Must read for all interested in human condition

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I took 2 years to devour it slowly, chapter by chapter & it is a constant reference. A cross-section of art, history, nature, politics via the idea of walking.

7 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

I fell in love again with walking

I’m now a big fan of Solnit. She goes through much of the social history of walking, the political power of pedestrians, and even touches on the evolutionary history of walking upright. If you ever needed some motivation to walk in the countryside, hike through your city’s streets, or even ditch the internal combustion, this is a great place to go.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Exhaustive treatment of walking with an agenda

I walk. So this tome really does explore walking in almost too precise detail. Way too much detail. But if you are walking and listening it is almost symbiotic. Now the endless literal references are interesting but a bit too much. The treatment of walking or rather protest walking as a vehicle for the hidden agenda of the book which is to detail walking as a form of protest. It left me a bit off... I read the entire book. It was not that bad. But I waste time as a profession. "Retired"

7 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Walking as politics

This is not the book I was expecting. If you want a feminist from SF to explain how walking relates to protest marches, women's suffrage , and gay rights, this is the book for you. If you want to read about walking while traveling or walking tours, skip it.

10 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Not so much a history of walking . . .

as an evaluation of walking controlled by a political viewpoint so narrow and persuaded of its own righteousness that it interferes with enjoyment of anyone but a deeply committed fellow traveler. I was underwhelmed.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Rebecca Solnit Tells Us Things

She used all her note cards but point of view more snobby than scholarly. Narrator may have aggravated the superior tone of the writing.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Meh, underwhelming and without life.

Audible recommended this after my last several books were walking histories by Robert McFarland and Nan Shepherd. This one left me cold. As if someone did a keyword search for all Wikipedia articles with the keyword: 'Walk’ and then put them in a book. Also: and I admit I found this more aggravating than it really is: the first 30 minutes of this book is nothing but disjointed quotes from various authors. I kept wondering: when will the book start? Does the author have anything to say?