Wednesday, January 9, 2019

James Rebanks: The Shepherd's Life

It is always interesting to walk in someone else's shoes for a day, to try different walks of life. The next best thing is, to read a book about their lives. And what could be more different in the 21st century than being a shepherd of all things? We are in the luck - James Rebanks, an Oxford graduate decided to follow along with his family tradition and carry the torch in Cumbria raising lamb in some of the most unforgiving terrains known to man. He writes about the life in the fells in a voice that is not only entertaining but that pulls off being authentic - and yes, the words 'UNESCO' and 'fuck' can appear on the same page. While his days are filled with back-breaking work from dawn till dusk, he still manages to write prose that is not only slow but has a distinct bucolic feel to it that did spirit me away from the cubicles of corporate life into the lands of rain, fog, emerald green grass, joys and sorrows where the abilities of a dog, the posture of a sheep and the opinion of your neighbors matters more than the bottom line of the bank account. No wonder James Rebanks' twitter account became a thing.
"If you've ever seen ewes lying dead behind walls after the snow has cleared or seen lambs lying dead where they were born, you will never love snow so innocently again."

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