Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
This has been on my TBR for a long time and, unfortunately, time has not been kind. While there is still some good information and the message of taking your time in a constantly speeding up world is an always worthwhile one, some of the information is out of date and many of the adoptions - the rise of yoga and meditation, for instance - have become part of the culture rather than passing fads. Still useful information, however.
So you want to live your best life? You want to strike the perfect balance between fast and slow, deep and shallow, busy and laid back? You are not alone. For centuries monks and hermits withdrew from the mundane concerns to find peace of mind in seclusion, and if you are the Henry Thoreau type, you can enjoy serenity in the woods. For everyone else, there is Carl Honore. He travels around the world and meets like-minded people. They all have one thing in common. They have slowed down their lives, their food, their work and leisure to (somehow counterintuitively) make the most out of it. Alas, they share another thing as well. You see, they're all affluent first-world folks. You may feel "Wow, slow is expensive, can I afford it?". And chances are you cannot.
The author is a journalist and he writes like one. Most of the book is but an extended journal article, one of those glossy long-reads you fancy during a flight (rest a bit, dream a bit). And you want to finish it just in time to exit the plane. That said, the underlying topics are very real. Our eating habits are unhealthy, our cities noisy, our attention span gets shorter by the day.
So what? Some of the advice is structural societal changes, yet who really believes in a slow world revolution? Can we make it happen without angering the gods of capitalism, can we avoid a spiritual twist? Or is Slow the new black? A posh and exquisite pastime, a tourist attraction when visiting that very slow Italian town of Bra. Perhaps we could admit that the battle for a slower society is lost, everyone is out for themselves.
It wasn't always like this. That proverbial frog has been boiling for ages. Agriculture happened along the way. We invented calendars and dials. The more we measured time, the more time measured us. Then the Industrial Revolution happened. The opening chapters scrutinize the omnipresent dictate of time from the early days of watchmaking to the scientific yoke of Taylorism. It's very dynamic and injects a good dose of optimism to keep reading. Except you get diminishing returns soon. Too diminishing, too soon. The less the returns the more the hype.
Slow food grows slowly, it's usually ecological and natural (and triple the price), prepares slowly and eats slowly.
Hype: 50%
Takeaway: eat slower, eat at the table, without watching a podcast, chatting on the phone and answering emails, all at once.
Slow cities are designed for people, not cars. If you feel like a second-class citizen in your own neighbourhood, if you only need your legs to take you to the car and back on the sofa, you should buy a nice apartment in a family-friendly quarter where everything is within walking distance.
Takeaway: walk more, take the stairs instead of an elevator/escalator, don't speed drive in the city, that extra 10 km/h will only save you a few minutes a day. Extra speed only yields results on the highways, on long journeys. And this is a wonderful mental calculus since it very much applies to the short YouTube videos I'm used to watching at crazy speed just to squeeze a few seconds at the cost of nervous tics. Don't do it.
Slow minds meditate and switch between fast and slow thinking, while slow bodies do yoga or qigong, practice superflow.
Hype: 75% hype
Takeaway: less smartphone, more offline, more sleep. Do work out and don't overstretch yourself.
Slow medicine is just as slow as esoteric. Ayurveda, Yunani, acupuncture, reiki (facepalm).
Verdict: abysmal
Takeaway: Carl Honore is not responsible for any harm you do to yourself.
Slow work is less work, and less is more. Don't believe it? You will meet many slow workers here, all successful.
Hype: 50%
Takeaway: Work to live, avoid second/third job if possible, and use up your vacations.
Slow leisure, slow knitting, slow reading, slow music. And don't miss out on very slow tantric love.
Takeaway: well, I have no arguments here.
Slow schooling happens at Steiner (aka Waldorf) schools or at home.
Takeaway: Give children more idle time so they can learn to occupy themselves, and in the process, maybe they understand what they want in life.
The author is a journalist and he writes like one. Most of the book is but an extended journal article, one of those glossy long-reads you fancy during a flight (rest a bit, dream a bit). And you want to finish it just in time to exit the plane. That said, the underlying topics are very real. Our eating habits are unhealthy, our cities noisy, our attention span gets shorter by the day.
So what? Some of the advice is structural societal changes, yet who really believes in a slow world revolution? Can we make it happen without angering the gods of capitalism, can we avoid a spiritual twist? Or is Slow the new black? A posh and exquisite pastime, a tourist attraction when visiting that very slow Italian town of Bra. Perhaps we could admit that the battle for a slower society is lost, everyone is out for themselves.
