Book Review-A Philosophy of Walking By Fréderic Gros

I find myself reading more books of essays than fiction these days. It is perhaps because of my brain’s adaptation to reading in the era of social media: reading 180-character snippets has made  my attention span shorter and my having less patience. It could be also that I am becoming less accepting of the novel form. Regardless, I am finding satisfaction if not outright joy in reading well-written and concise essay collections. This is one of the books that fell on my lap during my excursions into the essay form.

Another book that I have used for my critical reading purposes is by Alberto Manguel, A History of Reading. (https://polymathtobe.blogspot.com/2024/01/book-review-history-of-reading-by.html) Manguel’s book was more extensive and more catholic in its scope.

This book by Gros is a philosophical treatise on walking, which is clearly stated in the title. Fréderic Gros is a French philosopher, an erudite philosophical explorer. In this case, he was also ably assisted by his translator John Howe, as I thoroughly enjoyed Howe’s translation of Gros’ thoughts. This was a fact that needs to be recognized because I so enjoyed reading the 25 essays because of the fluent translations of the original essays. The book was not only accessible, it held my attention, filled me with wonderment, and elicited critical questions as my mind wandered with the essays.

The book is laid out to explore and intellectually investigate walking, something that most of us take for granted. Those of us who are not cursed by physical ailments that prevent us from walking understand the feelings and mechanics of walking intrinsically, which could have made the author’s exploration of the topic seem redundant. Yet Gros was able to make the reader discover the joys of walking for the first time in our lives, such is the fluency of his words and cogency of his explorations. He adroitly explores the wonders behind the different kinds of feelings that we get from walking, the feeling of slowness, the solitude of taking a walk, the silences that surrounds us during a walk, the simple pleasures of a stroll, the sensual pleasures of walking in a public garden, and the role of an urban flâneur, and the importance of the pilgrimages, amongst many other topics.

Interspersed amongst the explorations of many different kinds of walking are chapters devoted to people from history who are known for their walking habits. Philosophers like Nietzsche, Rimbaud, Rousseau, Thoreau, Nerval, Kant, and Gandhi. Each of the essay on these philosophers gives concise histories of each philosopher and relates how their philosophical treatises are affected by their walking habit.

I was familiar particularly with Nietzsche, Kant, Thoreau, and Gandhi and the roles that their walking played in their philosophical works, yet Gros was able to expand my understanding of these philosophers. The author could have expended considerable amount of pages on each of those philosophers I mentioned, and it is very much to his credit that he did not overextend his discourses on the obvious subjects because his circumspection in that regard served his purpose of integrating the practice of walking into those philosopher’s philosophical work. He could have expounded on the histories of the philosophers and then digressed into their philosophies in general; but his prudence and economy of explanation allowed the readers to focus on walking.

This was a book that I read in those moments when I am in the mood for a short respite from deliberate bouts of concentration while I am reading non-fiction or if I needed to rest my imagination from too much thought perturbations from reading long and convoluted novels; as rewarding much as those reads are, sometimes a break is needed to refresh my mind. The essays in this book are immensely enjoyable and are of a length that will allow my mind to relax as I am able to focus on something other than complex and dense material. I would like to think that creating this kind of reading habit and spacing the shorter essays in-between heavier readings is also helping me re-learn how to read deeply for short periods of time, which will return me to being able to read and think deeply for longer periods of time. Regardless of whether my method meets its intended purpose, I am enjoying the exercise. 

 

 

Book Review-A History of Reading By Alberto Manguel

I was encouraged to jump into this book on the history of reading after having read Alberto Manguel’s short book Packing My Library (https://polymathtobe.blogspot.com/2023/03/book-review-packing-my-library-by.html), on his elegy to his library in France, it was the library that he had wanted for all of his life but one that he had to give it up for unspecified reason. This book on the history of reading had also been cited by Maryanne Wolf in her book Proust and the Squid (https://polymathtobe.blogspot.com/2023/10/book-review-proust-and-squid-by.html) as a source of her research on reading. It was a serendipitous discovery for me as I would not have consciously sought out a history of reading.

The book comprises of 22 essays, with ten essays collected under the section titled Acts of Reading, and ten essays collected under the section titled Powers of the Reader. A leading section and essay titled The Last Page  led off the book and an ending section and essay titled  Endpaper Pages. What happened between The Last Page and Endpaper Pages was sheer reading pleasure about reading.

Manguel is erudite and a thorough researcher, more importantly, he is an excellent storyteller, never straying too far into pedantisms yet also digging into the granularities deep enough to satisfy the reader’s curiosity. The subject of the book may seem to be a topic that could be a snoozer; I must admit that I am one of the select many who find the subject more than a little interesting, but I am the kind of geek that this book was written for. \

Where else does one find out that it was the norm in the time of St. Augustine for readers read loudly and in public, whereas our habits are that such that reading is done silently. Or having the history of language, writing, and reading explained in an erudite and clear fashion. Or having the neurological theories of how humans developed the ability to create and  decipher written language and develop the ability to suss out the different meaning that are imbued in the words, albeit his explanations are not at the levels of neuroscientific depth as a textbook but it is clear and delivered in a concise manner.

Far be it for me to recite the content of the book in a book review, because the surprise to the reader comes from the unexpectedness of the topic and the histories in the form of the stories woven into the essays are not only informational but completely entertaining.

Manguel writes with the rigorousness and discipline of a literary scholar that he is. He has also selected the subject of each essay with foresight and structure that gives the reader sufficient guidance to accumulate the facts through the stories and references that he cited. The book is an interesting conglomeration of genres: as a serious history book and as an informative tome to be read for pleasure.

It is my habit to set aside time at the end of the day for relaxing reading. The books that I read are usually some mindless fictions, mostly mysteries, so that my mind can be relaxed in order to prepare for sleep; or a book of essays that are short enough to be consumed pre-slumber while also interesting enough to give my mind a gentle workout, to exhaust it enough to make it welcome the advancing sandman. This book fits the bill on many occasions. I did not read it with a set of expectations, I read it as a source of pleasure and  knowledge. The essays consistently drew in my interest, and I gained knowledge with every essay.

I would suggest reading this book with the same easy and unhurried approach. The beauty of this subject is that I plan on returning to the book as a reference on the history of language in general as well as a handy book of essays, to be re-read and enjoyed.

I so enjoyed this book that I had sought our other books written by Alberto Manguel before I had finished this one so that I can have the books in my possession so that I can reach for them when the mood strikes.