I've been looking out for a copy of Robert Macfarlane's The Old Ways for a long time, and I was thrilled when it popped up on Brotherhood Books. Macfarlane's books are ones I want to own, not just borrow. They are to be sipped and savoured, not raced through, and I managed to stretch out The Old Ways for over a month.
Macfarlane's prose is dense, thoughtful, evocative, considered. He mixes personal memories with nature observations, philosophical musings with provovative conversations with the people he meets on his travels. The Old Ways is subtitled A Journey on Foot, but one section consists of a sea voyage in a small boat through wild Scottish waters. Most of his walks occur in the British Isles, but he also walks in Israel, Tibet and Spain. Inevitably my mind was drawn to the songlines and Dreaming tracks of Australia, and Lynne Kelly's account of memory paths, and I held that awareness as I was reading, which gave Macfarlane's beautiful words an extra layer of resonance.
Is it weird that for me reading nature writing like this becomes akin to a mediation in itself, almost a spiritual practice? Lee Kofman quoted Robert Macfarlane in The Writer Laid Bare. I'm already looking forward to a time when I can pull one of his books from my shelf and immerse myself in re-reading.
I first heard about this book when you posted about “underland” back in 2020. I listened to the audio of “the old ways” during a time when I needed something peaceful and calm. This book ended up being so soothing. I loved listening to him talk about basically meandering about England, and the other places. I liked the way he drew the reader in with the history and conversations he had with the others he met along the way.
ReplyDeleteThis book drew me in, and left me wanting to explore old roads and trails around the area where I live.
I agree that that book is akin to meditation, and I've thought about rereading it, even though rereading is something I rarely ever do.
That's so lovely. I find I have to read his books very slowly and carefully, it would have been perfect to hear him read it himself!
ReplyDeleteHe's an author that I can read, and re-read, and get something different and deeper each time. He helps me to look and pay attention. The poetry of Mary Oliver is doing the same at present - I read a few poems before I go to sleep. In a fractious world, it's a calming practice. And short!
ReplyDeleteI think Robert Macfarlane is probably as close to poetry as I can approach with comfort, I'm a bit allergic to poetry (my loss).
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