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A History of Rest
Rest occupies a space outside of sleep and it is a form of recuperation but also of preparation for what is to come, and is a need felt by human and animal alike. Through the centuries, different and conflicting definitions and forms of rest have blossomed, ranging from heavenly repose to what is prescribed for the modern affliction of burn-out. What has remained constant is its long the subject of art and literature, everyone understands the need not to disturb the aimless, languishing, daydreaming Lotus-eater.
Not viewed simply as an antidote for fatigue, for a long time rest was seen as the prelude to eternal life, until everything changed in the nineteenth century and society entered the great ‘age of rest’. At this point, the renowned French historian Alain Corbin explains, rest took on new therapeutic and leisurely qualities, embodied by the new types of human that emerged. The modern epicurean frolicked on beaches and soaked up the rays, while melancholics were rejuvenated in pristine sanatoria, the new temples of rest. Paid holidays and a widespread acceptance of the need to build up the strength sapped during work followed, while the 1950s became the decade of ‘sea, sex and sun’.
This new book, as original as Corbin’s other histories of neglected aspects of human life, pans the long evolution of rest in a highly readable and engaging style.
Not viewed simply as an antidote for fatigue, for a long time rest was seen as the prelude to eternal life, until everything changed in the nineteenth century and society entered the great ‘age of rest’. At this point, the renowned French historian Alain Corbin explains, rest took on new therapeutic and leisurely qualities, embodied by the new types of human that emerged. The modern epicurean frolicked on beaches and soaked up the rays, while melancholics were rejuvenated in pristine sanatoria, the new temples of rest. Paid holidays and a widespread acceptance of the need to build up the strength sapped during work followed, while the 1950s became the decade of ‘sea, sex and sun’.
This new book, as original as Corbin’s other histories of neglected aspects of human life, pans the long evolution of rest in a highly readable and engaging style.
122 pages, Paperback
Published September 11, 2024
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About the author
Alain Corbin
140 books87 followersAlain Corbin is a French historian, specialist of the 19th century in France.
Trained in the Annales School, Corbin's work has moved away from the large-scale collective structures studied by Fernand Braudel towards a history of sensibilities which is closer to Lucien Febvre's history of mentalités. His books have explored the histories of such subjects as male desire and prostitution, sensory experience of smell and sound, and the 1870 burning of a young nobleman in a Dordogne village.
Trained in the Annales School, Corbin's work has moved away from the large-scale collective structures studied by Fernand Braudel towards a history of sensibilities which is closer to Lucien Febvre's history of mentalités. His books have explored the histories of such subjects as male desire and prostitution, sensory experience of smell and sound, and the 1870 burning of a young nobleman in a Dordogne village.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 25, 2025
Corbin Cores #1
The potential for a good study is here, the trouble is his foundations are all on shaky ground.
Someone said you can tell a lot about a persons arguments based on their sources, and the sources of this argument are really poor.
He seems to spend more time arguing that Christians (which seems to be only Catholic he doesn't seem to realise a reformation happened) are wrong on rest and not giving a decent history of rest as the book title suggests.
His sources are poor and he misses them. He could have found a lot of good material on rust from Christian minds if he had looked.
This was a missed opportunity and a poor book.
The potential for a good study is here, the trouble is his foundations are all on shaky ground.
Someone said you can tell a lot about a persons arguments based on their sources, and the sources of this argument are really poor.
He seems to spend more time arguing that Christians (which seems to be only Catholic he doesn't seem to realise a reformation happened) are wrong on rest and not giving a decent history of rest as the book title suggests.
His sources are poor and he misses them. He could have found a lot of good material on rust from Christian minds if he had looked.
This was a missed opportunity and a poor book.
January 4, 2025
GOOD HISTORY ALMOST NO MENTION OF RETIREMENT
A good history of rest but almost no mention of the forced rest imposed by retirement. A voluntary planned retirement is probably restful, an involuntary one, however, needs adjustment and hasty planning to provide a meaningful use of time. Re-careering, if such a word exists, can be achieved in a few months and makes retirement less of a God's waiting room ordeal.
A good history of rest but almost no mention of the forced rest imposed by retirement. A voluntary planned retirement is probably restful, an involuntary one, however, needs adjustment and hasty planning to provide a meaningful use of time. Re-careering, if such a word exists, can be achieved in a few months and makes retirement less of a God's waiting room ordeal.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews