In anticipation of spring, the Mountain Publishing House has published Marjan Bradešek's Walking, So I'm Going, a book that irresistibly invites us to nature and the mountains with a keen sense of the word. Even though it is fiction, readers will find in it enough inspiration to discover beautiful places in the mountains and beyond, and the awareness to approach the mountains with respect and prudence and to take away memories that give them strength for everyday life. The book reads like poetry, and walking keeps the spring in us.
Walking keeps spring in us
In his fiction debut Walking, So I'm Going, Marjan Bradeško describes in 32 stories his travels from the karst hills of Slovenian Istria to Triglav, from the gloomy ravines of the foothills of the Julian Alps to the hills of the Alps. He lingers among the hills of his native Polhograje, but also invites the reader across the border, to the Western Julian Mountains and the Zilj Alps. In between, he adds impressions from hikes among lavender fields in Provence or lakes in the Pyrenees, and finally he sets off on several multi-day hikes along the Slovenian Alpine Route. Through Bradešek's descriptions, the reader smells early spring, feels the glow of white rocks in the hot summer, retreats from winter storms, waits fearfully for a bear where there is none, or smiles at interesting adventures, such as rescuing a dog from the icy Velika Dnina or seeing a mountain girl in the Bele potok (White Stream).
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He often links the experience of mountains with the experience of music, and his writing reads like poetry. Photo: Mojca Izgoršek Bradeško
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The book was written and meditated on over the years as he walked the mountains, hills and plains. Photo: Marjan Bradeško
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All this experience is beautiful, yes, often poetic. I am happy if I manage to put all these voices into simple words. So that the reader can then create the image, the sounds, the feelings," explains the author. Photo: Iztok Medja/slovenia.info
Looking for the paths that aren't there
Bradeško walked many of the routes alone, some with his wife Mojca and daughter Urška, and was often accompanied by his now deceased best friend Dario Cortese. It was innate for him to look for paths that had disappeared or had almost disappeared. "As children, we walked in the woods a lot, picking mushrooms and blueberries, and as I was the eldest, I had to bring my two younger brothers home safely. This curiosity about what is beyond seems to be innate in me. So, for me, the search is a test of my abilities and finding a passage is a satisfaction, a joy, because the effort has brought me a new experience.
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So for him, the search is a test of abilities and finding a passage is a satisfaction, a joy, because the effort has brought him a new experience. Photo: Iztok Medja/slovenia.info
Silence also sounds
The added value of Bradeško's fiction debut is that it makes the reader's soles tingle and want to venture out into lonely paths, wild potholes and remote ravines. "Adequate physical fitness and a respectful attitude towards nature and the undertaking are essential, even if it is only for an hour's walk. But the book is not a guidebook, so it also requires a certain amount of research, a good sense of the map and a good eye for identifying the features of the landscape. My intention with the book was really to create those genuine feelings that, above all, irresistibly invite the reader on a journey, rather than leading the way step by step. After all, isn't a journey into nature always a bit of exploration? Why should we blindly follow what an app on our smartphone shows us? Why look at the screen when there is such a beautiful landscape in front of us, when there is some strange thing, a path that leads on, or a passage where we thought there was none. Some of the routes in the book, especially in the ravines, are such that they require a really accomplished mountaineer, even with some mountaineering experience," points out the author, who himself attended mountaineering school during his studies, passed the mountain guard exam before that, has been gaining experience in the wilderness for decades, and has also done some excellent backcountry skiing. Unlike ordinary mountaineers, Bradeško also enjoys long hikes across plateaus, along seashores, or braving the gloomy ravines of the Northern Primorska region.
Date: 21. March 2024
Time to read: 5 min
