Roger Deakin (1943–2006)

I'll confess up front: the sections set in the Australian outback nearly lost me because the place is so foreign to my experience that I had little interest in Deakin's explorations there. But all the rest of the book made up for it, especially his stories of the walnut-growing regions of Central Asia.
As I reached the end of the book, I was feeling particularly aware of Deakin's untimely death and how sad it is that the world will not have lots more of his wonderful prose in years to come. I'll be starting [b:Notes From Walnut Tree Farm|4327583|Notes From Walnut Tree Farm|Roger Deakin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330441657s/4327583.jpg|4375388] later this week.… (mere)

This is wonderfully written, but it didn't really speak to me. I think to be enjoyable for me, nature writing has to be either very geographically relevant or written about somewhere exotic and intriguing. Living in Australia, where water is scarce and often not inviting to swim in, I found it hard to connect with the natural world these stories describe.

I also think there are some cultural differences in how we view swimming. I love swimming in fresh water and do it whenever I get the chance, but we have glorious beaches here as well, so "wild swimming" more often means bodysurfing somewhere truly beautiful than pottering about in fresh water while getting flashbacks to childhood ear infections. It's also pretty warm here, so swimming in winter doesn't require a wetsuit.

I haven't rated the book as it really does seem very well-written and if I ever live in England again I might well pick it up again for inspiration.… (mere)