Reviews for Secret Worlds of Colin Fletcher

The average rating for Secret Worlds of Colin Fletcher based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-06-21 00:00:00 Vernell Mcgee A mature Colin Fletcher collects a series of short stories. The last being my favorite. This is Colin's secret trail. My friend Steve J. knew Colin better. My attempt to write him fan mail decades ago while I was in high school to his publisher was wasted. Years later when Steve and I had a news group rapport, via email, Steve let me know that Colin "did not do fan mail". An audio version exists and I've listened to it, since I was familiar with the paper book to get a sense of the technology. I think for me and my generation, ink on paper lasted better, but I have serious sympathy with the vision impaired. How will I be when I get to that age? Fortunately, Colin did not disappoint. This was not his last book (I have not picked up Winds for some reason; maybe I'm just not that into Africa). River: One Man's Journey Down the Colorado, Source to Sea would come out after a few years. Solid 4 stars.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-12-06 00:00:00 Jay Irwin Secret Worlds was published almost thirty years ago (1989). It's a wonderful read, a collection of short stories by and about a curmudgeonly British expat backpacker. Fletcher wrote several outstanding books in the 70s and 80s about long distance hiking. His descriptions and insights have never failed to connect with me. In the late sixties a copy of Fletcher's The Complete Walker fell in to my hands and my life was changed forever. Even to a teenager, it was obvious this man could both write and hike. To this day, I still hike and I still practice many of the habits I picked up from the Fletcher School of backpacking so long ago. One of my favorite quotes from Fletcher, which I still often repeat to myself when I encounter an obstacle in life or on the trail, is "Never step on something you can step over, and never step over something you can walk around." How may different ways can you interpret that bit of wisdom? This book is less about technique and more about philosophy and natural science. And much like my dogearred forty-plus year old copy of The Complete Walker, Secret Worlds is a book I see myself returning to again and again.