The Walk

By William deBuys

Book Overview

Set, like River of Traps, on a small farm in a New Mexican mountain valley that the author has tended since 1977, The Walk explores the illuminating ways in which personal and natural history interweave in a familiar environment. A kind of love story about a landscape, the book consists of three interrelated essays -- "The Walk," "Geranium," and "Paradiso." These pieces move from a period of strife and conflict in the author's life to a place of limbo, to a place of peace -- or, as the author says -- from "inferno to purgatorio, and finally to paradiso." DeBuys takes the same walk each morning, through the woods near his farm, and arrives at a clarity that comes from observing life carefully from the same vantage point for years. DeBuys, one of the country's premier nature writers, is revered for his compassionate, clarifying prose. The Walk only reinforces that reputation.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1595340270
• ISBN13: 9781595340276
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Trinity University Press
• Length: 155 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Deep, thoughtful, poignant.

"The Walk" is a deep and thoughtful memoir. Nature writing at its best because the book pays close attention to the energy and mystery that pervade the natural world. This is book about a special place, but one that transcends a specific location. A place that offers healing, lessons for life, and lessons about relating to the landscape. Walking can certainly be a form of meditation and deBuys takes it to a higher level with this outstanding book. It brings to mind the ancient wisdom that goes something like, "As much may be learned by climbing a mountain 100 times as by climbing 100 mountains." On a personal level, "The Walk" reminds me of a place I frequented over the course of 25 years. My parents once owned land in Colorado and we walked around the 80 acres hundreds of times over the years, including many midnight walks. We learned exquisite details of the land and creatures and saw changes, both subtle and obvious, over the course of a day, a season, and over many years, both on the land and across the surrounding territory. For the "saunterers" among us, "The Walk" is a must read. By Kyle Gardner, author of Medicine Rock Reflections

a New Mexico treasure

Like DeBuys, I live in New Mexico, but I think anyone not from the Land of Enchantment would enjoy this beautifully written book. In the spirit of Thoreau or Dillard perhaps, DeBuys takes us on a rambling walk on his farm, somewhere just off the High Road between Santa Fe and Taos. It is a pleasure to take this walk with him through his arroyos, creeks, meadows, and woods. Along the way, he meditates on the region's natural and human history, and on personal issues of divorce and death, but finds a peaceful sense of redemption in the beauty of his surroundings. This book is really about seeing, though, and seeing with clarity and grace.

Written in a contemplative style reminiscent of Thoreau

Pulitzer Prize finalist William deBuys presents The Walk, a novel of the beauty of nature, and how it aids one man in the rediscovery of hope after the end of a long marriage and the death of a close friend. Set in the more secluded regions of New Mexico, The Walk particularly reflects upon the noble spirit of horses; equines literally and figuratively play a crucial role in the protagonist's long journey to healing. Written in a contemplative style reminiscent of Thoreau, The Walk is a moving expression of love of the land and its natural creatures.