Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The January Man cover art

The January Man

By: Christopher Somerville
Narrated by: Christopher Somerville
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

One Man and His Bike cover art
Burn cover art
The Full English cover art
The Lost Rainforests of Britain cover art
Next to Nature cover art
British Woodland cover art
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World cover art
Landed cover art
The Farthest Shore: Seeking Solitude and Nature on the Cape Wrath Trail in Winter cover art
Walking the Great North Line cover art
The Hurley Maker's Son cover art
The Satsuma Complex cover art
Footnotes cover art
To the Island of Tides cover art
Mud, Sweat and Gears: Cycling From Land's End to John O'Groats (via the Pub) cover art
The Circling Sky cover art

Summary

Random House presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of The January Man by Christopher Somerville, read by Christopher Somerville.

In January 2006, a month or two after my father died, I thought I saw him again - a momentary impression of an old man, a little stooped, setting off for a walk in his characteristic fawn corduroys and shabby quilted jacket. After teenage rifts it was walking that brought us closer as father and son, and this ghost of Dad has been walking at my elbow since his death, as I have ruminated on his great love of walking, his prodigious need to do it - and how and why I walk myself.

The January Man is the story of a year of walks that was inspired by a song, Dave Goulder's 'The January Man'. Month by month, season by season and region by region, Christopher Somerville walks the British Isles, following routes that continually bring his father to mind. As he travels the country - from the winter floodlands of the River Severn to the lambing pastures of Nidderdale, the towering seabird cliffs on the Shetland Isle of Foula in June and the ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest in autumn - he describes the history, wildlife, landscapes and people he encounters, down back lanes and old paths, in rain and fair weather.

This exquisitely written account of the British countryside not only inspires us to don our boots and explore the 140,000 miles of footpaths across the British Isles but also illustrates how, on long-distance walks, we can come to an understanding of ourselves and our fellow walkers. Over the hills and along the byways, Christopher Somerville examines what moulded the men of his father's generation - so reticent about their wartime experiences, so self-effacing, upright and dutiful - as he searches for the man inside the man that his own father really was.

©2017 Christopher Somerville (P)2017 Random House AudioBooks

What listeners say about The January Man

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    37
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    33
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    30
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Heartfelt, intensely personal and often beautiful

More of a memoir and nature documentary than the walking travelogue that I had expected, but none the worse for that.

The author's heartfelt, intensely personal and often beautiful writing and narration make for a rewarding listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!

This is a book to savour and cherish, to return to many times. It's really wonderful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Listened 3 times in a row, loved how it made me feel & appreciate countryside & simple things

Loved it

Full with so much meaning, and extreme well spoken feeding emotion into each chapter

Can't recommend enough

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Loved it, read it many times..I felt I was with the narrator on his walks.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Depressing

I found this very depressing and only got as far as March before deciding I could not bear it any longer,so, it was a waste of a credit for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

personal and moving

beautifully read. interesting walks and landscapes. poignant story of a son's reflections on his father through his journeys.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A very impressive book

A cliche then to begin this review. A book that has everything. There is humour here and pathos. Some interesting walks well described and with a touch of family life as well. Actuallly there is one thing missing. No spying on nature by capture and ring which is a good thing in a world continuually more obsessed with the invasion of privacy of that which can’t say no. There is history too in this book and you get to see the British Isles as you’ve never seen them before or at least you might not have. On an island often accused of being overcrowding it’s noce to know there are still some places you can waalk that are truly right away from busy motoreays and the invasion of life. I’d recommend it to all purist nature lovers not wanting to be crushed by a world of curiosity and name dropping.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The January Man.

A book about love, walking, family, countryside; woven together in calendar months. By the time I got to listen to it, I’d forgotten ordering it or even why it had appealed to me on the Audible site. It is most sensitively narrated by the author and makes you wish more authors narrated their own works.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • H
  • 19-04-18

Charming

Would you listen to The January Man again? Why?

Yes once finished I went straight back and read it again.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The January Man?

Wit and wry humour

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The January Man

I could go on and on and ON listening to Christopher’s comforting tones talk of places I know and love and those I would love to explore myself. This book has kept me company and fascinated me I will miss it and am determined more than ever to do more long distance walking. Christopher’s lyrical writing, eye for and knowledge of the natural world and history make for a fascinating listen. He writes with humour and heart too about his relationships with his Dad, his family, his friends. I have absolutely loved this book and will now go and read it too as I feel listening has been a bit of a cheat ;-). A book to treasure and pass on to others.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!