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History. Nature. Sociology. Nonfiction. HTML: The acclaimed chronicle of the regeneration of one family's traditional English farm NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing * Named "Nature Book of the Year" by the Sunday Times * New York Times Editors' Choice * Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize * A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Sunday Times, Financial Times, New Statesman, Independent, Telegraph, Observer, and Daily Mail "Superbly written and deeply insightful, the book captivates the reader until the journey's end." �?? Wall Street Journal The New York Times bestselling author of The Shepherd's Life profiles his family's farm across three generations, revealing through this intimate lens the profound global transformation of agriculture and of the human relationship to the land. As a boy, James Rebanks's grandfather taught him to work the land the old way. Their family farm in England's Lake District hills was part of an ancient agricultural landscape: a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. And yet, by the time James inherited the farm, it was barely recognizable. The men and women had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled; the skies had emptied of birds and their wind-blown song. Hailed as "a brilliant, beautiful book" by the Sunday Times (London), Pastoral Song (published in the United Kingdom under the title English Pastoral) is the story of an inheritance: one that affects us all. It tells of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost. And yet this elegy from the northern fells is also a song of hope: of how, guided by the past, one farmer began to salvage a tiny corner of England that was now his, doing his best to restore the life that had vanished and to leave a legacy for the future. This is a book about what it means to have love and pride in a place, and how, against all the odds, it may still be possible to build a new pastoral: not a utopia, but somewhere decent for us all. [Published in the United Kingdom as English Pastoral.]… (more)
User reviews
First he tells the story of his grandfather and his own education as a boy, learning and absorbing how it's done, and has been literally for hundreds of years. This is an often lyrical, sometimes nostalgic, classic rural-memoir stuff that the Brits have done well for generations. It's slow-paced, sometimes verges on "heartwarming," and could have used some editing as it meanders on for many pages. But it sets the stage. The second part explains how it all went to hell, with machinery and toxic chemicals and a ferocious and distorted market, forcing farmers to "feed the world" instead of their families and community, with the consequent poisoning and disruption of the soil, animals wild and domesticated, the plants, towns, families and farmers. In the third - and to my mind, the best, part is when James makes his choice to turn back, to aim for health of his farm, his animals, his soil, his earth. He had a bit of a head start, as his own family traditions had not gone so far down the modern road as to be irretrievable. A soil scientist is delighted to tell him his analysis shows his soil is still the healthiest in his district. He also has a university education and a profession that pays the bills (he is an expert advisor to Unesco), as he flatly acknowledges that farming the way he would like to means you will go bankrupt. Period. Some environmentalists would say he should give it up and let his 185 acres simply go wild. But even on his hill farm, it's probably too late to just walk away. So he tries to strike a balance, helping streams revert to natural courses, planting thousands of trees, rotating his pastures and plantings, scheduling mowing around nesting birds, and tweaking his livestock (sheep and cattle) by bringing in hardier, sturdier, more versatile breeds who will graze the weeds, churn the soil, drop healthy fertilizing manure, and cope with conditions as they are in the fells with less need for drugs, stabling, and other interventions. The final passage is one of great beauty: he and his youngest daughter out in the meadow as a barn owl swoops and dives and swirls in the falling dusk. There is a barn it can live in safely, there are unpoisoned fields where the mice and voles it is hunting can live, and where his animals feed and fertilize and work the soil to support them all. Rebanks's goal is not a wilderness, but a healthy farm. And we need more of those.
This book is best when he is simply describing his farm, and his grandfather, and his father. The past two
His previous books include THE SHEPHERD’S LIFE and THE ILLUSTRATED HERDWICK SHEPHERD.
James Rebanks is a farmer in the Lake District of England, where his family has lived and worked for over 6oo years. His writing is very descriptive,
ENGLISH PASTORAL has been described as “beautiful and shocking”; “a beautifully written story of a family, a home and a changing landscape”; “told with humility and grace, this story of farming over three generations will be our land’s salvation’.
As a shepherdess and farmer by desire, but not by practicality and trade, I have read many ecological and farming-related books. This one is so personal, so beautifully and lovingly written - it is head over heels above all the rest.
ENGLISH PASTORAL is many things:
It is a memoir; a family history; a naturalist’s diary; very emotional; aspirational; interesting.
It is ‘rough’ at times, speaking of hardship and confusion; a science textbook at times; very practical.
It is an ode to the writings of Wendell Berry, Jane Jacobs and of course, Rachel Carson.
I would give this book 100 stars if I could. *****
Anyway, this book is also about relationships -- between Rebanks and his grandfather, father, community, land, animals. I love where his observations and thoughts have taken him. I found his arguments for the rewilding of cultivated land compelling -- that farming is meant to be part of the natural web and is also always going to be a compromise as we struggle with burgeoning populations and the demand for cheap food. Still, he is developing his land to incorporate more biodiversity, to encourage the natural run of rivers, to restore hedges and wetlands. It's a beautiful thing, and somehow having the crushing amount of constant work to balance against his wife's point of view explains a lot. They work as a team to nurture different part of their lives. I am so inspired by this book to try and understand and nurture the small land that is in my care. It's a powerful message, and I hope that many farmers see and embrace it as well in whatever capacity they can.