I took this one on holiday with me as it was Easter, we were staying near a farm that would be lambing and it just felt like the right book for the right setting.
I have no particular love of the Lake District where this book is set, it's a very beautiful place but my heart lies in the highlands where I was staying over Easter. Nevertheless I was really looking forward to reading this true account of life on a sheep farm in Cumbria.
Briefly, the book is set over the period of a year describing the ups and downs of lambing, shearing, selling and wintering sheep with anecdotes and memories thrown in for good measure. I found the book really informative for me a total lay person, Rebanks style was very accessible with the right amount of detail v story telling.
I felt the book at times could perhaps have done with further editing, I'm not totally sure but it seemed as if one or two little stories should have been moved around a page or two to help with the flow and one or two of the points either introduced earlier or laboured over less. It made the book at times feel like it wasn't a cohesive piece of writing but a collection of paragraphs placed together at a later date without someone fully re-reading it.
Reading that back that looks like quite a harsh criticism and it wasn't meant to be, it was just a thought that popped in to my head once or twice whilst reading, not a major flaw and didn't stop my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
I was surprised when the word 'Oxford' was introduced given there was no hint of Rebanks being anything but a farmer and the previous chapters positively scorned school and anything other that farming. The fact that Rebanks is also now an advisor for UNESCO and has visited places I may never see in my lifetime also made me feel a little bit conned. There is no doubt he is through and through a farmer and knows farming inside out but at the start of the book it almost felt like he looked down on or thought city dwellers with their guidebooks and dogs off leads stupid. So for him to voluntarily go to university (and not just any university) just didn't seem to fit. I did feel like I had to justify my life and my love of the highlands (a little bit like I had to with A Gift From Bob) which made me uncomfortable at times.
Despite this however I really enjoyed the book, I loved Rebanks grandfather and the dedication to his father at the end, I loved the tales about his children taking their first steps into farming, the heartbreaks (foot and mouth particularly) and the general trials and tribulations around a declining way of life.
I do recommend this book, even if you're not interested in the great outdoors or farming in general. It's an excellent snapshot of another way of life, the struggles and the kinship and will be staying on my shelf alongside my '40 walks in Wester Ross and Lochalsh'
I have no particular love of the Lake District where this book is set, it's a very beautiful place but my heart lies in the highlands where I was staying over Easter. Nevertheless I was really looking forward to reading this true account of life on a sheep farm in Cumbria.
Briefly, the book is set over the period of a year describing the ups and downs of lambing, shearing, selling and wintering sheep with anecdotes and memories thrown in for good measure. I found the book really informative for me a total lay person, Rebanks style was very accessible with the right amount of detail v story telling.
I felt the book at times could perhaps have done with further editing, I'm not totally sure but it seemed as if one or two little stories should have been moved around a page or two to help with the flow and one or two of the points either introduced earlier or laboured over less. It made the book at times feel like it wasn't a cohesive piece of writing but a collection of paragraphs placed together at a later date without someone fully re-reading it.
Reading that back that looks like quite a harsh criticism and it wasn't meant to be, it was just a thought that popped in to my head once or twice whilst reading, not a major flaw and didn't stop my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
I was surprised when the word 'Oxford' was introduced given there was no hint of Rebanks being anything but a farmer and the previous chapters positively scorned school and anything other that farming. The fact that Rebanks is also now an advisor for UNESCO and has visited places I may never see in my lifetime also made me feel a little bit conned. There is no doubt he is through and through a farmer and knows farming inside out but at the start of the book it almost felt like he looked down on or thought city dwellers with their guidebooks and dogs off leads stupid. So for him to voluntarily go to university (and not just any university) just didn't seem to fit. I did feel like I had to justify my life and my love of the highlands (a little bit like I had to with A Gift From Bob) which made me uncomfortable at times.
Despite this however I really enjoyed the book, I loved Rebanks grandfather and the dedication to his father at the end, I loved the tales about his children taking their first steps into farming, the heartbreaks (foot and mouth particularly) and the general trials and tribulations around a declining way of life.
I do recommend this book, even if you're not interested in the great outdoors or farming in general. It's an excellent snapshot of another way of life, the struggles and the kinship and will be staying on my shelf alongside my '40 walks in Wester Ross and Lochalsh'
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