The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread about Hiking, Walking, 5K's and 10K's.

The Living Mountain

by Nan Shepherd

Synopsis:

The Living Mountain is a lyrical testament in praise of the Cairngorms. It is a work deeply rooted in Nan Shepherd's knowledge of the natural world, and a poetic and philosophical meditation on our longing for high and holy places.

Drawing on different perspectives of the mountain environment, Shepherd makes the familiar strange and the strange awe-inspiring. Her sensitivity and powers of observation put her into the front rank of nature writing.

Review:

Robert Macfarlane, author of an acclaimed trilogy of books about landscape and human thought reviews some of his favourite books of nature-writing with FiveBooks

"What would you say are the characteristics of great landscape writing?

Precision and particularity, combined with an appeal to the universal. The very best books are often those that look the most closely but think most broadly. Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain is only – apparently – about the Cairngorms, a single mountain group in north-east Scotland.

But actually, it’s about the relationship between the human mind and place. Great landscape writing can blend the almost mythic and the astonishingly well observed.

The underlying narrative of much landscape writing is man’s relationship and interaction with the natural world.

There are many versions of that question or preoccupation. Some of the books I have chosen are about connection with nature, and some are about its terrifying disinterest. The wilderness can be a very welcoming and miraculous place, but it can also be fatal in its complete indifference to human presence. The wild – that extreme manifestation of nature – is both exhilarating and, sometimes, murderous."

More:
https://fivebooks.com/best-books/robe...

Source: FiveBooks

A Walk in the Woods

by Bill Bryson

Synopsis:

The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you’ll find.

He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way–and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in).

I loved A Walk in the Woods! It is hilarious, moving, and interesting. Bryson fills it with fascinating nuggets of natural and human history from Appalachia, but mostly it is just stories so funny that you fall out of bed laughing when you read it. Great book that made me want to get off my butt and do something.

by Bill Bryson

I know Douglass - it was very funny and at the same time inspiring.

He is really an "unlikely hiker" too.