Angling to read Rebecca Solnit's "Wanderlust"

Angling to Read Book Club

I sat down one spring day to write about walking and stood up again, because a desk is no place to think on the large scale. (Rebecca Solnit, "Wanderlust" p. 4)

Whether it is bushwalking, hiking, or just going for a stroll, something happens to both body and mind when we wander. Rebecca Solnit is an American writer, historian and activist who wonders about this wandering in Wanderlust: A history of walking. Solnit has written 20 books, many of which cover environmental and feminist issues. Wanderlust was first published in 2000 but remains popular amongst writers and those who love wandering through the natural world (my copy was produced in its 38^th printing round). I’ve read much of Solnit’s work, but I’ve been “angling to read” Wanderlust: A history of walking for several years. The book contains 17 chapters broken up into four sections which examine the history of walking, why we walk, and the impact it has on our bodies, the landscape, our thinking, imagination and writing.

Like walking, I’m reading Wanderlust at a slow and steady pace. Literally. Along with the paper version, I’m also listening to Solnit’s words on audiobook while I walk through my local area. Such reading as listening, as Ursula K. Le Guin might say, brings its own unique experience to not only walking, but also thinking about walking and writing. I’ve spent the past five years studying women’s online stories of the garden, so I’m particularly intrigued with the section entitled From the Garden to the Wild. I too wonder why my writing and thinking is now venturing past the garden boundary.

Wanderlust brings to mind the words of the feminist scholar Sara Ahmed, who suggests wandering is a willful¹ process. Perhaps that is what has happened in recent years; we want to willfully wander away from a time period where we were cooped up inside for far too long.  Wandering outside has become a willful response to the artificial light and confines of four walls. In a few months I’m going to embark on a multi-day hike in Kabi Kabi country carrying everything I need (food, water, shelter) on my back. It’s a hike that has me thinking about why we wander, and why we write about our wanderings.

Beautiful Jinibara country - picture author’s own

You can purchase Wanderlust at all the usual online bookstores, a second-hand copy at Abe.books or check out your local library or Internet Archive for a short-term loan. I will be posting more of my thoughts on the book at the end of the month and may even experiment with a discussion thread. I look forward to wandering and wondering in Wanderlust with you.

Something new: “A Walk in the Mountain Forests” by Paula Peters. Peters is the Paperbark Writer obsessed with journalling the natural world she lives in. Paula, who has a PhD in ecology, lives and works alongside one of my favourite places to walk: Woonoongoora (Lamington National Park), part of the Gondwana Rainforests of the Australia World Heritage Area. I did a nature journalling workshop with Paula several years ago and can attest to her incredible love and knowledge of the natural world. This is Paula’s tenth self-published book. It can be ordered here.

 

Happy reading!

Ren x

1. I follow Ahmed’s spelling of “willful” (The Willful Subject, 2014).