Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

Of Walking In Ice

byWerner Herzog

Munich - Paris: 23 November - 14 December, 1974

Format:

PaperbackEbook

Buy the book from:

AmazonOpens in a new tabBlackwellsOpens in a new tabBookshop.orgOpens in a new tabFoylesOpens in a new tabHiveOpens in a new tabWaterstonesOpens in a new tabWHSmithOpens in a new tab
A poetic meditation on life and death, by one of the most renowned and respected film-makers and intellectuals of our time.

In November 1974, when Werner Herzog was told that his mentor Lotte Eisner, the film historian and critic, was dying in Paris, he set off to walk there from Munich, ‘in full faith, believing that she would stay alive if I came on foot’. Along the way he recorded what he saw, how he felt, and what he experienced, from the physical discomfort of the journey to moments of rapture. It is a remarkable narrative – part pilgrimage, part meditation, and a confrontation between a great German Romantic imagination and the contemporary world.

‘Surely the strangest, strongest walking book I know’ Robert Macfarlane

?????'It hits you with the force of dreams and leaves you with the taste of snow-filled air’ Helen Macdonald

'Surely the strangest, strongest walking book I know, it tells the story of a winter pilgrimage, made in desperation and in hope. At once a diary, a blizzard of weather and memories, and the record of a ritual: only Herzog could have written this weird, slender classic.'

Robert Macfarlane

About Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog has produced, written and directed more than seventy features and documentary films, including the multi-award-winning Grizzly Man, Aguirre, The Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, My Best Fiend, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Nosferatu, Lessons of Darkness, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Into the Inferno, Meeting Gorbachev and Encounters at the End of the World.

He has also directed many operas and published more than a dozen books of prose, including Conquest of the Useless, Of Walking on Ice, The Twilight World and, most recently, his acclaimed memoir, Every Man for Himself and God against All.

In 2025 he was awarded a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice International Film Festival.
Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Classics
  • ISBN: 9781784870379
  • Length: 80 pages
  • Dimensions: 197mm x 5mm x 129mm
  • Weight: 66g
  • Price: £9.99
All editions