Reviews

To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface by Olivia Laing

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fox_at_the_circus's review

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.0

i love the atmosphere of this book. it is floating and dreamlike, in the sense that it feels pretty and tranquil on the surface, like lounging around in the grass on a hot lazy summer day, where you might go for a swim later, but you feel that there's something underneath, that might turn this into a nightmare at any moment. the way the author's current travels and the stories of the past flow into each other seamlessly adds to those vibes. and the writing style does, too. at times it reminded me of old sci-fi novels and with the modern dry humour it feels timeless. it lingers.
i like how the spaces between paragraphs is bigger than i am used to from other books, it gave me space and reminded me to think and digest after each paragraph.
i also was amazed by the opening sentences of each chapter, they just pulled me in and caught my attention right away.

Content Warnings

kaithyde's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

3.75

ela_lee_'s review against another edition

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4.0

I give To The River a 3.5, but I guess I’ll round it to 4. This book is unlike anything I have ever read. I felt a little lost in the writing style at times, but I also couldn’t stop reading it. It has such an eerie, dreamy, aquatic ambiance that I’ve never experienced in a book. It is perfect to listen to while drifting off into a nap or walking in nature.

I liked the spurts of facts regarding world history, mythology, and ecology. I didn’t know much, if anything, about Virginia Woolf but I still enjoyed the book and learned a little about her as a bonus.

lukuisa's review

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informative reflective relaxing slow-paced

3.5

One midsummer morning, Olivia Laing sets out to walk 42 miles the length of the river Ouse, from its source to the sea. Over the week, she reflects back at what the river has seen and how history, literature and mythology interlink with it. It’s about how past is a part of the landscape; how a river and it’s surroundings may change, but still remain the same. It’s also very much about Virginia Woolf, who drowned herself in the river Ouse.

How meditative and lovely this book was! Somehow it fitted my mood well in this rainy and gloomy October weather, but at the same time it got me miss the summertime and strolling around in nature. It was melancholic at parts but also amusing.

Laing is such a terrific writer! I can’t help but admire the extent of Laing’s interests and knowledge what comes up to writing. Still, if she had went deeper into certain topics, I’d have loved this book more. It also occasionally meandered a bit too slowly for my taste.

kizzia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This, to me, was a book about existence, death, and how we can find ways to be in this world that we are both destroying and have the capacity to save at the same time. It meandered, like a river, through Olivia’s own thoughts and experiences both during her walk and from other times in her life, the lives of Virginia & Leonard Woolf, Gideon Mantell, Simon de Montfort and Charles Dawson, and some extremely profound thoughts on life and death.

I found it absolutely mesmerising, deeply moving and know I will be returining to it again and again.

I listened to this as an audiobook, beautifully narrated by Kate Reading.