Non-fiction review: In Praise of Paths, by Torbjorn Ekelund

Another in my series of books about nature, walking, and much more.

Title: In Praise of Paths: Walking Through Time and Nature

Author: Torbjørn Ekelund. English translation by Becky L. Crook.

Publication info: Greystone Books 2020, 240 pages.

Source: library

Publisher’s Blurb:

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?

My Review:

I think I was made aware of this book either through a list (source unknown) of great outdoors books, or by following up on the list of suggestions at the library web site when I looked for some of those books. Either way, it’s part of my quest to understand what I’m doing when I’m walking and hiking, and why these activities are so powerful. Ekelund’s experience led him to ask many of those very questions, as he was forced to give up driving, and made the choice to walk everywhere, to the degree that’s possible. Trains and  buses do figure into his life and sometimes his walks, but he has also come to a much greater understanding than I have of the message on one of my favorite shirts: “Everywhere is in walking distance if you have enough time.” He’s willing to make the time.

Now, to be fair, Ekelund lives in Norway, where the combination of small size and great public transit makes that far closer to true than it is here in the immense American west. But the things he comes to understand about himself and about walking, paths, and what matters, are true wherever you are.

Walking changes how we think. It changes how we see a landscape. And it can change how we see (or if we see) the history of that land.

The narrative circles around and both starts and ends on the first path he remembers, in a conclusion that I found both humorous and poignant. But this walking is no temporary experiment. He has to keep doing it, and it has changed him as much as time has changed that childhood path.

My Recommendation:

I think this may be a book that rewards another thoughtful reading. I wish I could read it as he wrote it, in Norwegian, but that’s not an option. Fortunately, the translation seems to be good, and the author’s own English good enough for him to have approved it.

FTC Disclosure: I checked In Praise of Paths out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2024
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