A review by billyjepma
The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane

inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

“…we are reading one of the earliest stories, told not in print but in footprint.”

A totally captivating, often hypnotic, and always transportive reading experience that makes me more embarrassed than ever over how little non-fiction I read. McFarlane’s book is about the act of walking, but it’s also about the history of those who walk and the paths that they traverse. His writing is gorgeous, almost to a fault, at times, but is so melodic in its tempo and descriptions that once I tapped into the proper wavelength, I became fully enmeshed in the words on the page. 

I love how biographical the book is, too, with each chapter functioning as a snapshot of a particular person and/or place that also works alongside the broader biographies (of time, location, people, concepts) the book is sketching. I’m very glad I took my time reading this, and I’m equally glad to have another of Macfarlane’s books waiting for me on my shelf.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content and War