If you are still looking for a late Christmas Present or need some help on how to spend any book tokens (do they still exist?), "The Old Ways" by Robert Macfarlane may be for you. It is best enjoyed while sitting by the fire with the book in one hand and a glass of single malt in the other.
I have to admit that it appealed to me from the start because he describes two walks very near where I used to live just outside Cambridge, but I suspect that the feeling of being reminded of familiar places will also echo with many other bushcrafters and walkers. He has the gift of making places one has never been to seem familiar through the vividness of his writing.
Macfarlane articulates what it feels like experience the joy of lonely places- including those not far from the crowded ones. It helps that the English he usesand examples he chooses are informed by his wide knowledge of his predecessors among poets and artists. His joy in the company of those who live and work in the wilder places is apparent and he uses their voices to share their knowledge with us.
In my opinion, The Old Ways is even better than his previous books, "Mountains of the Mind" and "The Wild Places", both of which I highly recommend. The only gripe I had is that I felt the urge to follow his path on a small-scale map, but this meant getting up out of the chair to find one!
No connection with the author: I've never met him, but wish I had.
I have to admit that it appealed to me from the start because he describes two walks very near where I used to live just outside Cambridge, but I suspect that the feeling of being reminded of familiar places will also echo with many other bushcrafters and walkers. He has the gift of making places one has never been to seem familiar through the vividness of his writing.
Macfarlane articulates what it feels like experience the joy of lonely places- including those not far from the crowded ones. It helps that the English he usesand examples he chooses are informed by his wide knowledge of his predecessors among poets and artists. His joy in the company of those who live and work in the wilder places is apparent and he uses their voices to share their knowledge with us.
In my opinion, The Old Ways is even better than his previous books, "Mountains of the Mind" and "The Wild Places", both of which I highly recommend. The only gripe I had is that I felt the urge to follow his path on a small-scale map, but this meant getting up out of the chair to find one!
No connection with the author: I've never met him, but wish I had.
