Stephanie Jane reviewed Where the Wild Winds Are by Nick Hunt
Fascinating memoir
4 stars
As a keen walker, I always enjoy a good walking memoir, especially one with an unusual hook, so when I saw a copy of Where The Wild Winds Are on a friend's bookshelf I had it borrowed faster than he could say, 'I haven't actually read that myself yet'! I'm more of a fair weather walker so the idea of deliberately searching out walks to undertake them when strong winds were blowing struck me as odd to say the least. I thought Nick Hunt might be made from the Robert MacFarlane mould, but it turns out he's not quite that extreme.
The first of Nick Hunt's wind walks was across the Pennines in search of The Helm wind. His nods to Simon Armitage's Walking Home memoir of the same area, and to James Turrell's Skyscape sculptures (one of which I experienced in Norfolk) gave his writing a sense of familiarity. …
As a keen walker, I always enjoy a good walking memoir, especially one with an unusual hook, so when I saw a copy of Where The Wild Winds Are on a friend's bookshelf I had it borrowed faster than he could say, 'I haven't actually read that myself yet'! I'm more of a fair weather walker so the idea of deliberately searching out walks to undertake them when strong winds were blowing struck me as odd to say the least. I thought Nick Hunt might be made from the Robert MacFarlane mould, but it turns out he's not quite that extreme.
The first of Nick Hunt's wind walks was across the Pennines in search of The Helm wind. His nods to Simon Armitage's Walking Home memoir of the same area, and to James Turrell's Skyscape sculptures (one of which I experienced in Norfolk) gave his writing a sense of familiarity. I loved that, throughout this book, Hunt not only talks about his immediate experiences and the walks themselves, but also gives readers lots of varied information about the history of the places he visits, art, philosophy and, of course, meteorology. The people he encounters also seem to be genuinely just-met rather than all chosen ahead of time for their 'jolly anecdote' potential! I just wish I could remember half the details of what I read for more than the duration of a chapter. There is so much to learn that I feel I need to make a serious study of Where The Wild Winds Are in order to truly do Hunt's research justice.
This memoir is certainly inspirational for anyone who walks, travels or cloud watches. Each of Hunt's four walks is accompanied by an outline map of his route and I am now tempted to follow in his footsteps along parts of the Slovenia-Croatia walk and along the French one. Contrary to his intent though, I would much rather walk on a non-windy day!