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The Modern Antiquarian Forum » In Praise of Life - Richard Jefferies |
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tjj 3606 posts |
Dec 18, 2016, 19:20
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How sad and jaded the world sometimes feels, with news headlines that make you want to weep about humankind's backward progression. Read this and take heart ... though Richard Jefferies would turn in his grave and weep too if he could see his beloved land now. https://richardjefferies.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/in-praise-of-life/
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carol27 747 posts |
Dec 18, 2016, 19:39
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Lovely tjj, such beautiful writing. I'm finding that despite all the shit, worry & anxiety that befalls any life, as I get older the wonder of what surrounds me be it sky, earth, water, light & dark, becomes my only real source of contentment. A walk outside invariably sorts me out. Of course there are places in this world where people don't have this privilege, but even there maybe some look to the skies; I bloody hope so. Sometimes I do talk some indulgent, nauseating crap. Peace & love:)
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GLADMAN 950 posts |
Dec 18, 2016, 23:46
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Not sure about this... Didn't Jeffries write 'After London'? Not in praise of life.... since he was known for carrying a gun? Emily St John Mandel did it much better?
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nigelswift 8112 posts |
Dec 19, 2016, 06:03
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Thanks June.
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Rhiannon 5291 posts |
Dec 19, 2016, 12:33
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Thanks June, it's very soothing to my mind. It's the antithesis of superficially skimming words and clicking on a screen, it doesn't seem quite appropriate to read his work like that.
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Evergreen Dazed 1881 posts |
Dec 19, 2016, 12:57
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Thanks tjj. I really like 'Story of my heart'. There is a pdf available (although I agree with Rhiannon, probably best read in proper book form!). The pdf is layed out quite nicely though and the font is unobtrusive. Would do in absence of the real thing. http://richardjefferiessociety.co.uk/Story%20of%20My%20Heart.pdf
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tjj 3606 posts |
Dec 19, 2016, 18:29
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GLADMAN wrote: Not sure about this... Didn't Jeffries write 'After London'? Not in praise of life.... since he was known for carrying a gun? Emily St John Mandel did it much better? I haven't read 'After London' and didn't know he carried a gun?? (although one his books is about game-keeping I believe). He was an educated Victorian trying to earn a living as a writer who died before he was 40. No one is perfect, we ebb and flow according to what is going on around us. All I can say is when walking in the Wiltshire countryside the young Richard Jefferies seemed to go into an almost mystical mind set. Evergreen Dazed has kindly posted a link to Story Of My Heart which also my favourite of RJ's book - if you find time to dip into it, you won't be disappointed. I will check out Emily St John Mandel, who I don't know anything about.
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Sin Agog 2253 posts |
Edited Dec 19, 2016, 18:52
Dec 19, 2016, 18:41
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A couple of years ago I stumbled across a GPS satellite box out in one of Jefferies' favourite verdant playgrounds, the South Downs. They're like little plastic lunchboxes with a notebook inside where the GPS cats put in coordinates and the like. I was so overtaken with the beauty around me, however, that I copied down a passage from Story of my Heart. Wonder what the next person who read that must have thought upon alighting upon it.
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GLADMAN 950 posts |
Dec 19, 2016, 19:37
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Thanks - I'll check out Story Of My Heart.... Guess one way to look at it might be that to truly appreciate 'life' - or rather to write eloquently about it, perhaps - you need to have personally experienced the darker side as well. Poacher-turned-gamekeeper. Mandel's book's called Station 11
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Evergreen Dazed 1881 posts |
Dec 19, 2016, 23:30
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Sin Agog wrote: A couple of years ago I stumbled across a GPS satellite box out in one of Jefferies' favourite verdant playgrounds, the South Downs. They're like little plastic lunchboxes with a notebook inside where the GPS cats put in coordinates and the like. I was so overtaken with the beauty around me, however, that I copied down a passage from Story of my Heart. Wonder what the next person who read that must have thought upon alighting upon it. Oh aye, I think they're called geocaches. Seemed to be v popular for a while, don't know if it's still going on. Perhaps they're all out collecting pokemon now. Still, suppose it's a nice excuse to be out and about in the countryside. The person who picked that up probably read it and went into a reverie, wept openly at it's beauty and truth, had a life changing experience and now lives in a hedge with fieldfares in the somerset levels. Or possibly completely ignored it and sat down to tuck into their crab paste sandwiches. Either is fine by me.
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