bigbookslilreads's review against another edition
3.0
This was a difficult book to rate, since it has really good parts... but I don't consider it particularly enjoyable as a whole. It is a bit long-winded, with flowery phrases that just make it more difficult to read. It was a lot better as an audiobook with narrator Roy Mcmillan. Most people in my book club did not finish this because of this very reason. It seems like a great book to dip in and out of, but not one that grabs you and keeps you interested in reading chapter after chapter.
So many interesting parts about the psychological relation between people and the concept of paths, journeys, pilgrimages... Definitely a book that might interest a lot of anthropologists and human geographers!
So many interesting parts about the psychological relation between people and the concept of paths, journeys, pilgrimages... Definitely a book that might interest a lot of anthropologists and human geographers!
allthismakescherries's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.5
Read "Underland" instead of "The Old Ways". "Underland" is fantastic, more focused, more informative and brings you, the reader, to more interesting places. "The Old Ways" feels too descriptive at times, bordering on becoming repetitive as it often makes the same point. Yes, it is well-written (maybe a little too self-indulgent), but it did not achieve to fascinate me as "Underland" did.
cathydavies's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent writing about nature, being in nature, walking through nature. Walking paths, sailing paths, mostly in Britain; also in Spain and Palestine. Also about other people who wrote about walking in nature, most specifically Edward Thomas. Makes me homesick for the old ways I used to walk when I lived in England.
limpfingser's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.25
polysemy's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
poorlywordedbookreviews's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
“𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴.”
Travel ancient paths and you can unlock lost worlds, travel back in time and into our collective imagination. Route ways carved into the landscape tell our earliest stories, long before pen hit paper.
Focused mostly on Britain, but also featuring paths in the Himalayas and Palestine, this is my third McFarlane non-fiction, and definitely my least favourite to date. It still has all the positives I’ve come to expect, and when it’s hitting it’s stride he really immerses you into the natural world, full of awe and wonder, with such a vivid sense of place. However, I found this one was frequently too verbose and a tad self indulgent. It was the first time he’s really smacked me as someone who definitely enjoys the sound of his own voice. It also doesn’t help that the different sections here are often not very distinct from each other, giving that messy ‘run together’ feel - dipping in and out, rather than reading the whole thing would probably offset this. And purely personal to me, he rehashed a lot of information I already knew from other reading.
In conclusion, don’t start your McFarlane reading with this one. Read Underland or Landmarks!
sophiaxlm's review against another edition
5.0
一位剑桥学者的行走散记。“写字和步行都是连续不断的动作，是一系列行动的针脚，始终不渝地前进在那一道接缝或水流中。”
关于行走、追溯的文字，无论虚构和写实，似乎都有种“向外走得越远，向内看得越深”的倾向，常常带着自省的意味。（此时想到了完全无关的《所罗门之歌》，一个美国的黑人男孩走了很远去寻根。）
步行，尤其是走上相当远的距离，并且发生在远离公路和人群的原野中的步行，似乎格外有种治疗和寻访内心的作用。双腿靠着肌肉的记忆机械运动向前，大脑就可尽情回访诗句和历史，或是仅仅辨识花草、听着云雀的晨间闹铃就好。
在现代化的路网系统下，步道编织出的网络仍遍布于大地之上——“pilgrim paths, green roads, drove roads, corpse roads, trods, leys, dykes, drongs, sarns, snickets”。“大声地、快速地读出路的名字，他们就成了一首诗或一种仪式”。作者的行走痕迹从英格兰到苏格兰（下海行了船），再到海外（差点爬了雪山），然后又回到英格兰，并重现了同样热爱行走的诗人爱德华·托马斯生命的几个瞬间。在田野中徒步这件事情或许听起来是缺乏起伏单调如一的日记，但这本“探访内心”类的散文，丝毫不会有同样的感受被一再重复的感觉，读起来有诗意、真诚，且不失风趣。译者的好文笔也起了很大作用。
“我徒步旅行的标记者不仅有史前古墓前的石碑、古冢和长长的古坟，还有去年那灰白的树叶（在手心里一揉即碎），有昨夜狐狸的臭屁（鼻子里还臭烘烘的），有这分钟的鸟鸣（在耳中回旋）、有高压线、输电线塔抒情诗般的噼啪声，以及大田喷雾机的嘶嘶声。
关于行走、追溯的文字，无论虚构和写实，似乎都有种“向外走得越远，向内看得越深”的倾向，常常带着自省的意味。（此时想到了完全无关的《所罗门之歌》，一个美国的黑人男孩走了很远去寻根。）
步行，尤其是走上相当远的距离，并且发生在远离公路和人群的原野中的步行，似乎格外有种治疗和寻访内心的作用。双腿靠着肌肉的记忆机械运动向前，大脑就可尽情回访诗句和历史，或是仅仅辨识花草、听着云雀的晨间闹铃就好。
在现代化的路网系统下，步道编织出的网络仍遍布于大地之上——“pilgrim paths, green roads, drove roads, corpse roads, trods, leys, dykes, drongs, sarns, snickets”。“大声地、快速地读出路的名字，他们就成了一首诗或一种仪式”。作者的行走痕迹从英格兰到苏格兰（下海行了船），再到海外（差点爬了雪山），然后又回到英格兰，并重现了同样热爱行走的诗人爱德华·托马斯生命的几个瞬间。在田野中徒步这件事情或许听起来是缺乏起伏单调如一的日记，但这本“探访内心”类的散文，丝毫不会有同样的感受被一再重复的感觉，读起来有诗意、真诚，且不失风趣。译者的好文笔也起了很大作用。
“我徒步旅行的标记者不仅有史前古墓前的石碑、古冢和长长的古坟，还有去年那灰白的树叶（在手心里一揉即碎），有昨夜狐狸的臭屁（鼻子里还臭烘烘的），有这分钟的鸟鸣（在耳中回旋）、有高压线、输电线塔抒情诗般的噼啪声，以及大田喷雾机的嘶嘶声。
charliebk_2's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0