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Being outside
Reading this extraordinary book is to experience a year's journey with Nigel Joslin, to not only share his adventures in climbing steeps that you would not normally attempt but also to share his history, his emotional response to almost everything he witnesses and mostly to share his philosophy of life. The mindfulness entries for each month are indeed meditations on what "being" is.
The book's nearest relation is Haruki Murakami's magnificent " What I talk about when I talk about running". In that volume Murakami describes his writing here as " Just a book in which I ponder various things and think out loud" Nigel Joslin does the very same, as he is standing on a mountain side regarding all of the world about him he philosophies, uninterruptedly, with nostalgic backward glances through his life seeing how the pieces fit, planning his next move and like Murakami his thoughts become almost mantras :
"Hastening towards a destination is to travel through a plan rather than a country, hardly experiencing its many precious offerings. Life is neither a race nor a plan"
The writer has taken two major literary forms ~ the diary and the travelogue and combined them using a rich texture of poetic language to make a book that I , for one, will probably dip into time and again. It is a book to open at any page and enjoy just what language has to offer and how one man's thoughts can offer inspiration ~ even answers to every day puzzlements.~ as he contemplates deer tracks in the snow, the vastness of space and the possibility of a Divine Being. When the scientists have answered all the questions what's left?
Joslin's style is interactive as if he is writing for an unknown audience and yet also a reader who will enjoy his musings.
I became very engaged with him as I read through the months and saw the many characters through his eyes.
This volume is a perfect selection for stichomantic divination, whereby you open the book at random and with your eyes closed point to a passage, read it and contemplate its meaning to your life....there are so many beautiful passages here, a wealth of experience and understanding that it has become a volume I often start the day with:
"So do our lives reveal any genuine evidence that we can exert a creative force upon reality?"
" I could not make what had happened unhappen"
"Is intent itself the opener of the door?"
"When ideas don't come is when we go looking for them"
Amazon UK (Book reviewer, Samantha Grayson)
Amazing
Absolutely loved this book. I felt as though I was there with him every step. The words are so powerful. Every emotion and thought can through and it almost felt like it was someone telling me the story as opposed to just reading it. It seems so alive.
I read most of this book out loud as it flows really well.
Book blogger, Katie Lewington
This has been an enjoyable book to read, but a difficult one to review!
At times it is arduous, dare I say a slog to get through, but it has re awaken my curiosity and sense of adventure in nature.
It’s a book that you should take your time with, the chapters are split into months. Nigel does an amazing job of describing the various changes of the seasons and physically plants us there with him. Absorb what this writer is saying, because you may miss something.
I like his sense of humour, certainly made this very entertaining at points. This has a philosophical side to it, I find nature brings out my need to question and wonder too. The author balances his observations of nature, with his thoughts on a range of topics (order, purpose, death, beauty and ticks, to name a few) and at times it’s like he’s a teacher.
It’s very appealing to read a book that both entertains and opens your eyes and educates. As a person who enjoys a hike myself, albeit on a smaller scale, the beauty of nature and the adrenaline of exerting yourself can give you this almost manic energy and need for answers, as well as being calming and this is what this book is, energizing and calming. It has a huge amount to it and I think I’m going to appreciate reading this even more the second time.
Goodreads & Amazon USA (Book reviewer, Kristin A Scearce)
Very interesting, insightful, and quite humorous
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy from the author in exchange for an honest (and not necessarily positive) review.
This is a very existential and philosophical book, but never overly so, and it's quite enjoyable. I found myself on multiple occasions actually pausing and questioning life, the universe, and everything (thank you, Douglas Adams, for phrasing that so succinctly) right along with the author. I was pulled in by the back and forth between the philosophizing and walking along trails and hiking paths, which I am actually known to do from time to time, especially when I need a break from the hustle and bustle of life. And the humor mixed in throughout made it really flow, furthering my desire to keep reading to see what happened in the following month.
I recommend this to anyone who likes to contemplate the "why" of life and everything that entails, as well as those who simply appreciate someone else's insights and introspection on the idea.
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