A memoir documenting an aging Swiss man’s hike from Zurich to Geneva.

The author recounts his 12-day cross-country hike in his native Switzerland. The paths were (mostly) well marked, and Bodmer, a middle-aged but active man, easily managed the terrain. After beginning in Zurich, he planned to end his sojourn at the Café de la Place in Meyrin, Geneva, where he would enjoy a celebratory beer. The stakes were low, and his only goal was to reach his destination as quickly as possible. He stayed in whatever hotel accommodations he could find, including one night in an ex-girlfriend’s caravan, and faced various obstacles and delights—rainy weather, the occasional treacherous mountain path, and encounters with locals and fellow travelers—some charming and some odd. More often, he was left alone with his thoughts, and he pondered everything from Swiss technology to football matches. This book is a shortened version of the original, which Bodmer published in German in 2022. He translated the previous work into English himself, the frequently stilted prose suggests much was lost in the translation. The narration notes in careful detail the hotels stayed in and the meals consumed, but unfortunately, it skips over more interesting subjects, like chance conversations with strangers met while walking. Those interested in traveling to Switzerland will find the premise intriguing, but the descriptions of the landscape are underwhelming: “He reaches Lake Biel. Its beautiful blue and gentle waves are calming. The hiking trail around the lake is ideal.” The story is told in third person, which has an alienating effect on what could have been a very personal story. The depictions of Bodmer interacting with women (peeking at them in the showers, referring to unattractive women as “witch” or “dragon”) is off-putting. Overall, the work feels like a series of journal entries rather than a honed memoir.

Contains flashes of rich material but reads like an unfinished document.