4.5

This will change your life

A wonderful journey through various outdoor swimming spots in Britain, including seas, rivers, lakes, canals and more. Roger Deakin writes about his experiences swimming with such fantastic descriptions that you feel like you're there with him. Inspiring and makes me want to get outdoors and swim. My only wish for this book would have been some photos of the places he visited.

Nature writer Roger Deakin 'wild swims' his way across England, Scotland and Wales, starting in the moat of his 16th Century farmhouse in Suffolk during a thunderstorm. Deakin swims in rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, lochs, bogs and the North Sea. The book becomes an account of the health of Britain's water systems, the healthiness of swimming in cold water, the subversive nature of outdoor swimming (not everyone is endeared to his public dips). I thought this book might get tedious (how much can you write about swimming outdoors?), but I didn't want it to end. Deakin's descriptions of swimming locales, engagement with local residents, and the historical/political/environmental view of swimming in Britain is fascinating, and his appreciation of and engagement with the natural world is inspirational. It really is a remarkable book with a wonderful finish. Highly recommended.

This is not an activity I would ever consider undertaking even with better swimming skills. But I am so glad he did. It offers such an unusual glimpse of the countryside, traditions, and people in each place he wades into.

A silvery submersion into water around England. Beautifully written with research in person as well as libraries. Undercurrents of the politics of swimming with eddys of historical tales from the riverbanks.

wonderful

I found the book "waterlog" on a page called "caught by the river" which celebrates writing; poems, nonfiction, fiction, music, about nature.

Waterlog by Roger Deakin is the story of the author "wild swimming" across the United Kingdom. Deakin is a true English eccentric and his writing had me reaching for the internet to find the locations of swims and the meaning of lots of words.

Bella bought it for me for Christmas.

I loved it and I will read it again.