Freedom - Sebastian Junger - 4 stars - Fall Flurries

[Booknblues]

Per the Goodreads' description of Junger's book Freedom "For much of a year, Junger and three friends—a conflict photographer and two Afghan war vets—walk the railroad lines of the east coast of the United States. It is an experiment in personal autonomy, but also in interdependence."

While walking along railroad tracks from Washington to Pittsburgh PA , Junger muses about many things the railroad, walking, and most of all what freedom is. It seems an essential conversation at a time when so many are worried about infringements on their freedoms.

For people raised in safety, freedom can seem like a luxury, like money or good health, but first and foremost, it’s the absence of threat.

Freedom and safety seemed to exist on a continuum where the more you had of one, the less you had of the other.

It is also a book with a lot of testosterone. Men walking and camping together, there musing on freedom are a bit different than a woman's might be, but it does provide food for thought and I enjoyed the idea of walking along the railroad in the Appalachians with them.