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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
I picked this book up and then left it for a few months but upon returning to it to finish, I actually really loved it. There were definitely some standout lines and insights on friendship and love and nature. It was fun that I recognized a few places in the book
reflective
fast-paced
This was a real gem of a book. The author writes a moving memoir of his walks along the beaches of Cape Cod, trekking up Mount Katahdin and Mount Wachusett, and canoeing along the Allagash. A perfect mix of history sprinkled with a little bit of wisdom, Six Walks deserves five stars.
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I will admit that I went into this book thinking I was in for just another example of white guy nature writing, based on even older white guy nature writing. I was wrong.
Ben Shattuck is aware of his position and his privilege, and he acknowledges them up front. He’s genuine and observant and thoughtful, his writing almost poetic even in its simplicity. He seamlessly transitions from things he notices on his journeys, to quotations from Thoreau, to musings about friendship and existence, and back again.
Ben Shattuck is aware of his position and his privilege, and he acknowledges them up front. He’s genuine and observant and thoughtful, his writing almost poetic even in its simplicity. He seamlessly transitions from things he notices on his journeys, to quotations from Thoreau, to musings about friendship and existence, and back again.
It comforted me to think that technology hadn’t taken away the satisfaction of a warm house on a winter day. Fish can still be caught, fires lit. No matter how crowded our lives feel, the old ways haven’t entirely disappeared. You can still reach back for some of them. (23-24)
Also, I somehow was not aware that he is Jenny Slate’s partner?? About halfway through the book, he mentions something about meeting Jenny, and how she describes this moment in her book, Little Weirds, and my jaw physically dropped. I had no idea! And suddenly I liked him even more. I read Little Weirds maybe a year and a half ago, and seeing parts of it referenced (parts that I distinctly remembered) gave my experience of Six Walks even more dimension. It was fascinating to read Ben and Jenny’s story, which I had already been introduced to from Jenny’s perspective, from the opposite side, and see the whole thing come full circle. The way Ben writes about their relationship is just so tender and spacious. I definitely did not get teary at any point. Nope.
I once described sleep as the “necessary dark territory we enter alone”—without thinking about how irrelevant that is the moment you wake up with someone you love beside you. (249)
I highly recommend Six Walks to folks who enjoy reading about and spending time in nature, who have questioned the path their life is taking or longed to change direction without knowing how, who like a genuine and down-to-earth love story, who often ponder what it means to be human and to exist in community with others. This is a book I’ll definitely be revisiting in the future.
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Great read that literally brought me back to the wonderful peace I found going to camp in Maine as a preteen/teen - a time when I needed to find a way to know myself in the solace that nature so readily provides. Made me want to go on a hike - immediately. Calming and life-affirming read.
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced