The Old Ways

A Journey on Foot

By: Robert Macfarlane

Narrated by: Robin Sachs

From the acclaimed author of The Wild Places comes an engrossing exploration of walking and thinking.

In this exquisitely written book, Robert Macfarlane sets off from his Cambridge, England, home to follow the ancient tracks, holloways, drove roads, and sea paths that crisscross both the British landscape and its waters and territories beyond. The result is an immersive, enthralling exploration of the ghosts and voices that haunt old paths, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, and of pilgrimage and ritual.

Told in Macfarlane’s distinctive voice, The Old Ways folds together natural history, cartography, geology, archaeology, and literature. His walks take him from the chalk downs of England to the bird islands of the Scottish northwest, from Palestine to the sacred landscapes of Spain and the Himalayas. Along the way he crosses paths with walkers of many kinds - wanderers, pilgrims, guides, and artists. Above all this is a book about walking as a journey inward and the subtle ways we are shaped by the landscapes through which we move. Macfarlane discovers that paths offer not just a means of traversing space but of feeling, knowing, and thinking.

Robert Macfarlane is the author of the prize-winning Mountains of the Mind and The Wild Places, both of which were New York Times Notable Books. He has contributed to Harper’s, Granta, the Observer, Times Literary Supplement, and London Review of Books. He is a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

©2012 Robert Macfarlane (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Macfarlane immerses himself in regions we may have thought familiar, resurrecting them newly potent and sometimes beautifully strange. In a moving achievement, he returns our heritage to us." (Colin Thubron, New York Times best-selling author)

"In this intricate, sensuous, haunted book, each journey is part of other journeys, and there are no clear divisions to be made.… The walking of paths is, to [Macfarlane], an education, and symbolic, too, of the very process by which we learn things: testing, wandering about a bit, hitting our stride, looking ahead and behind.…This is a spacious and inclusive book, which allows for many shifts in emphasis, and which, like the best paths, is always different when you go back to look at it again." ( Guardian [London])

"From the very first page…you know that the most valuable thing about The Old Ways is going to be the writing…. I found myself hoarding images like trophies as I turned the pages.… It is like reading a prose Odyssey sprinkled with imagist poems.… You never get the feeling that the poetry is being used to prettify what he sees. His omnivorous eye takes in everything, and his camera-shutter brain records it." ( Sunday Times [London])

The Old Ways

Macfarlane is a master storyteller who is deeply committed to craft period. He makes the reader care.

A walk with a wise old friend.

This book has played in my ears on my own walks, causing me to listen and look with more attention than before. A blessing. A beautifully written homage to the ways of old.

Robin Sachs doing Robert MacFarlane

Thumbs up for these 2! Brits doing English is refreshing. Both couldn't be more in their element.

ENJOY

Very well written. The referrals to the different authors and poets are interesting if you care to explore. I listened to the book on a 32hr. train trip. I especially enjoyed the part about sailing. I used to live and sail on a boat for many years. I plan to explore more books by the same author. The narrator did an excellent job. Thank you Audible, JK

Profoundly engaging

This is a profoundly engaging and important work. The narration is flawless and the command of Accents is astonishing —highly recommend it!

Well Written Meditation

Loved the quiet flow of this book. Well read by Sachs. May drone here and there but it is also full of poignant moments. A lot of geography I had never heard of so it spurred on plenty of side research too.

Excellent book for walkers!

Robert MacFarlane brings to life the pathways and roads less traveled at the human speed of 3 mph. Great book!!!

A lyric journey

Would you listen to The Old Ways again? Why?

I would listen to this again for the beauty of its images and the places it took me to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Old Ways?

... the description of Edward Thomas and his relationship with Robert Frost.

Which character – as performed by Robin Sachs – was your favorite?

The favorite character must be the author himself as he appears in the words read by Robin Sachs..

Better read than heard?

A devoted British countryside rambler and wanderer describes his walks. Certainly competently written, although I didn’t get a whiff of lyricism that some reviewers have praised this author for. Numerous place names, geologic terms and the like were new to me; I understand the print edition includes a glossary. I will try that. Might even listen a second time, there’s something alluring about this book, just can’t put my finger on it.

Luminous

Gorgeous language. A delight to walk along side MacFarlane. Chapter 16 is a heartbreaker. The reading is superb.