The Old Ways - Robert MacFarlane

MacFarlane's culminating entry in a 'loose trilogy of books about landscape and the human heart' was released, predictably, to high critical acclaim. The first two pages are packed with 37 exuberant reviews which seemed a tad like overkill, the front cover itself being a reminder of its bestseller status. This book consists of more ramblings across old travel routes in England and Scotland, as well as some forays abroad in Palestine, Spain and China. MacFarlane waxes lyrical about the virtues of walking, invoking the Victorian poet, Edward Thomas, as a major role model on his spiritual quest. His range of specialist vocabulary seems to have broadened considerably since his last book, so much so that he includes a glossary at the back. This pushes the genre firmly into the academic sphere, perhaps alienating some readers in the process. Reading through the Amazon reviews, I noticed that some were disgruntled by what they saw as unapologetic 'elitism'.

Another difference to the previous book is the extensive human presence on the landscape. Rob meets many friends on his walks and writes a lot about those who have inspired him. It seems to be almost a reaction, or apology, to Kathleen Jamie's criticism of The Wild Places, as seen by repeated assurances that people are valuable to him and he is happy to be accompanied. Personally, I prefer a de-peopled landscape, but it wasn't a huge deal. It took me a long time to get into The Old Ways, mostly because each chapter is bogged down with so many historical references. I enjoyed his travels abroad but found the local environments a bit too similar to what was covered before. His voice is always infuriatingly passive, calm and detached, despite the fact that this is meant to be a deeply personal journey. Despite Rob's occasional attempts at humour, I wouldn't call it a particularly easy read, due in most part to the staggering amount of research he insists on sharing. There are moments where the prose shines, but I feel he's scraped the nature vocab barrel completely dry.

Rating: 2/5