The Shepherds Life

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERSome people s lives are entirely their own creations James Rebanks isn t The first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, he and his family have lived and worked in and around the Lake District for generations Their way of life is ordered by the seasons and the work they demand, and has been for hundreds of years A Viking would understand the work they do sending the sheep to the fells in the summer and making the hay the autumn fairs where the flocks are replenished the gruelling toil of winter when the sheep must be kept alive, and the light headedness that comes with spring, as the lambs are born and the sheep get ready to return to the fells. Best Download [ The Shepherds Life ] by [ James Rebanks ] – kino-fada.fr It was kismet that I found this marvelous book Back in the spring I saw a positive review of The Shepherd s Life in one of the library journals that I read for work, and since I knew I was traveling to England in a few months, and that I wanted to read English books on the trip, I ordered a copy I already had a few English novels I wanted to take with me, and thought it would be nice to have a memoir in the mix What was interesting is that, at the time, I didn t pay close attention to the set It was kismet that I found this marve...There s a field of history condescendingly labelled peasant studies Now, normally these peasants are long, long dead so we live with the awkwardness But James Rebanks is no dead peasant And he s rightly proud of his place and work in this world So let s us urban readers figure out how to enjoy his book for what it is, instead of turning it into a voyeuristic look into the life of a farmer.It s a book that tells of a world we forget, that we don t know, that we ought to A world that revolv There s a field of history condescendingly labelled peasant studies Now, norm...There are two problems with this book The first is, that despite Rebanks acknowledgment of his editor s sterling work, the editing is frankly quite horrendous We get almost verbatim the same paragraph about eleven pages apart on pages 51 and 62 , and there are numerous other instances of repetition throughout The first page of the book was so poorly written that I almost gave up on it before I had even started in earnest The second problem is Rebanks himself There s something oddly unlike There are two problems with this book The first is, that despite Rebanks acknowledgment of his editor s sterling work, the editing is frankly quite horrendous We get almost verbatim ...Nearly 3.5 My husband valued thisas a memoir than as a cultural document the opposite was true for me As a memoir it s fairly unexceptional, but it s valuable as a picture of a rare and dwindling way of life in the British countryside.Some favorite lines My grandfather is, quite simply, one of the great forgotten...I dithered back and forth between a rating of four or five stars While listening I marveled over the author s beautiful prose ability to make the daily seasonal chores of sheep farming comprehensible and meaningful ability to movingly interweave a biography of himself and his family with a clear and captivating account of sheep farming in the fells of northwestern England s Lake District.Few can explain the fundaments of a job so clearly, so moving and so interestingly His love of what I dithered back and forth between a rating of four or five stars While listening I marveled over the author s beautiful prose ability to make the daily seasonal chores of sheep farming comprehensible and meaningful ability to movingly interweave a biography of himself and his family with a clear and captivating account of sheep farming in the fells of northwestern England s Lake District.Few can explain the fundaments of a job so clearly, so moving and so interestingly His love of what he does shines through In describing these shepherds way of life he impressed upon me the importance of their role in protecting a valuable landscape, both for the communities within and for the nation as a whole Shepherding is a way of life and a craft...Absolutely lovely I savoured this book, while simultaneously devouring it in every spare moment I had Rebanks writes beautifully, whether he s describing his love for his family and his farm, or detailing his frustrations with the English school system and his occasionally rocky relationship with his father THE SHEPHERD S LIFE is an eloquent defense of a vocation and lifestyle that has been increasingly marginalized in recent times, and Rebanks charming underdog defiance never dips into sent Absolutely lovely I savoured this book, while simultaneously devouring it in every spare moment I had Rebanks writes beautifully, whether he s describing his love for his family and his farm, or detailing his frustrations with the English school system and his occasionally rocky relationship with his father THE SHEPHERD S LIFE is an eloquent defense of a vocation and lifestyle that has been increasingly marginalized in rec...When people think of the Lake District the first thing that comes to mind is the landscape the majestic fells, the lakes and tarns nestled among the peaks and valleys and the harsh beauty of our National Park It is a place that has inspired writers and artists for hundreds of years, and has 16 million visitors every year However, for a number of people they are completely dependent on this landscape to make their living James Rebanks is one of those people The Rebanks family have lived and When people think of the Lake District the first thing that comes to mind is the landscape the majestic fells, the lakes and tarns nestled among the peaks and valleys and the harsh beauty of our National Park It is a place that has inspired writers and artists for hundreds of years, and has 16 million visitors every year However, for a number of people they are completely dependent on this landscape to make their living James Rebanks is one of those people The Rebanks family have lived and worked as shepherds in the Lake District for generations His father was a shepherd before him, and his grandfather taught both of them all he knew The inexorable grind of the seasons defines what they do and when The Herdwick flock is moved up onto the high fell during the summer, and all the farmers gather to bring it down at the end of the season The shows and sales are in the autumn when they sell the spare lambs and look for the new males tups to add to their bloodlines and quality of stock ...Initially I was intrigued by this book and was really interested in reading about this way of life However, as the book progressed I became increasingly annoyed by the author s voice It is very much I am the farmer and therefore custodian of this land and anyone who is a tourist or visitor to the area has no idea and implicitly no right to any part of the land He has become the elitist type of person he proposes to rail against I was still interested in the harsh life of the farmer, but he Initially I was intrigued by this book and was really interested in reading about this way of life However, as the book progressed I became increasingly annoyed by the author s voice It is very much I am the farmer an...As a teacher who loves poetry, the landscape of the Lake District, the literary tradition it s so part of, and the historical importance of places like this in reshaping our view of nature and beauty, I have mixed feelings about this shepherd s diary I m the teacher he belittles and antagonises as a young student, and I m the walker with the tour guide he barely tolerates in the lanes between the fields I m one of the university students he can t wait to get away from at university Never mind As a teacher who loves poetry, the landscape of the Lake District, the literary tradition it s so part of, and the historical importance of places like this in reshaping our view of nature and beauty, I have mixed feelings about this shepherd s diary I m the teacher he belittles and antagonises as a young student, and I m the walker with the tour guide he barely tolerates in the lanes between the fields I m one of the university students he can t wait to get away from at university Never mind that it s probably the emerging conservation movement, inspired by walkers like Wordsworth, and later by tour guides like Wainwright, that s ensured the survival of this special place the author loves so...For me, this book saved itself in the last 30 pages or so when we were taken through the trials and tribulations of the lambing season There is no doubt that James Rebanks loves his life and his life s work but he must have very broad shoulders to carry all the chips we hear about early on in the book against his schooling, against tourists, against offcomers second homers or others making their homes in his patch As a keen fell walker he sneers at us and feels very superior and someon For me, this book saved itself in the last 30 pages or so when we were taken through the trials and tribulations of the lambing season There is no doubt that James Rebanks loves his life and his life s work but he must have very broad shoulders to carry all the chips we hear about early on in the book against his schooling, against tourists, against offcomers second homers or others making their homes in his patch As a keen fell walker he sneers at us and feels very superior and someone who had a holiday home in the Lakes for 12 years how awful , he made me cross that he should think I don t respect and admire the work that fell farmers do to work and maintain the land As a dog owner, I object to the generalisation that we are all irresponsible idiots around sheep In closing, he waxes lyrical about being on the fells I hate to disillusion him but his joy at being in the wide ...

• English
• 12 October 2017
James Rebanks
• Hardcover
• 256 pages
• 0385682840
• James Rebanks
• The Shepherds Life