When I spotted this book at The Little Ripon
Bookshop in July, of course I had to have it – you know me well
enough to understand that!
It
took me a long time to finish, because in spite of it being „just a
paperback“, the print is rather small and the type densely set, and I mostly read it during my lunch breaks, so never very long in one go.
The book is a good read on all accounts, and I really like the author’s writing style – and yet, I can not honestly say that I completely enjoyed each and every page.
Some of the author’s thoughts and interpretations of what a walk could be or should be, what it means or meant to people of various cultures and at various times in history I can not wholeheartedly agree with (although what she writes mostly rings true and is based on facts and thorough research).
What irked me every now and then were her generalisations, of „the Germans“ for instance. There is no such thing, is there, and in other instances she is so keen to point out marginalisation, discrimination and generalisation as being dangerous and something to be avoided, that her using something like that herself just did not add up.
On the other hand, what she says about how our world became so car-dominated and how for many people it has become unthinkable to use any other means of transport is exactly what I have been observing in the 45 years or so I have consciously been aware of more than my immediate surroundings.
Anyway; I learned a great deal from this book and found it very interesting – for all readers, no matter whether you are a walker or not – and a good read, as I said.
Does or will it change the way I see my own walks?
No, I don’t think so. It is good to have background information on things that are part of our everyday lives, but, you know – sometimes a walk is really just a walk, with no need for further interpretation or heaping it with meanings it does not have.
Rebecca Solnit's website with a mini biography and much more about her books, plus interviews etc., is here.
I have been listening to Rebecca Solnit's books. A clever writer but as you say confusing occasionally and apt to give generalisations of what she sees through American eyes. I imagine her having done a lot of reading and then quietly recorded all the relevant bits she wants to talk about in her next book. She writes for a living. Think Tasker read the book as well but never said anything about it.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it was the first encounter with Rebecca Solnit's work. I am glad that it wasn't just me feeling that way about some of what she writes.
DeleteAll things considered, she is well worth reading; I just don't think I'll go actively looking for more right now.
Now that I can no longer walk - or even get out of the house - I love to read some of my books about walking/wild lfe/outdoors, But what we get out of walking is such a personal thing isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt is, Pat (assuming it's you), and it is not always the same what I get out of a walk; depending on my mood and my needs that day, the path I am taking, the weather and so on.
DeleteI do enjoy a nice walk but I often walk for exercise instead of for beauty - just going around my neigborhood. But when the weather cooperates, I like to plan a walk through a forest preserve or along a babbling river. Your lovely walks always motivate me to get out into nature, tho, I can rarely go as far as you can, Meike! :)
ReplyDeleteMy after-work walks are different from those on the weekend, too; more limited in time and range, but so necessary to keep me mentally and physically balanced. Proper hikes are a treat!
DeleteSometimes a walk is just a walk--to get from point A to point B.
ReplyDeleteAnd sometimes a walk is...
A way to absorb feelings.
A burst of exuberance.
A saving grace.
A delight in the sun and fresh air.
A refuge.
A way to safety.
Mary
Yes, a walk can be all that - and more. And sometimes one walk means more than one thing, too.
DeleteI'm fascinated by your walking! I don't know a soul who walks anywhere. My daughter does occasionally go hiking in the wonderful forest near our homes, but otherwise I've never known anyone who "walks!" I love reading about your forays into different areas, as I've told you many times, and enjoy going along with you. I hope they and you continue for a long time to come.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jill, I hope that, too. Now that I have not been for any proper walks all week, and won‘t have the opportunity this weekend, either, I am getting somewhat fidgety. Good job that it is so very cold here right now - it makes staying indoors easier.
DeleteIt sounds like the kind of book that would really interest me even though you have one or two understandable misgivings about it. From time to time we all fall into the trap of generalisation but frequently it bothers me. I am often irked by generalisations about men or women. For example, some say that women can multitask but men can't. This is ridiculous. We are all different. I applaud your point that sometimes a walk is just a walk and you don't need to layer it with extra meaning.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this book, I was frequently thinking of what you would have to say about a certain point the author was explaining. Kate Humble‘s approach to walking is much more along the lines of my own thinking and experience, but Rebecca Solnit‘s book has a different aim and scope and is truly interesting in its own way.
DeleteCan you generalize about "Germans"? Yes. Take my sister-in-law. You could eat off her floor. And, frankly, I am baffled at your occasional mention that trains are not on time. Please don't shatter my illusions of what constitutes Germany. Vorsprung durch Technik. Das Betreten des Rasens ist VERBOTEN.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, Germans are very German when it comes to explain to them that not everything in countries not even that far away is run the German way. How many times have I heard "Das kann doch nicht wahr sein!" (that can't be true). "Wirklich?" (really?) Well, Sweethearts, there is a world outside German speaking borders and your imagination. You may not comprehend it but it exists.
My living abroad for most my adult life has taught me how valuable it is to look from the outside in. That, of course, applies to these isles where I am still a foreigner albeit a well integrated one; though I do stop short at apologizing to anyone who stands on my toes; and should I ever meet the Queen (now defunct) I would not courtesy. Last time I was expected to courtesy to any adult I was about five and wore petticoats on a Sunday. The motherland? Looking from the outside into my country of origin I see (German) stuff they can't because it's right under their nose. Mostly I feel affection sprinkled with occasional exasperation and a dusting of longing.
So, yes, I do think generalizations are permissible. Let's hear you on Bavarians!
