Running with the Pack: Thoughts from the Road on Meaning and Mortality
The dancing thoughts that appear to philosophy-professor Rowlands during his runs, and the rhythm and value of those runs themselves, make for a meditative read. Rowlands incorporates work by philosophers from Aristotle to Wittgenstein with his own musings, leading to ruminations on topics as diverse as midlife crises, evolution, and the meaning of life, love, and mortality. He recalls his runs on both sides of the Atlantic with various canine companions, including Brenin, featured in his previous book The Philosopher and the Wolf (2009). You don’t need to be a runner to enter the philosophical investigations in this book, although you do have to be willing to follow the author on his rambling, sometimes repetitive, musings. The runs are recalled with clarity, capturing both the agony and exhilaration of the experience, and connect to his thoughts through, for instance, relating the phases of a marathon to certain philosophers. Rowlands, more critical than starry-eyed, still brings deep feeling to his work. Cerebral and heartfelt, this memoir uses one man’s history on the road as a foundation to investigate universal experiences. --Bridget Thoreson