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A review by shelgraves
Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit
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."