Description
THE JOY OF WALKING
Book summary
This anthology brings together essays, fiction, and poetry from more than forty classic authors who explore the act of walking as a source of inspiration, creativity, and freedom. From Wordsworth to Tagore, including Dickens and Maragall, the work celebrates the virtues of walking in the countryside, the dangers of the city, and the healing power of putting one foot in front of the other. A selection that invites you to rediscover the pleasure of slowness in a fast-paced world.
What is it about?
The book is a thematic anthology that collects texts from diverse literary genres—essays, narrative, and poetry—united by the common thread of walking. The selection, curated by Suzy Cripps and Enric Faura, presents complementary visions: some authors, such as William Wordsworth and Walt Whitman, extol the solitary walk through nature; others, such as Charles Dickens and E. M. Forster, contrast that joy with the risks of urban travel. Writers such as Emily Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell find in the walk a path toward freedom and intimacy. Taken together, the work argues that walking can be a healing practice, a valuable lesson for the contemporary world. It includes translations by Josep Maria Fulquet and authors such as Henry David Thoreau, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Charles Baudelaire, Santiago Rusiñol, and Joan Maragall, among others.
Main themes
- Walking as a source of literary inspiration and creativity.
- The contrast between rural walking and the urban experience.
- The walk as a path toward personal freedom and intimacy.
- The healing and meditative power of the act of walking.
- Slowness and contemplation as an antidote to today's hectic pace.
Who is it recommended for?
For readers interested in classic literature, thematic anthologies, and non-fiction prose. Especially recommended for those seeking a leisurely and reflective read, nature lovers, avid walkers, and people who want a work that combines essay, fiction, and poetry around an everyday experience elevated to art.
What this book offers
- A careful selection of texts by more than forty classic authors, many previously unpublished in Catalan.
- A plural perspective on walking, from creative freedom to emotional refuge.
- An invitation to slow down the pace of life and rediscover the pleasure of observation.
- A literary journey that connects Anglo-Saxon, French, and Catalan traditions.
- A work that can be read both linearly and in fragments, ideal for short reading sessions.
Data sheet
- Author: Various Authors
- Publisher: Cossetania
- Language: Catalan
- Topic: Biography: general, Prose: non-fiction, Anthologies (non-poetic)
- Collection: La Mandragora
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: March 2026
- Number of pages: 224
- Weight: 350 g
Editorial review
A well-conceived anthology that brings together essential voices of world literature around a universal theme. The selection by Cripps and Faura manages to balance canonical authors with lesser-known ones, offering the reader a varied and enriching experience. The translation by Josep Maria Fulquet ensures linguistic quality. It is a book that connects with contemporary sensitivity toward well-being and slowness, without losing literary rigor. Recommended both for collectors of anthologies and for those who wish for a first approach to these authors from a thematic perspective.