For Mike Parker, maps have been an obsession since childhood. He was the author of "Map Addict" - a book I finished reading on Thursday. I was drawn to it because I am also a lover of maps and possess many of them.
As well as being informative, the book was at times provocative and funny. Mike Parker's map passion comes over loud and clear. He sings the praises of Britain's Ordnance Survey which continues to produce what he believes to be simply the world's best maps. Incidentally, without them I would not have explored half the areas I have rambled in. The detail and clarity is incredible.
He considers the history of maps and how they have always figured in religious expansion and military adventures. He also reflects upon the difficult relationships that the majority of women have with maps.
I laughed out loud when Mike Parker vented his antipathy towards satnav devices. I quote:-
I despise satnavs. I tried hard not to because I didn't want to mark myself quite so obviously as a crusty old Luddite, but my God, they really are a loathsome invention. When I go in friends' cars, and they reach to turn on the satnav, it takes every shred of self-control not to rip the thing out of their hands and beat them to a bloody pulp with a road atlas. (page 279)
If you don't like maps, I doubt that this book would be for you but if you are also a bit of a map addict then I suspect you could, like me, happily while away a good few hours turning the three hundred + pages. It has a British bias but also considers mapping in several other countries. An appealing, idiosyncratic style of writing as perhaps suggested in the satnav quote.
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| Derbyshire countryside I walked through yesterday. The green lines on the Ordnance Survey map are public footpaths and the red line is an A road. The black lines define field boundaries. |
Although I'd not call myself a map addict, I have always loved maps, city plans, house plans and so on. As a child, I often drew my own maps and city plans of fantasy places, and on the maps we had to study at school, I always looked at where "my house" would be on it, and which roads and paths I would use to get from my place to other spots on the map.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I do not share the author's fanatic hate of satnavs, the book sounds definitely like one I'd enjoy. Thanks for the tip!
Your relationship with maps sounds like my own. I think you would like it. I borrowed it from a friend. I will ask him if you can have it next time I speak with him.
DeleteI love maps too.. maybe it's something to do with growing up in the fifties with books, maps and encyclopaedias for entertainment and without television to distract us. A favourite childhood game with my older brother and sister was the challenge of finding a place on the large map of the world we would have spread on the floor on a wet Sunday. A starting letter was all you got then the competition was fierce. It gave us all an awareness of the World, the continents and oceans and an urge to travel from our little islands at the bottom of the Pacific. That map was carefully looked after and lasted for years as things had to then.
ReplyDeleteI used a 1984 British Road Atlas from the local Op shop to plan my travel in the UK in 2015. My i-phone and satnav addicted workmates scoffed at me but towns don't shift and it was the best $4 I could have spent. The detail was fantastic for working out the distance between places of interest I knew about and revealing other unknown places to see nearby.
It would be hard to imagine life without Google Maps now but a paper map doesn't need a battery, just an ability to know north from south.
Also, a map doesn't have an annoying habit of condescendingly telling you to "turn around when possible" ("you idiot!" implied in the tone).
DeleteMike Parker is also not keen on Google Maps but he's wowed by Google's aerial imagery. Google Maps takes away the beauty of map reading - reducing all to the fraught business of motoring.
DeleteWe love maps for all the reasons you say and only buy ones that have our village on it (here and in France) as an indication of the quality of the detail. We have a huge collection of OS maps and still use them regularly. They enhance a walk or drive in the country no end.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Sat Navs have proved useful in sticky situations although they have occasionally taken us up a dead end or unmade road.
This book will instantly go on my shopping list. We have a book on the history of France that explains how the first cartographers were viewed with suspicion and hatred by country folk and frequently murdered as they went about their business of mapping the towns and villages.
How fascinating that map makers were once viewed with suspicion. I suspect that if Mike Parker had had that tidbit of information he would have woven it into the book.
DeleteWhen we lived in the UK I used to be the navigator to my husband the driver, using a large road atlas. It usually worked well, until the day he just stopped listening to my insructions. As I repeated, "Turn next left....left...LEFT!!!" and he sailed on past the turn off and we ended up driving 20 miles further on before we came across the next exit.
ReplyDeleteMany marital rows have been caused by maps and navigation. It is something about the different ways in which most men and most women's brains are wired. Mike Parker admits that the vast majority of map addicts are men.
DeleteI, too, am a map-a-holic. I confess to using a GPS (Global Positioning System) on my phone for immediate driving conditions, in-town turns, etc. But for "the big picture", there's nothing like a paper map. We used to have a set of "Gazetteers" - folio-sized, paper-backed books of maps - one per US state. They were wonderfully detailed, showing even unpaved roads, etc. Also shown were icons relating to texts in listings about natural forms, cemeteries, special trails, etc. Wonderful things.
