"What [Ekelund is] addressing is the intention to walk one's way to
meaning: the walk as spiritual exercise, a kind of vision quest... A key
strategy for finding ourselves, then, is to first get lost."--The New
York Times Book Review
An ode to paths and the journeys we take through nature, as told by a
gifted writer who stopped driving and rediscovered the joys of traveling
by foot.
Torbjørn Ekelund started to walk--everywhere--after an epilepsy
diagnosis affected his ability to drive. The more he ventured out, the
more he came to love the act of walking, and an interest in paths
emerged. In this poignant, meandering book, Ekelund interweaves the
literature and history of paths with his own stories from the trail. As
he walks with shoes on and barefoot, through forest creeks and across
urban streets, he contemplates the early tracks made by ancient snails
and traces the wanderings of Romantic poets, amongst other musings. If
we still "understand ourselves in relation to the landscape," Ekelund
asks, then what do we lose in an era of car travel and navigation apps?
And what will we gain from taking to paths once again?
"A charming read, celebrating the relationship between humans and their
bodies, their landscapes, and one another."
--The Washington Post
This book was made possible in part thanks to generous support from
NORLA.
