walk for miles and miles. :)
I think Robert Macfarlane's philosophy is my kind of philosophy. There's just a way he expresses a feeling, or a sight, or an experience, or a thought, that is so precise and powerful that it just leaves me itching to get out of the damn house. He might be more experienced than me in terms of long-distance walking and extreme mountaineering and wild camping etc, but the way he writes about it makes it seem like the easiest thing in the world. Even when he's walking on one of the most dangerous pathways in Britain, with the risk of fast-incoming tide just on the horizon, or experiencing severe altitude sickness and freezing cold on the side of a mountain in Tibet... he tends to draw your attention back to how peaceful he feels, or how amazed he is by the landscape or a random event. Hell, there were some scary moments in Chanctonbury Ring and the Grey Corries where I was nervous to continue, but I had to because of how devilishly enticing it was.
And I think the fact that he has a lot of these adventures with other people is great; there's something different about walking with someone and seeing something together. He's got a lot of thoughts to share, and the people he's with often come out with some gems. For example, I love Steve Dilworth, even if he mostly (significantly) scares me:
"Had he eaten [...] swan? Steve's face lit up. Memories were whirring across his inner eye like an old home movie, and he told me a story that I can't repeat here - swan-murder still carrying a substantial penalty - involving a pigskin mannequin, an electric chair, two swans, a fireplace and an estate agent."
...jesus WTF.
Also, I think it helped that I had Roy McMillan's voice in my head when I read this, courtesy of the audiobooks. However, I think that, because this was the first time I was reading Macfarlane in print, I found it a little difficult to concentrate sometimes. I don't know, something about Roy's voice really hooks me.
Anyway, this was a wonderful read, and now I want to walk for miles and miles. :)
bart_gunn's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful book, beautiful prose. Complete transcendence into each of the environments Macfarlane treks. Look forward to tracking down his previous two books now.