Downhill all the Way: Walking with Donkeys on the Stevenson Trail Book

I was hopeful I would love this book about canoeing through France and Belgium in 1876, though I was familiar with only one line'"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune and misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."'which I have been writing on bathroom walls since 1978.

Stevenson's novels were read by children when I was young, and I have particular affection still for Treasure Island, but I had never read his travel books'a bit of an innovation in its day. I was delighted with what I found. Stevenson speaks fondly of women and Gypsies, and thus earns my affection. He writes beautifully, and thus earns my admiration.

And there is this, yet another great truth among many in this slim volume: "You may paddle all day long; but it is when you come back at nightfall, and look in at the familiar room, that you find Love or Death awaiting you beside the stove; and the most beautiful adventures are not those we go to seek."

Perhaps the particular edition I am reading deceives only 4 stars for the unattractive format. I wish I'd tracked down an old copy, smelling of aging paper and bearing the stains and creases of much use.