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jedore's review against another edition
3.0
“We go into debt to chase our desires, and then keep working to pay the debt. It’s the modern form of indentured labor.”
I was excited to read How to Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto on my way to living in Panamá as one of my biggest goals with this move is to SLOW THE HECK DOWN. From what I hear, the Panamanians have their priorities straighter than Americans when it comes to idling, celebrating and putting family at the top of the list. I need to learn to be and do better in this way.
Some male authors can write in a way that resonates with both males and females. Tom Hodgkinson, not so much. His (non-toxic) masculinity was prevalent on most pages...his British-ness as well.
Tom covers a topic related to slowing down and doing nothing in each chapter:
Ch 1: Waking Up
Ch 2: Toil & Trouble
Ch 3: Sleeping In
Ch 4: Skiving for Pleasure
Ch 5: The Hangover
Ch 6: The Death of Lunch
Ch 7: On Being Ill
Ch 8: the Nap
Ch 9: Time for Tea
Ch 10: The Ramble
Ch 11: First Drink of the Day
Ch 12: On Fishing
Ch 13: Smoking
Ch 14: The Idle Home
Ch 15: The Pub
Ch 16: Riot
Ch 17: The Moon and the Stars
Ch 18: Sex and Idleness
Ch 19: The Art of Conversation
Ch 20: Party Time
Ch 21: Meditation
Ch 22: Sleep
Ch 23: On Holidays
Ch 24: A Waking Dream
Despite the heavy testosterone (fishing, drinking, smoking, etc.), he shifted my perspective in a big way and I enjoyed the book enough to stick with it until the end (something I no longer do out of a sense of some unnecessary obligation...a sign that I'm evolving!).
The ongoing discussion of the shift that occurred in society as a direct result of the Industrial Revolution was the most interesting and valuable aspect of the book for me. Now I get why humans, particularly the American ones, are obsessed with work, work, work. Most importantly, now I get the guilt I have when I do nothing...awareness is the first step in healing.
Although written before Covid, there is a definite parallel between the post-Industrial Revolution societal mentality and the post-Covid. I feel much better equipped to explain what I mean by the powers-that-be having an agenda without sounding like a Trump loving conspiracy nut.
I hope my "husband" reads the book as he is a cocktail-loving fisherman who knows the value of a good idle session.
I was excited to read How to Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto on my way to living in Panamá as one of my biggest goals with this move is to SLOW THE HECK DOWN. From what I hear, the Panamanians have their priorities straighter than Americans when it comes to idling, celebrating and putting family at the top of the list. I need to learn to be and do better in this way.
Some male authors can write in a way that resonates with both males and females. Tom Hodgkinson, not so much. His (non-toxic) masculinity was prevalent on most pages...his British-ness as well.
Tom covers a topic related to slowing down and doing nothing in each chapter:
Ch 1: Waking Up
Ch 2: Toil & Trouble
Ch 3: Sleeping In
Ch 4: Skiving for Pleasure
Ch 5: The Hangover
Ch 6: The Death of Lunch
Ch 7: On Being Ill
Ch 8: the Nap
Ch 9: Time for Tea
Ch 10: The Ramble
Ch 11: First Drink of the Day
Ch 12: On Fishing
Ch 13: Smoking
Ch 14: The Idle Home
Ch 15: The Pub
Ch 16: Riot
Ch 17: The Moon and the Stars
Ch 18: Sex and Idleness
Ch 19: The Art of Conversation
Ch 20: Party Time
Ch 21: Meditation
Ch 22: Sleep
Ch 23: On Holidays
Ch 24: A Waking Dream
Despite the heavy testosterone (fishing, drinking, smoking, etc.), he shifted my perspective in a big way and I enjoyed the book enough to stick with it until the end (something I no longer do out of a sense of some unnecessary obligation...a sign that I'm evolving!).
The ongoing discussion of the shift that occurred in society as a direct result of the Industrial Revolution was the most interesting and valuable aspect of the book for me. Now I get why humans, particularly the American ones, are obsessed with work, work, work. Most importantly, now I get the guilt I have when I do nothing...awareness is the first step in healing.
Although written before Covid, there is a definite parallel between the post-Industrial Revolution societal mentality and the post-Covid. I feel much better equipped to explain what I mean by the powers-that-be having an agenda without sounding like a Trump loving conspiracy nut.
I hope my "husband" reads the book as he is a cocktail-loving fisherman who knows the value of a good idle session.
glabeson's review against another edition
Hoping this would be a good pandemic read for those of us who find ourselves with a lot of time on our hands. This though is more of a celebration of shirking responsibility...As the author quotes, "there is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do."
msaid2's review against another edition
4.0
Fun read and a good way to contemplate your particular way of life and why you are doing all the things you are doing, when really, there are other ways to live your life. But the tone of the book is a bit jarring in these particular winter 2021 times and makes you wonder what Tom Hodgkinson is writing now, and how we should be now.
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
3.0
Whew. In a classic case of judging a book by it's cover (yes, yes, I know), when I picked this book up at the library, I expected this compact book with whimsical illustrations to be (referencing its subject matter) an idle perusing. I was very wrong. Although I did enjoy this book, it's a dense read with lots of research on rest, relaxation, and idleness. At just over 300 pages, it's packed with history lessons, encouragement, advice, and comedy. I would advise other readers to approach this book in chunks, rather than trying to get through the whole thing at one time.
olanaras's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this book, because I love Tom and I love the idler. However, this book is really just a collection of short essays and doesn’t warrant a book (or at least a book I want to read as a whole). It works far better in his weekly emails and idler magazine articles. Also, I’m personally a natural early riser and hate night tim; the first half of the book, with its witty observations of daytime, was very poignant for me, whilst the second half wasn’t something I could understand or laugh along with. I’m sure it’s the opposite for most people.
It’s not that it was a bad book, it was just a bad book for me. For me, a book needs a story - without a line through it all, there is no need for a collection of essays to become a book.
It’s not that it was a bad book, it was just a bad book for me. For me, a book needs a story - without a line through it all, there is no need for a collection of essays to become a book.
line_so_fine's review against another edition
3.0
The best parts of this for me were the parts where the author identifies a historical tradition of idling via famous writers and philosophers. I had forgotten that Neitzsche extolled laziness and hey, it makes me feel better about the time I spend doing absolutely nothing when there are certified brainiacs sayings it's good. Although it's well-written, well-researched, and fun to read, I think you would have to really, really want to read something about loafing to get into this. If the interest in the subject is only mild, the writing is not going to pull you all the way in.
lolhiphop's review against another edition
4.0
I bought it just to laugh and it turned out to be an excellent guide. Being lazy has never been so good.