It wasn't always like this. That proverbial frog has been boiling for ages. Agriculture happened along the way. We invented calendars and dials. The more we measured time, the more time measured us. Then the Industrial Revolution happened. The opening chapters scrutinize the omnipresent dictate of time from the early days of watchmaking to the scientific yoke of Taylorism. It's very dynamic and injects a good dose of optimism to keep reading. Except you get diminishing returns soon. Too diminishing, too soon. The less the returns the more the hype.
Slow food grows slowly, it's usually ecological and natural (and triple the price), prepares slowly and eats slowly.
Hype: 50%
Takeaway: eat slower, eat at the table, without watching a podcast, chatting on the phone and answering emails, all at once.
Slow cities are designed for people, not cars. If you feel like a second-class citizen in your own neighbourhood, if you only need your legs to take you to the car and back on the sofa, you should buy a nice apartment in a family-friendly quarter where everything is within walking distance.
Takeaway: walk more, take the stairs instead of an elevator/escalator, don't speed drive in the city, that extra 10 km/h will only save you a few minutes a day. Extra speed only yields results on the highways, on long journeys. And this is a wonderful mental calculus since it very much applies to the short YouTube videos I'm used to watching at crazy speed just to squeeze a few seconds at the cost of nervous tics. Don't do it.
Slow minds meditate and switch between fast and slow thinking, while slow bodies do yoga or qigong, practice superflow.
Hype: 75% hype
Takeaway: less smartphone, more offline, more sleep. Do work out and don't overstretch yourself.
Slow medicine is just as slow as esoteric. Ayurveda, Yunani, acupuncture, reiki (facepalm).
Verdict: abysmal
Takeaway: Carl Honore is not responsible for any harm you do to yourself.
Slow work is less work, and less is more. Don't believe it? You will meet many slow workers here, all successful.
Hype: 50%
Takeaway: Work to live, avoid second/third job if possible, and use up your vacations.
Slow leisure, slow knitting, slow reading, slow music. And don't miss out on very slow tantric love.
Takeaway: well, I have no arguments here.
Slow schooling happens at Steiner (aka Waldorf) schools or at home.
Takeaway: Give children more idle time so they can learn to occupy themselves, and in the process, maybe they understand what they want in life.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
As someone trying to find a way to balance all that I feel I'm supposed to do in life with the desire to do what I want to do, I really enjoyed reading this book. I do believe that slowing down certain areas of our lives will improve life and this world as a whole. I've already been trying to slow down and take joy in the things that really matter and it's nice to know there are others out there who are doing the same thing!
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Makes you think, this one does. I think the whole world should read this.
Il aurait eu 5 étoiles si ce n'avait été de la traduction parfois pénible qui agace la lectrice. J'ai beaucoup aimé l'éventail des sujets couverts, la recherche derrière et les nombreuses idées qui donnent envie de ralentir pour le mieux. Un must, à mon avis!
Nothing mind-blowingly great here, but a great collection of pieces on how people have slowed their lives down. Gives a nice detailing of various Slow movements, and full of plenty of ideas on how you can follow suit.
Interesting, worth the read. I guess I wanted it to be a bit more inspiring? I got a couple bits from it but I don't think the book will stick with me, on the whole.
I feel like I agree with a lot of what is being said in this book but some parts rang a little hollow to me, and had a sort of tone of "learn to slow down in just 2 easy lessons!" kind of speed-oriented fixes. I understand that perhaps this is the right way to sell these ideas to the presently fast-minded and I have the unfortunate situation of reading this after already arriving at some of these ideas from other exposure.
In a lot of ways I think "A Sideways Look at Time" is a prettier and more fun to read book on the subject, and is in fact how I initially came to find this one; I was looking for that and goodreads or amazon or something recommended I try this one. It is however broader in its scope and if you are less interested in a lot of the historical elements but prefer to focus specifically on ways to limit your domination by a clock, then this should be right up your alley.
In a lot of ways I think "A Sideways Look at Time" is a prettier and more fun to read book on the subject, and is in fact how I initially came to find this one; I was looking for that and goodreads or amazon or something recommended I try this one. It is however broader in its scope and if you are less interested in a lot of the historical elements but prefer to focus specifically on ways to limit your domination by a clock, then this should be right up your alley.