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<\/p>\nCharlie Hill\u2019s slim paperback more than makes up for its lack of length and detail with the depth and perceptivity of his observations as he charts a series of walks he has made through locations in England, Scotland and Wales. The book\u2019s format is simple: each short essay focuses on a particular place Hill has visited in recent years, some urban and some and others rural, and crafts a collecion of meditations on what he sees, hears, thinks and feels.<\/p>\n
img src=”https:\/\/psychogeographicreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contents-774×1024.jpg” sizes=”(max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px” srcset=”https:\/\/psychogeographicreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contents-774×1024.jpg 774w, <\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Mercifully, there is nothing self-consciously clever or showy about Hill\u2019s prose, though his resume suggests he is more than capable of writing in this way if he chose to. Instead, he tells his story, his series of stories, simply and clearly. However, the overall achievement of these separate pieces, when considered as a whole, is to present us with something much more profound. Hill\u2019s snapshots show a nation in flux, its people split by division. He feels the weight of history resting heavily on today and senses anxiety about the future underlying much of Britain\u2019s public discourse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But there is hope aplenty. Like some latter-day pilgrim Hill sketches a starburst of destinations radiating out from his home in Birmingham, England\u2019s phrenic centre.\u00a0 He is everyman and everywoman, he is you and me, and he guides us on his walks with humour and good sense and, despite the despair he notes in some quarters, he also meets kindness, acceptance and positivity wherever he goes. Though simple and staightforward on the surface, Hill\u2019s writing conjures up a deep poetic beauty.<\/p>\n