The Road Is How: A Prairie Pilgrimage through Nature, Desire and Soul

by Trevor Herriot

Prairie naturalist Trevor Herriot decides the road is how. Recovering from a misstep that could have been his last, he decides to go for a walk to sort through questions that rushed in upon the enforced stillness of waiting for his body to heal. The Road is How re-enchants our modern map of desire, spirit and nature by taking us on a three-day walk down an ordinary prairie road. Detouring along rail beds, over hills and into fields, sitting next to sloughs, waiting for a sparrow to sing to the dusk a second time, we enter a territory where imagination and experience carry us beyond the history of our transgressions to the soul’s contact with a broken land.By turns irreverent and meditative, lyrical and analytical, this moving account bears the characteristic style of Herriot’s bestseller River in a Dry Land , but this time the focus of his critique is not on the culture but on the individual. Attended by a pair of hawks and his remembered conversations with an old friend, the author discovers the depth of his own weakness and obsessions, and begins the longer walk into the second half of life by facing his own part in the spiritual failures of men and how that plays out in family, community and landscape.The Road is How matches landscape to the travelling soul and offers believers and skeptics alike an illuminating look at how brief passages in our lives can help us find grace in our footsteps on this good earth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 22, 2014

Reviews

[Eric Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three months after a serious accident, Trevor Herriot sets out to walk along an ordinary prairie road. The walking is to be an exercise in purifying his thoughts, meditating on a whole gamut of thoughts about ecology and life, men and women, farmers and cities.

Many of his ponderings make sense. Others seem mystical. Some are quite good. Unlike most who blame religion for everything bad, especially the pillage of the land, he points out that it cannot be the sole villain. His friend reminds him that "religious bonds are the only ones that have ever held a community together. In giving up on all religion we are throwing out the only cultural system that has ever fostered people capable of an ecologically sound interchange between ourselves and the rest of nature.

On love he writes; "If....selfless love is a real force in this universe, then there are other things I can believe too. ...a creature only grows into its beauty when truly loved and received with gratitude..." p. 180.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

My cousin-in-law has recently published his third book concerning Nature a la Saskatchewan prairie, spirituality, modern society, identity and gender roles. He ruminates on numerous other topics as well during his mediative forty-mile walk across the plains from his home in Regina to his family's cottage on Cherry Lake. Thought-provoking and would make an excellent book club selection because I kept wanting to discuss it with someone.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out really promising and fizzled for me. Was hoping it would be the Canadian Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. It wasn't. Good, but not great.

[Linda Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I gave up about 2/3rds of the way into the book. I'm not interested in birds to any degree except if I see one that is colourful I appreciate it but I don't look for them. I grew up in Saskatchewan so the description of the initial walk and fields and sky were appealing but the continuous description of the landscape and the birds became quite monotonous. I'm guessing this was his midlife crisis and he went for a walk and probably felt like he was having an epiphany of some sort. I found the book boring, repetitive and pointless. I picked it up because it was recommended by a spiritual author I like. Unfortunately perhaps it is a book that appeals more to men as I found it a complete waste of time.