“A Field Guide to Getting Lost” -Rebecca Solnit (2006)
Earlier this year, a friend recommended Solnit’s “Wanderlust” to me, but instead I ended up reading “A Field Guide to Getting Lost.” I already own her book “Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas,” which is a gorgeous piece of work, but this was the first ‘traditional’ writing of hers that I started reading.
What it’s about is hard to explain. It was a lot deeper than I expected, and more intellectual than I was prepared for. So instead of being a quick read, this book took almost a month for me to finish, because each chapter needed to be read slowly and digested a bit, before moving on to the next.
Of course, there were some chapters that were engaging and wonderful, and a few that simply bored me, but even so, I really did love the way Solnit explored the idea of what ‘lost’ means—and not just a textbook definition of lost. At the same time, it was lovely how there was a connecting thread running through the book, bringing all these separate pieces together, making them the opposite of their subject.
Read this book for sure, but take your time to really soak it up.
Began: 25 February 2013
Ended: 17 March 2014
Edition: Kindle
Pages: 224