A Philosophy of Walking

In this meditation on the mental pleasures and requirements of walking, French philosopher Gros (Michel Foucault) focuses on long walks among nature, where even if “fog shrouds the mountains or rain starts to fall in sheets,” the walker must forge ahead. On such journeys, one throws “off the yoke of routine,” leaving the confines of the office for the freedom of the road, where creativity can ferment. Such trips call for slowness, allowing “every hour, every minute, every second to breathe, to deepen.” They also require solitude to find one’s basic rhythm, the pattern “that suits you, so well that you don’t tire and can keep it up for ten hours,” although small groups allow for company without the need for disruptive conversation. In between these ruminations are chapters on philosophers, writers, and activists well-known for their walking habits: Nietzsche, whose long walks in the Italian hills helped his crippling headaches; Kant, renowned for his daily five o’clock walk in any weather; Rimbaud, who travelled to Paris several times as a teenager, mainly on foot, then spent his last few years in the desert, “walking towards the sun”; and Gandhi. who spent much of his life walking around India, fighting for independence. This elegant book inspires consideration of an oft-overlooked subject. (Apr.)