One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.
I can’t remember exactly how I found Loafing Down Long Island by Charles Hanson Towne. Maybe I was searching for books about walking? Or books similar to The Great Gatsby? I do remember buying this book online and then setting it aside for a few years.
I remember looking for and buying this book online, but it’s one of the strangest printings I’ve every seen. The text is set differently on almost every page, clearly copied from an older test, but no care was taken to make each page match up. The cover is also of a strange dry itchy sort of plastic coating that is the first I’ve ever come across. The feeling is extremely unpleasantly dry to me, but once I got into the book, I forgot all about it.
Follow Towne on a Summer jaunt from one end of Long Island, NY, to the other. Even in 1921, or there abouts when this book was published, Long Island was a popular Summer destination. But Townes astonishes and amazing his friends and aquiantences by going on his Summer adventure on foot!
The moment I opened this book, I knew it was a book for me. The first few lines read as follows: “When I speak of the difficulties of walking, I do not refer to the infirmities of age, to flat feet…Not at all. I mean that it is hard indeed in these rushing times to go afoot…without being considered eccentric.” A problem I can relate to today, I thought immediately! I love to travel by foot, it is one of my favorite modes of transport and a favorite past time, so I was right away hooked. People always look at me askance when I turn down a ride in a car, or end up somewhere wet, from a sudden rain storm, or choose to take a longer route so that the walk is extended. Towne, considered the quintessential New Yorker of his time, writes like a cross between F Scott Fitzgerald, PG Wodehouse, with a little bit of Bill Bryson. He is free with his opinions, and can be a bit judgemental, but Loafing reads like a diary, including thoughts, conversations, ideas, and songs or poems. But it’s also a bit of a guide book: Towne points out areas of interest, shares history and suggests sights to visit. It’s clear that he has a deep love for NY in general and Manhattan specifically. The way he write reminds me of so many things I love about Brooklyn and other areas of Long Island and how special a place it is. I would highly recommend this book for those who also love NYC and Long Island, those who like travel tales, fans of F Scott Fitzgerald, or those who really like to walk.
Do you like to read books about activities? Walking, hiking, sailing, etc… What book like this have you read?
