Scan barcode
rogerb's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I read this as homework for the Aberystwyth Book Club (Hay Festival :-) ).
I might have picked this up anyway, as it appeals to the psychogeographer in me: Sarn Helen was a Roman road from the south to the north that Bullough walked.
He is an established writer and his prose is poetic: sometimes just a bit too purple for my taste. We get plenty of descriptions of what goes on during the route, all the more interesting when he comes close to Aber. He is a good observer of what he sees, and the people, and picks out the contradictions well. It's about Wales, and it's internal differences and external relevance, over many centuries.
The book is in fact two, as he intersperses interviews/conversations with a number of ranking climate scientists who do a very good job of explaining that we are going to hell in a handcart, with no way back (i.e, "it's too late"). It's interesting have this allied to observations on per-Roman, Roman, and post-Roman days, and what the lane was like then (e.g., more curlews). The other backdrops are Covid, and his part in an XR trial (he was found guilty).
I don't think I learned too much science, but I learned about the Sarn: very often he comments on the A470 which tracks it in a way ... interesting. There's very little about being a Roman, but a good deal on the Saints: they were probably nutters, albeit well-meaning. Certainly a lot more peaceful than the Saxons over the border.
Tempted to look out more by this man. Pity I missed him doing a reading in Waterspoons.
I might have picked this up anyway, as it appeals to the psychogeographer in me: Sarn Helen was a Roman road from the south to the north that Bullough walked.
He is an established writer and his prose is poetic: sometimes just a bit too purple for my taste. We get plenty of descriptions of what goes on during the route, all the more interesting when he comes close to Aber. He is a good observer of what he sees, and the people, and picks out the contradictions well. It's about Wales, and it's internal differences and external relevance, over many centuries.
The book is in fact two, as he intersperses interviews/conversations with a number of ranking climate scientists who do a very good job of explaining that we are going to hell in a handcart, with no way back (i.e, "it's too late"). It's interesting have this allied to observations on per-Roman, Roman, and post-Roman days, and what the lane was like then (e.g., more curlews). The other backdrops are Covid, and his part in an XR trial (he was found guilty).
I don't think I learned too much science, but I learned about the Sarn: very often he comments on the A470 which tracks it in a way ... interesting. There's very little about being a Roman, but a good deal on the Saints: they were probably nutters, albeit well-meaning. Certainly a lot more peaceful than the Saxons over the border.
Tempted to look out more by this man. Pity I missed him doing a reading in Waterspoons.
gareth_beniston's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
A rich, somber and essential book.
More...