Stary wspaniały świat

by Tom Hodgkinson, Szymon Żuchowski (Translator)

Tom Hodgkinson, autor popularnych poradników o przyjemności niespiesznego życia, zabiera czytelników w pasjonującą podróż po starodawnej sztuce celebrowania codzienności. Opierając się na mądrości myślicieli i pisarzy wielu epok oraz na własnym doświadczeniu, Hodgkinson proponuje wolny od pośpiechu i stresu styl życia. Odkryj na nowo stary wspaniały świat i pozwól, by od stycznia do grudnia ten nowoczesny almanach stał się twoim przewodnikiem na drodze do samowystarczalności.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, Food, Ebooks, Lifestyle

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Tom Hodgkinson (b. 1968) is a British writer and the editor of The Idler, which he established in 1993 with his friend Gavin Pretor-Pinney. He was educated at Westminster School. He has contributed articles to The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian and The Sunday Times as well as being the author of The Idler spin-off How To Be Idle (2005), How To Be Free (released in the U.S. under the title The Freedom Manifesto) and The Idle Parent.

In 2006 Hodgkinson created National Unawareness Day, to be celebrated on 1 November.

Reviews

[Pete F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book by Tom Hodgkinson, the guru of idleness, called 'Brave Old World', in which he extolls the virtues of the old ways of living before capitalism came along and ruined it all. Anyone who has read 'How to be Idle' or 'How to be Free', two of his previous books, will know that The Hodge (as he is called in some circles) is an anarchist and an idler, who looks back to the Medievals as a better way of living in harmony with nature and each other. Verily, I do think that the man is looking at the past through rose-tinted spectacles. Nevertheless, there is some good stuff here and he is right about many of the good things we lost in the process of turning the world into a global corporation over the past few hundred years. According to The Hodge, this started with the Reformation, when the nature-loving Catholics lost to the grim, joyless Puritans, and today's capitalists are the descendants of the Puritans, with their ruthless work ethic and pursuit of money as a form of salvation. Of course, it isn't as simple as that, but I rather enjoyed reading his condemnation of the capitalists and bankers and his solutions to overcoming what his hero, William Cobbett, called the Thing.

But although partly a polemic on the evils of capitalism and usury, the primary purpose of this book is a guide to the husbandman's year, in which his swipes at the system are incidental, the main purpose being to get people to become more self-reliant through growing their own food, keeping bees, chickens and pigs, making their own bread, hunting and gathering, making hay while the sun shines, brewing their own beer and idle merriment. Is it possible to be an idler and self-reliant, as the Hodge seems to think? I'm not so sure, but I think it would make one's work more pleasant knowing that what one is doing is closer to what nature intended and working for oneself rather than for a corporation. If one is doing what one loves, then it is not like doing work, which in many cases is often mere drudgery. I was a bit surprised to find him almost in support of fox-hunting. One can understand hunting for food, but the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable (as Oscar Wilde called it) was a bit hard to swallow. Having said that, if I had chickens, which kept being killed by foxes, perhaps I too would be more ambivalent in my attitude towards fox-hunting. The Hodge is fond of quoting classical Latin texts on husbandry and his sources include Virgil, Pliny the Elder and Ovid, as well as more recent sources including the aforementioned Cobbett, G.K Chesterton, George Orwell and John Seymour.

One can see why the Medieval world might be attractive to someone who hates the modern world of global capitalism, bankers and their bloated bonuses, evil and vicious dictatorships, endless rules and regulations, health and safety, bureaucracy, the great divorce between man and nature, and the world of superstates, supermarkets and super-rich celebrities. Perhaps the Medieval world is much maligned. After all, history is written by the victors and the victors were the capitalists and their brave new world...

[Dosia]

Tendencyjne i frustrujące w swoim pokrętnym światopoglądzie. Irytowało mnie też uznawanie różnych metod ogrodniczych za zbyt trudne tylko na podstawie jednej próby. Z lektury wyciągnęłam głównie pomysły na dalsze tytuły i informację o istnieniu WWOOF, poza tym nieliczne przepisy, którym jednak brakuje precyzji.

Raczej nie polecam.

[Suzanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part joyful back-to-the-land urbanite romancing and romanticizing the Country Life, part fist-shaking curmudgeonly Libertarian diatribe with sharp views about government folly that are sometimes dead on, and sometimes more to the tinfoil hat end of things. Throw in a soupçon of self-satisfied sneering at Political Correctness, and you've got yourself a book. I'm really torn about this, because at times, the narrative was truly charming, and I was completely drawn into the bucolic imagery he presented. I also enjoyed his employment of Classical Roman sources to support his project; most books of this sort stick with country wisdom of much more recent vintage. Yet at other times, I was annoyed and baffled about his frequent unpleasantnesses, often completely without reasonable cause.

