The Old Ways
A Journey on Foot
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The Old Ways
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Narrated by:
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Roy McMillan
About this listen
The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of Robert MacFarlane’s The Old Ways, a major new book from one of Britain’s finest nature writers about landscape and the human heart. Read by Roy McMillan.
In The Old Ways, Robert Macfarlane sets off from his Cambridge home to follow the ancient tracks, holloways, drove-roads, and sea paths that form part of a vast network of routes crisscrossing the British landscape and its waters, and connecting them to the continents beyond. The result is an immersive, enthralling exploration of the ghosts and voices that haunt old paths, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, of pilgrimage and ritual, and of song lines and their singers. Above all this is a book about people and place: about walking as a reconnoiter inwards, and the subtle ways in which we are shaped by the landscapes through which we move.
Told in Macfarlane’s distinctive and celebrated voice, the book folds together natural history, cartography, geology, archaeology, and literature. His tracks take him from the chalk downs of England to the bird-islands of the Scottish northwest, and from the disputed territories of Palestine to the sacred landscapes of Spain and the Himalayas. Along the way he walks stride for stride with a 5000-year-old man near Liverpool, follows the ‘deadliest path in Britain’, sails an open boat out into the Atlantic at night and crosses paths with walkers of many kinds - wanderers, wayfarers, pilgrims, guides, shamans, poets, trespassers, and devouts.
He discovers that paths offer not just means of traversing space, but also of feeling, knowing, and thinking. The old ways lead us unexpectedly to the new, and the voyage out is always a voyage inwards.
©2012 Robert Macfarlane (P)2012 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Old Ways
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- James Peck
- 17-01-19
Great inspection of what it is to walk!
Great but difficult to hear a couple of chapters. Heartily recommended for how Robert visits the idea of thoughts of senses through walking!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 26-01-20
A must read/listen
A wonderful thought provoking step into incredible journeys on foot. Whether you love to walk or just love the thought of striding through nature . Loved it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jon
- 22-07-15
Evocative and inspirational
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes
Takes one out of the humdrum of daily life into a world that is on our doorstep
What did you like best about this story?
Very evocative in its description of the routes and the writers personal experience and emotion whilst on them.
What about Roy McMillan’s performance did you like?
Caught the mood perfectly in his narration, measured but not tedious
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Really enjoyed the routes and moments described for Scotalnd, the waterways round Skye and the Cairngorms
Any additional comments?
A great read and/listen
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- keren cornelius
- 20-02-21
Like listening to a scratched cd.
Unfortunately the recording kept skipping like a scratched CD. Lovely book but the recording was faulty for me, I have no idea why.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JOC
- 06-11-24
Capturing the poetry and magic of path
The Old Ways is so beautiful it literally made me groan at times. It is sublime, as is Robert Macfarline's appreciation of old ways.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Graham
- 12-10-14
Most enjoyable
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Initially I found it a little hard to get into but once over the first 20 minutes or so, I couldn't stop listening. In fact, I found it mesmerising and fascinating at the same time. Would thoroughly recommend this book.
What other book might you compare The Old Ways to, and why?
I understand Robert Macfarlane has published a couple of other books; I wish these were available as audiobooks also.
What about Roy McMillan’s performance did you like?
The narration perfectly complements the book.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I listen to audiobooks whilst driving and found this perfectly acceptable to listen to in "chunks".
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- E T-Watson
- 11-01-23
A book that lives in my head
MacFarlane writes in pictures & emotions, yet packs in geographic, cultural, and historic detail along the way. I struggled with the first book I read of his (Mountains of the Mind) but combining a physical reading with this audiobook made The Old Ways a delightful journey in so many ways. Highly recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. S. M. Hornby
- 21-02-23
A deep and thoughtful look at ‘walking’
I loved this book! I think my third by Macfarlane. He always takes me places I would otherwise never venture to…..so always feels like an adventure! Such varied experiences shared, perspectives considered.
It did take just a little to get going….but got hooked after that.
Absolutely love the narration— if I wrote a book, I would want it narrated by him!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ms. J. P. Stanton
- 17-05-23
Submersible listening
I have travelled’The Old Ways’ with R Mc Farlane. There’s joy, sadness and mysticism. Beautiful.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dominic Doran
- 11-06-22
Transformed Audible for me.
Previously I had thought no narrator could hold a match to the expertise of Stephen Fry. Roy McMillan has educated me.
This audiobook is a perfect union between a master of written language and a master of spoken language. Every sentence has been a delight to experience.
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