U
Well, Ursula, "das kann doch nicht wahr sein" is a thought I often have in relation to things that happen in this - my native - country, and very rarely in relation to things happening in other countries.
DeleteOne such thing is public transport. But health insurance, tax-related issues and many more are nearly on the same level. A lot of what we used to take for granted here - everything working smoothly and efficiently like a well-oiled machine - has gone downhill in the past few decades.
In my experience, many Germans living in Germany have quite a good idea of the existence of a world outside German speaking borders, and I find your comment sounding condescending and a little offensive; maybe it wasn't meant that way, but it certainly sounds it.
No doubt both of us know many of our countrymen and women, some of them closely, and every single one is different - I don't know two who are exactly alike. Do you?
For about 10 years, I was part of a Sicilian family and knew (and still know) many Sicilians. And guess what, not a single one of them is member of the Mafia, and although they all like pasta and pizza, so do many other people who are not Sicilians or Italians. And while some of them like to eat very late in the evenings, not all of them do; and there are even some who do not want an espresso after every meal, and several who do not have children because they consciously decided against having a large family.
I am very careful when it comes to generalizations.
Indeed, one can never be too "careful".
DeleteGeneralizations are like cliches. They exist because they contain at least one grain of truth in them. Otherwise they wouldn't be generalisations or cliches. Enduring. If annoying at times.
So, for instance, just off the top of my head, it is safe to say that Africans, Caribbeans, South Americans, indeed the Spanish dance like no other (maybe with the exception of Zorba, the Greek, and Turkish belly dancers). It's in their blood. Germans, Scandinavians, indeed Eastern Europeans share traits that baffles your average English person. Say, being direct, to the point. It is safe to say that British people aren't direct. With them it's all in the packaging. So, naturally, a freshly imported German is deemed rude by your average public school boy deserted by his parents at the tender age of eight. I could tell you anecdotes which would make you see the light. On the downside: My family of origin did remark (without so much as a polite sniffle) that I sure don't sound German any more. I took that as a compliment.
Oh, Meike, seriously. You've got to laugh. I remember once accompanying my then husband on a business trip to Mallorca. The ground agent, his name was Pedro - what else, was tasked to take the wife of Mr Big for lunch. As it later emerged Pedro detested Germans. With a vengeance. Him watching me eat a lamb shank with my hands, the sheer joy I conveyed, converted him. Indeed, he asked permission to take me for lunch again the next day. Not all is lost in the war of generalisations.
So, dear Meike, don't take everything so seriously. It's a serious German trait.
U
I have read two or three books by Rebecca S but not Wanderlust.
ReplyDeleteDuring lockdown I rediscovered the essay as a literary form.
There are many first-rate essayists in Canada and America, all women.
I would enjoy essays in translation: German French Italian Polish Czech Russian etc.
I can not read French, Polish, Czech or Russian; my French is limited to short texts, but I would not manage an entire book aimed at a readership older than six.
DeleteIf you had your own blog, you would probably write daily essays. Or book reviews. Or both. Anyway, you would write, and you would write a lot. Your readers would be an eclectic mix of fellow bloggers, and some of them would be "readers only" without having their own blog. Discussions would be very interesting.
Before lockdown I could not have told you what a blog looked like.
DeleteI leave comments on Shaelin Writes (YouTube) a woman who has completed four years of a writing degree at university: her wonderful stories online.
She vlogs too under reedsy to a community of writers.
A few weeks ago someone said I sounded like an AI - my comments are too formal. I have nothing to say that would make a blog.
Shaelin Bishop's stories are with online journals such as The Puritan.
DeleteYour sentence "I have nothing to say that would make a blog" is the understatement of the year! Many of your comments are longer than many people's blog posts...
DeleteC'est un scandale !
DeleteIt must be nice to be able to step outside your door and go on a walk. For us, we must get into our car and drive a least a few miles to get ourselves to a trail. It is dangerous to try and walk beside the roads here! I am grateful for the nice paths and trails that are not too far away from us. You have seen most of them on my blog! LOL!
ReplyDeleteHey! I didn't notice but I was signed out under Blogger, so that comment above rom Anonymous is from me!
ReplyDeleteHey Kay! Blogger does that weird signing out thing every now and then - it sometimes happens to me even here on my own blog, when I want to reply to a comment.
DeleteYes, it is good to be able to step out of my front door and go for a walk. To get to the nearest fields, I walk within the town's borders for the first 10-15 minutes. We have no woods to speak of, just a small copse on the outskirts of town; very different from O.K.'s where you reach the Black Forest by climbing the hill behind the village, back down on the other side, across one road and along a lane.
I don't know what the author said about "the Germans" but I agree generalisations can be annoying. However, as I just left a comment about German christmas markets being better than other countries' on your latest post, I feel now that I should explain ... I did not mean to be making easy generalisations but it is just my experience that they are better. As I lived in Germany as a child I may prefer them because they are more familiar than ones in Switzerland or Austria, for instance? I don't know. Now, revisiting Germany, I do remember certain things that are very typical of the country which I have not really experienced elsewhere, but anyway, I DO agree that most generalisations are infuriating specially when they apply to something or somewhere you know on a daily basis!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt does not really matter what she said about Germans or other groups of people - be it a nation, a walking group or any other - I just think it is annoying, and can not really be correct.
DeleteI understand what you say about German Christmas markets. That is not generalising about people, but describing an aspect of life in a certain country. Describing something that is typical in a certain country - such as a particular shape of building or the way a certain holiday is usually celebrated - is not generalising or discriminiating, as far as I understand it.