4 out of 5 stars
The publisher provided a copy of this, free of charge, in return for an honest review.
I can’t say I have a favourite season, they each have their positives and negatives, but of all of them, winter can feel like it is dragging sometimes. But it is the perfect season for reading, immersing yourself in the words others have written from their experiences and travels.
I thought that this was an interesting collection of essays and extracts of non-fiction, fiction and poetry that Campbell has chosen. The extracts are not all from recent writers, it begins with a heartfelt paragraph from Anne Frank as she mourns the lack of fresh air in her hiding place. There is a piece written by a Japanese lady from 1000 years ago and musings from Darwin, Jansson and folk tales from Iceland.
As with any collection, there are some pieces that I really enjoyed and others that didn’t move me at all. It was good to find the always brilliant Tim Dee in here, I can’t think of anything of his work that I didn’t love reading. I should also note that this is the first time that I have ever read anything by a Bronte!
The other pleasure from this is discovering new authors. I have a copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau that I picked up recently, but have not read it yet, based on the two extracts in here it should be really good. My favourite piece though was Encounters on the Road of Hercules by Charlotte Du Cann. I thought it was a stunning piece of travel writing and I have a new author’s work to explore. I personally prefer to have the author bio with the piece, rather than at the back as I don’t like flicking back and forwards every time, but that is just my view. Really good collection that I can recommend.
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