Fieldnote #25: What To Read
Books on Walking
Walks with Robert Walser by Carl Seelig
In Walks with Robert Walser, Carl Seelig records his many walks with the Swiss writer Robert Walser during the 1930s and 40s, after Walser had withdrawn into a sanatorium. The book unfolds as a series of conversations along country roads, where everyday observations mix with reflections on literature, art, and life itself. Walser’s gentle wit and Seelig’s attentive ear make these walks a portrait of companionship as much as a chronicle of thought. The book is a beautiful reminder that sometimes, maybe even most of the time, the deepest exchanges happen not in formal rooms, but side by side, step by step.
January 2, 1944
“Shall we pay our respects to Hölderlin today?” I ask. Robert replies: “Hölderin? What a delightful idea! Hopefully we won’t get as soaked as I did last Sunday afternoon, when a veritable deluge poured down on me. I returned to the asylum like the lousiest tramp.” Today, too, despite the cold, he has brought neither overcoat nor umbrella. He looks rather raffish in his worn-out yellow-checked suit, gentian blue shirt, red-striped tie, and rolled-up trousers.
We strike out briskly on the lightly snow-covered street that leads to Goßgau…
Seelig, Carl. Walks with Walser. Translated by Anne Posten. New Directions, 2017.
❧
Thank you for walking with me.
See you next Friday,
xx
Jana
📕Out now: Walk Her Way New York City. A Walking Guide to Women’s History. (Hardie Grant, 2025) | the book on amazon