If you go to the website caughtbytheriver.net (and why wouldn’t
you?) you’ll find and extract/sampler/cut up from the opening of Walking in Ruins. It starts like this:
By Geoff Nicholson
ONE:
If, like me, you happen to
have written a book titled The Lost Art of Walking, people tend to ask
you, “What’s your favourite walk?” I always find this a really difficult
question. I want to answer honestly, and I definitely don’t want to be evasive
or pretentious, but the answer always escapes me.
More and
more I find that if I’m in walking in an area of unspoiled natural beauty, or in
a city of great vistas and magnificent architecture, I’ll be impressed, I’ll be
appreciative, but the truth is, I’m often slightly bored in these places. Only
a fool would bad-mouth the Champs-Élysées or the Lake District, but I just
don’t get very excited about walking there. Whereas if I’m walking along a
beach and discover some ruined bungalows, or if I’m at the edge of a city and
find a wrecked and abandoned warehouse or barn, then I’m fascinated, I’m moved.
And that’s why I’ve written a new book titled Walking in Ruins.
You can read the full piece (and much more besides) on the website here:
