I had a really hard time with this book. Some parts I very much enjoyed but Rebanks and I got off on the wrong foot right from the very beginning. And that reached a peak at a mere 11% into the book, when he says:
"Some of the smartest people I have ever known are semi-illiterate"
as part of a whole section on denigrating education, and glorifying the avoidance of it. I was frankly expecting him to start justifying the luddites at that point.
As Victoria says, above:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Victoria
I’m not sure he’s that honest with himself. He scoffs at artists, yet quotes poetry. He downplays the significance of his education at Oxford, yet his passion about UNESCO’s mission seemed as important to him as when he’s sliding around in the mud.
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He also appears to justify his laddishness as a youth, including the disruption of classes. Again, I think this was a lack of self-honesty.
Overall, the writing was poor -- about on a par with the vast majority of blog posts out there, with a lack of cohesion or transition between "chapters". I found that very off-putting, and it definitely made it more difficult to enjoy the book.
All that being said, there were definitely things I enjoyed about this book, and I had no difficulty finishing it. The descriptions of the land, of the working of the sheep, and of the people who work the land are all highly evocative and often quite poetic.