[Jill Hyams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made me want to sell up, pack in the job and move to the countryside - well, almost!

[Michel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Da hat sich einer getraut, der schönen neuen Welt zu entsagen, und auf das Land zu ziehen und sich, möglichst, selbst zu versorgen.
Interessantes und lustiges Buch. Sehr lesenswert für Möchtegern-Aussteiger (wie mich).

[Annelies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of some patent nonsense at times, but an amusing read nonetheless.

[Christoph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read, fun facts, and a good amount of social criticism. Though not a handbook for farming, it provides a glance of all the things one can/must do when trying to make a living on the countryside.

[Marri · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the author admits, this is not a complete how-to of going back to the land (although often I wished it were!). It is part how-to, part memoir/personal tale, part history. Oftentimes these three parts worked less in harmony than I would have liked, and as an ex-medievalist I was already familiar with a lot of the source material the author shares, so there was some disappointment for me that it used so much space in the book. (Doubly so as it seems several passages are re-used in different places.)

I did learn some things about smallholding and quasi-rural self-sufficiency that I didn't know before, but much of the more specific advice about the legality of backyard dungheaps and beekeeping, etc., is irrelevant to anyone outside of the U.K.

I enjoyed the month-by-month format and wish other authors would do the same instead of grouping this type of knowledge topically, which makes it hard for city folks to know when they should be doing what. Brave Old World's format also mirrors the books of hours it so frequently alludes to, and I enjoy that rekindling of a sensible tradition of husbandry education.

I agree with the author's call to self-sufficiency and a rejection of capitalism's monoculture and the non-participatory nature of so much of our entertainments, but I'm not sure if I agree that reviving Christian feast days are as great a solution as he does.

This book was at its best when the author was relating useful and/or comedic tales from his own attempt at smallholding, rather than politicizing it endlessly (which preaches to the choir and alienates those in the wings), or using page space for a few too many primary sources.

However, the bibliography is an excellent resource for people interested in the history of agriculture, and there are several very intriguing contemporary books mentioned throughout. This book may be a good place to start for those who are not yet well-versed in the principles and practice of U.K.-style smallholding and utopianism.

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debated what to rate this as the actual "practical" side of things is mostly irrelevant to me. Firstly because I currently live in the southern hemisphere with different seasons (and summers as harsh as the winters are in England), and secondly because I've lived on a farm my whole life and so most of the information Tom and his family are just learning is stuff my father has known since a young age (hunting, fishing, raising livestock etc). Though I would love to try keeping bees!
What I loved most was the comparison between the Old World and New (something explored in greater depth in his other books, I've come to find), but I actually enjoyed having read this one first, as it was a good little introduction to the full-pelt opinions in How to Be Free (and what I assume I will find in Idle as well) and helped me to understand where he was coming from with his medieval idealism that people criticise in his other books. I'm lending this one to my parents (or at least my mother) so they can have a read too, I know they'll find it interesting for all the same reasons as I did!

[sasasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love letter to the middle ages organized as an almanac, with some practical bits mixed in with the miscellany. It's not exactly polished, but I like it like that! Sort of like a fun conversation with a nerdy friend after you've been drinking and you start up some fantasy land scheming (this is pretty much my favorite kind of evening). He has a very romantic notion of the "old world" which is cobbled together from lots of disparate sources, but who cares? He takes whatever is useful from the the old timers in the service of living life with gusto and humor (and leisure!) and I'm all for that.

[Michala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jakkoliv jsem byla na příručku "moderního hospodáře" zvědavá, tahle kniha mě prostě nebavila. Je mírně zmatená, trochu sebestředná (navíc když ze sebe autor dělá nemehlo, těžko se pak těmi radami řídit) a protkaná pro mě nesnesitelnými "protikapitalistickými" hemzy. Takže jsem přeskakovala a chtěla už mít hlavně dočteno.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it, but whilst Hodgkinson insists that urban dwellers can follow his guidance, I'm assuming he means urban dwellers like him, public school boys who went on to Oxbridge. Whilst the period quotes are fun, I fear my working class background (despite my education) means that I'm not truly meant to be his intended audience.

[Jim Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensly. Tom Hodgkinson has a very idealised view of medieval husbandry and is trying to talk all of his readers into adopting a more self sufficient approach to life, and why not. Perhaps there is no greater praise than to admit I now have a vegetable patch since reading this book!

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

only if you're into that sort of thing...

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chvilkama už tro��ku nudné, ty věčné citáty z prací o zahradničení, ale i spousta zajímavých informací a praktických rad. Mám chuť se odstěhovat na venkov.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasant read for a "husbandry" book.

[Iva · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good book, but it's not for me.

[Lucy Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informal but useful.