4thace reviewed Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit
Regarding one of the central activities of our species
4 stars
This book is a combination of creative non-fiction talking of the author's own experience going on walks of different sorts along with a historical study of the place of walking in culture. I don't know how she was able to dig up so many disparate references to walking, hiking, touring, strolling, marching, in every conceivable setting as depicted by so many different sources from around the world. It was kind of dazzling to listen to all these essays stemming from different aspects of one simple action. We are reminded how tough it is for a toddler to learn how to master walking at the beginning of life. Although it seems that the act of walking, available to nearly of all of us, has been relegated to a niche role in our mechanized culture, she makes a convincing case for how it still affects our thinking and well-being. Health, economic, political, …
This book is a combination of creative non-fiction talking of the author's own experience going on walks of different sorts along with a historical study of the place of walking in culture. I don't know how she was able to dig up so many disparate references to walking, hiking, touring, strolling, marching, in every conceivable setting as depicted by so many different sources from around the world. It was kind of dazzling to listen to all these essays stemming from different aspects of one simple action. We are reminded how tough it is for a toddler to learn how to master walking at the beginning of life. Although it seems that the act of walking, available to nearly of all of us, has been relegated to a niche role in our mechanized culture, she makes a convincing case for how it still affects our thinking and well-being. Health, economic, political, spiritual and other dimensions are considered.
There are extended discussions of the great walkers of the Enlightenment, political thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau and poet William Wordsworth who shifted the way walking was thought of. The author describes how city streets in Europe were once both semi-private, semi-public places to walk. Some people relied on the streets to earn their living, notably sex workers, who had to face attempts to regulate who was allowed to travel in the city, where, and when.
It's hard to think of a more artificial place to navigate by foot than the Las Vegas Strip with its casinos and spectacles, subject of the last chapter. This feels like a world apart from the walking pilgrimages of visitors to the old shrine at Chimayó, New Mexico, or the late 20th century activists who crossed the width of the United States to bring attention to some political cause. In an earlier chapter I was interested to learn of the the performance artists Martina Abramović and Ulay whose piece entitled "Lovers" involved their walking from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China, meeting and interacting with local people who heard about their project, to meet up at the middle, only for the two of them to separate. Walking the thousands of kilometers feels relevant to the meaning of the art.
It is appropriate that I consumed much of this book in audiobook form while walking around my neighborhood. It felt as though I could absorb it better by moving my own legs.
