The Paper Lantern

The unnamed small town/village is immediately recognisable as Wendover, and I declare an interest: I know these chalky hills, quiet streams, silent churches, and enormous landscapes where on a summer's day, far away from everyone and everything with only animals, plants, birds, and trees for company, you can explore the inner landscape of your own thoughts, giong over and over them again and again, as the Author walks the same paths over and over again, ruminating about his personal experiences, long-lost friends, the characters in the village pub where he lives with his parents, but also about the big things: the politics of power that have decided to wreck this ancient landscape with the monstrous and unncessary construction of the HS2 railway. His long walks are described as cataloguings of bird species, flowers, how trees are grouped, enormous fields. How to be oneself by being completely alone and joyful. The writing flows as clearly and quietly as one of the little chalk streams that cross these landscapes; the writing is like the streams: you can walk swiftly on, taking in the wide views around you, or you can pause, look into the depth of it, discover hidden eddies and sub-streams, and gaze directionlessly into the writing, just savouring it, before moving on. I can't separate my fellow-feeling for the Author, as one who knows and loves these places, from the literary merits of his beautiful writing, which seems to be in the tradition of ancient, little-known chronicles of country life. But ultimately, I feel, the book is a lament that mourns the destruction, by stupid politicians and greedy opportunists, of the last bit of unspoilt country that was accessible by train from London in less than an hour; accompanying the beautiful descriptions of the life of these places is a biting, revolutionary political intent.

It’s quite poetic, articulate and beautifully written in places. But there is no real overarching narrative to pull you along and drive the story forwards. Imagine a scenario where you found yourself living back home with your parents during the COVID lockdown with no real aims or commitments. Then you went out on a load of aimless, rambling walks through the countryside, capturing all your random musings and ideas, and providing you were articulate and good at writing, then I feel you’d end up with something like this book. If that all sounds like something you’d enjoy then give it a read.

The author has articulated in a thoroughly enjoyable way many of the thoughts about self and community which he penned during Covid. It's political and philosophical but also a celebration of people and nature. It's beautifully written and I recommend it hugely.

I received this for my 50th birthday and I really enjoyed it. I thought I would like it as I have visited the location but it appealed to me in other ways too. The author is poetic and his words resonated with me. The way he talked about the village, pub, locals and countryside was evocative, but talking about politics, hs2 and covid were meaningful too. I am a fan of high end literature and this would feature amongst it.

Doesn't move far from the Village but says a lot. I really enjoyed the ramblings of an idle man.

I loved this book, it made me think so warmly of growing up in a small village in England- the stories and scenes. The prose is beautiful and the ideas challenge you to review how you think about nature, society, people and your own motivations.

Will Burns moves effortlessly from acclaimed poet (check his collection Country Music for evidence) to acclaimed author with his debut book, The Paper Lantern. Set in and around the temporarily shuttered pub in which he works and lives, our narrator invites us to join him as he explores the Chiltern hills and questions of our own existence, viewed through the hazy lens of the first lockdown of 2020. A hypnotic, poetic blend of travel writing, imagined memoir, and philosophical treatise on a country laid low by a pandemic and its own sense of self-importance. Funny, melancholic, scathing and insightful in equal measure. I loved it.

Read this originally when it was a weekly serialised online blog during the first lockdown in 2020. Great to see it published as a proper book with much more added. A brilliant evocation of these strange times we're going through, funny and moving in equal parts.