ReplyDeleteLike Mike Parker, I suspect that younger generations are losing touch with proper maps and how to read them. Personally, I can pore over maps for ages. They have guided me to many wonderful sights and places, allowing me to investigate the intricacies of the landscape around me. Thanks for calling by again Mary. It is nice to know that some women out there also love maps.
DeleteAll well and good but when I'm looking for a specific place which is not going to be on any printed map and I'm the only one in the car I am not going to hunt for my atlas. Or even local map. I have no sense of direction and the GPS on my phone with its specific turn-by-turn directions has been a very positive and helpful thing in my life. So that's one perspective on the subject. For trying to determine a route to a destination, maps are wonderful and we do use them. But why must we be so attached to one or the other? Life is big enough for both. It's the destination AND the journey as I see it and having different tools to use together is a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you Ms Moon though satnavs have led plenty of drivers into tricky or dangerous situations. Satnavs are about getting to places and ignoring the real world around us - that's what Mike Parker says anyway.
DeleteWell, as I said- there are journeys and destinations. Sometimes you just need to REACH YOUR DESTINATION! Like when you're running late for an appointment.
DeleteI guess that is true for many people but like Mike Parker I have never used a satnav and I have managed to reach my destinations comfortably without satnav assistance.
DeleteI love maps too but I don't think a majority of women have difficulty with maps at all. Why does the author think we do?
ReplyDeleteHe says quite a lot on the subject. For example about how culturally many women have been switched off maps by controlling and impatient men. He also writes about a successful practical course for women called "Women CAN Read Maps". It is interesting that women are more likely to turn maps upside down than men - in order to assist with navigation.
DeleteSorry, Mike. This is one woman who is a map addict and has no problem using them. My children jokingly call me Magellan as I have an excellent sense of direction, in addition to map reading skills. Have always loved maps and atlases. I agree that Britain's Ordinance Survey maps are the best I've ever seen--such amazing detail. By comparison, too many US maps are almost useless. When my children were growing up, they devoured my map collection, including a very large National Geographic atlas (now obsolete as so many countries names have changed); it is so worn that the back binding is in tatters. Wanting to pass on the love of maps (and geography), this past Christmas I gave all my wee grandchildren their own world atlases. It's a start.
ReplyDeleteWhat a very thoughtful gift for a child. To say to them - all of this, it is your world - look at it and learn where places are. It's a beautiful tapestry and if you want it badly enough you can go anywhere. Mike Parker was definitely not saying that ALL women view maps with scorn and confusion.
DeleteI have a nice satnav story. We had friends staying, and they wanted to go to market. My wife went with them, to show them the way, but our friend insisted on using the bloody satnav in his big expensive German sports job. They took a most extraordinary route (about twice the length of normal), and when they eventually arrived at the market, they turned a corner and someone opened his car door right onto his front grill; making a total mess. If only he'd listened!!!
ReplyDeleteThe expression "road rage" is very familiar but in situations like the one you describe drivers might explode with "satnav rage".
DeleteI once set out for the Everglades from Miami in a rented car with a friend and a satnav. I knew the way; Florida is my home turf, after all. But my friend insisted on using the satnav, since we'd paid for it with the rental car. Well, it directed us to the WRONG entrance for the Everglades, and I STILL haven't been to the part we wanted to see!
ReplyDeleteI have never used ordnance survey maps, though we have a bunch of them in the library. I should try them out at some point. (Sounds like a future blog post!)
For a guy who has plodded two circuits of London, I am frankly amazed that Ordnance Survey maps played no part in your walks. It's always an adventure to follow those green lines. Go on - try it!
DeleteI wouldn't have described myself as a lover of maps until Google maps appeared on the scene. Zoom in! Zoom out! See detail, then see the overview to put it into context! Then get into street view for some human interest or to explore places I used to know but haven't been to for decades. It's really fascinating and I think it's less about getting somewhere for me than it is seeing the big picture. I don't use paper maps because so often there is new construction and new roads that have made them out of date.
ReplyDeleteStreet View is indeed a marvel and Mike Parker agrees with us. You can travel the world from your armchair.
DeleteI love maps and I always have since childhood. Funny thing is, I have a bad sense of direction but I can get anywhere with a map. I also love Google Earth and can and have spent hours on it.
ReplyDeleteSeems like nearly all the women who visit this blog are cool about maps.
DeleteWell as someone who studied archaeology, maps are part of the course. Another one who loves them, the ordnance survey maps especially. What I love is some of the older travel books with maps either bound inside or on the end pieces of a book. Also 'Oldmaps' still exist from which you can go back to the 19th century.
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