The Walk

by William deBuys

Set, like River of Traps, on a small farm in a New Mexican mountain valley that the author has tended since 1977, The Walk explores the illuminating ways in which personal and natural history interweave in a familiar environment. A kind of love story about a landscape, the book consists of three interrelated essays — “The Walk,” “Geranium,” and “Paradiso.” These pieces move from a period of strife and conflict in the author’s life to a place of limbo, to a place of peace — or, as the author says — from “inferno to purgatorio, and finally to paradiso.” DeBuys takes the same walk each morning, through the woods near his farm, and arrives at a clarity that comes from observing life carefully from the same vantage point for years. DeBuys, one of the country’s premier nature writers, is revered for his compassionate, clarifying prose. The Walk only reinforces that reputation.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Nature, Essays

176 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2007

About the author

William deBuys is the author of seven books, including River of Traps: A New Mexico Mountain Life, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in general non-fiction in 1991; Enchantment and Exploitation: The Life and Hard Times of a New Mexico Mountain Range; The Walk (an excerpt of which won a Pushcart Prize in 2008), and Salt Dreams: Land and Water in Low-Down California. An active conservationist, deBuys has helped protect more than 150,000 acres in New Mexico, Arizona, and North Carolina. He lives and writes on a small farm in northern New Mexico.

Reviews

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

You should read this. Then go walk around.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written essay concerning place, loss, healing and love. Seems to me the man put quite a bit of consideration into this piece. For one, I would recommend The Walk to any person who appreciates the essays of Wendell Berry. That's just about the highest praise i could manage, so I'll end on that note.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful writing here from William deBuys.

Poetic, heart-wrenching, honest and self-reflective.

deBuys has a clear relationship with his surroundings, nature, and his hard-working neighbours in a tough, challenging environment.

The descriptive elements of his work are so poignant and appealing.

Nature writing and journalistic observation at its finest.

[Moonstone · Rating 2 out of 5]

A heartfelt story of a mans relationship with his land through the seasons and the people and animals associated with it. I felt there was an underlying melancholy throughout though,with the end of his marriage then with the loss of a close friend and also his horse, but the healing came from his land.

[Joseph Gendron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a pleasant book to read. I loved the flow of the narrative and the subject matter. It details the intimacy to the land that the author has developed over time in his little spot along a little stream in the Sangre de Cristos.

[Richard B · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting memoir of a place rather than a person. Beautiful descriptions of the hills and forests of New Mexico. After reading the afterword, my impression of the place and the person was little different but I still found it an enjoyable read.

[Alice Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!

[Hil Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a beautiful description of nature, seems so honestly written

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meditative story about life, loss and the natural world. I went up to Northern New Mexico and got to see where it took place. Such natural beauty.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful examination of one man's relationship to the land and the people and animals who occupy it.

[David Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

William deBuys owned a small farm in an isolated northern New Mexico river valley that served as a retreat. The Walk is a collection of three related essays that explore how personal history and natural history interweave in a familiar landscape. The Walk is an extraordinary mix of memoir, landscape, and social history--as much as about ecology and nature as it is about midlife despair, written with clarity and lushness of description. It is luminous and inspiring simply because it is so perfectly written. The Walk is truly one of my all-time favorite books; this is the second time I have read it and it was just as good--or better--than the first.

[Margaret Langsenkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad was a good friend of the author’s. He was the deceased friend who Bill mentions. Loved reading such beautifully written and deeply personal book.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know... I like the bits about the landscape, the history of the area, and the horses.