Walking Away: Simon Armitage
Armitage has long been a British literary hero of mine. I’ve chosen to teach his poetry, coupled with the genius of Carol Ann Duffy, over Heaney and Clarke’s for a decade.
The only tattoo I’ve seriously considered getting is a 2 part tribute to ‘Mother any Distance…’ (An anchor and a kite, for those of you in the know).
‘Walking Away’ is a sequel to Simon Armitage's acclaimed bestseller ‘Walking Home’. The titles are dead giveaways, in the first he walks towards home and in the second away from it. You don’t need to read the first one, as they are stand-alone journeys. Originally he walked the Pennine Way as a self-professed “modern-day troubadour”.
This time, the journey covers the same distance but through the very opposite terrain and direction, leading him as far away from home as possible.The route he follows gives a great insight into the coastal fringes of Britain's south-west.
So, if you appreciate anecdotes about the quirks of places, elements of this will really appeal to you. Another element of the narrative is, like the predecessor, him giving readings every night, in exchange for food and board. Armitage insinuates he’s on an intellectual voyage through Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, taking poetry into distant communities and tourist hot-spots and seeing if it can be well-received.This is where my first issue lies. ‘Walking Home’ won awards, so he’s already seen the formulae works, making this second attempt seem much paler in comparison.
Also, Armitage is no novice on the literary scene, he frequently gives readings and is paid to do so. He does hand out a forlorn sock in an attempt to fit the role, but unlike Troubadours of yore, he already knows in advance, that even if collects nothing his next gig is booked and his food and board are sorted. Troubadours probably didn’t have agents.However, that is a pedantic niggle, the real reason ‘Walking Away’ was a struggle for me was because our narrator is so grouchy! It’s a novel that has you slogging across mud to make headway. You can attribute that to the hideous lengths of paragraphs, but mostly, Armitage, such an astute observer of nuance, blunted his own craftsmanship with harsh, dismissive descriptors of hosts and companions alike. Now and then he seems to have a little nip at the hand that feeds!
Two great quotes: Here, he describes the home of Jane Darke who with her husband, the late Nick Darke, made an art form out of beachcombing:
The whole house is an installation worthy of the Turner prize shortlist, though not nearly self-conscious or self-regarding enough to win.
Here, typical Armitagesque wit:
Croyde has a particular reputation, reinforced by the prescence of well-moisturised teenage boys with public-school haircuts, loafing on their surfboards and enjoying the sound of their own nick-names.
If you like: Bill Bryson, ‘A Walk in the Woods’Cheryl Strayed ‘Wild’ Sharp British humour, accounts of hiking, reading about the UK and poetic observations and phraseology, ‘Walking Away’ may be for you.
