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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I really wanted to like this. I really like the title and the purpose behind it.
Unfortunately, it read like a laundry list of loosely connected facts. I did not find it engaging.
I'm still interested in slowness as a concept. This book was not for me.
Unfortunately, it read like a laundry list of loosely connected facts. I did not find it engaging.
I'm still interested in slowness as a concept. This book was not for me.
This book wasn't earth-shattering for me, but it did reinforce the things I'm trying to work on in my life: prioritizing what's most important to me and letting other stuff slide; learning to be more patient; not spreading myself so thin; and savoring all pleasures, no matter how small.
it was an interesting book. i liked hearing about all the different aspects of the “slow movement”, about all the different facets happening all over the world by different people, but ultimately it fell short. by still very much fixating on the individual, and ignoring that no true full change on this regard can happen within our deeply capitalist society, he misses the mark.
i also would’ve liked to see more diverse views. there were only a few countries he highlighted repeatedly, and he explicitly said at one point it was views from three different continents. sir, there’s 6 populated ones. come on.
i liked listening to it on audiobook, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it. did give me some things to look up, though.
i also would’ve liked to see more diverse views. there were only a few countries he highlighted repeatedly, and he explicitly said at one point it was views from three different continents. sir, there’s 6 populated ones. come on.
i liked listening to it on audiobook, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it. did give me some things to look up, though.
Really great book that gives you so so much to think about. I want to give copies of this to everyone I know!
What I find funny was that I bought this book while in Banff this summer, and never had time to read it because I was too busy.
What I find funny was that I bought this book while in Banff this summer, and never had time to read it because I was too busy.
I like the premise, I like the framing device of "one minute bedtimes stories" being absurd, the execution was just extremely mediocre especially as the book went out. At first, the author acknowledges some of the challenges of "just slowing down" by shortly after halfway through the book the author skips over that.
At one point the author is so caught up in the slow sex workshop, he abandons his family during a medical emergency where his wife is left to care for his daughter whose illness is bad enough to be rushed to the hospital. It was hard to maintain respect for the author's pursuit as realistic. Another example the author praised was a 20-something living at home who "didn't need ambition" or "fast things" (presumably because rent and food were already taken care of).
At one point the author is so caught up in the slow sex workshop, he abandons his family during a medical emergency where his wife is left to care for his daughter whose illness is bad enough to be rushed to the hospital. It was hard to maintain respect for the author's pursuit as realistic. Another example the author praised was a 20-something living at home who "didn't need ambition" or "fast things" (presumably because rent and food were already taken care of).
There's a lot to think about here. I picked this up because I'm interested in looking at time, sort of abstractly. Honore does a great job of summing up the history of time. He also gives us his own personal struggle with speed that was the impetus for exploring the various slow movements around the world. He takes us through Slow cities, slow food, slow sex, slow music, slow education etc. While reading this book, I thought - maybe the answer to everything is just to go slower. But of course, in reality that would make me nuts. The concept I liked most was "tempo giusto" - finding the right speed.
Absolutely incredible, introducing interesting concepts like the Slow Cities movement.
inspiring
reflective
4.5
I thought this was really interesting and insightful. So many different ways that we can slow down and enjoy meaningful activities (or inactivity) that I hadn't thought of before. I 100% agree that cramming more things makes you more stressed. I see that in my life now and now know that was a problem for me during my later childhood. The crafting and reading I do is great for slowing down and I'll definitely continue with those hobbies. At the same time though, I'll need to make sure I don't feel pressure to read x amount of books or make something in a certain time frame since that will counter the point of doing those activities. Continue to enjoy the slower activities as a way to recharge and rest.
Audiobook 7:38 hours
I thought this was really interesting and insightful. So many different ways that we can slow down and enjoy meaningful activities (or inactivity) that I hadn't thought of before. I 100% agree that cramming more things makes you more stressed. I see that in my life now and now know that was a problem for me during my later childhood. The crafting and reading I do is great for slowing down and I'll definitely continue with those hobbies. At the same time though, I'll need to make sure I don't feel pressure to read x amount of books or make something in a certain time frame since that will counter the point of doing those activities. Continue to enjoy the slower activities as a way to recharge and rest.
Audiobook 7:38 hours
Boredom – the word itself hardly existed 150 years ago – is a modern invention.
p11
Interesting and diverting book, with some fluff. Would have been more effective as a New Yorker piece (as far as I can find, no such long-form journalistic correlate exists). The thesis: we are doing many things too fast, and there would be benefits to slowing down.
Honoré does a nice job sectioning the book into areas that are easily digestible: slow food, slow cities, slow medicine, slow music, slow sex, slow schooling, and so on.
There are certainly virtues in taking one’s time, reflecting, and there’s no doubt that mental health would improve (for many of us) with a slower pace of living. Further, the author isn’t slavishly pushing slowness in all things or situations, but a healthy dose of it, selectively, where its effects can be refreshing or salutary.
I found the areas where scientific and historical data existed to be the most interesting. For example, dissection of personal journals from 3-4 centuries ago suggests that we are playing some classical music literally too fast , perhaps 30-50% quicker than intended. Some people advocate extending a slowdown to all music, in order to appreciate hidden tones and feelings that are otherwise obscured with their current pace. Pretty novel idea, and was all new information to me.
Some historical writers had provocative views about time, not even 150 years ago, which are almost unintelligible today: some were opposed to the very notion of universal time (i.e. that a standardized unit, like an hour or day, should be imposed on everyone):
“The chopping up of time into rigid periods is an invasion of individual freedom and makes no allowances for differences in temperament and feeling.”
-Charles Dudley Warner, p44
The books lags strategically, in my view, when it is puffed up by Honoré’s thesaurus and his desire to languidly describe his own personal experiences at restaurants, for example. I found these parts tedious.
“Being slow means that you control the rhythms of your own life. You decide how fast do you have to go in any given context. If today I want to go fast, I go fast; if tomorrow I want to go slow, I go slow. What we’re fighting for is the right to determine our own tempos.”
-p16, Carlo Petrini (founder of the Slow Food movement)
p11
Interesting and diverting book, with some fluff. Would have been more effective as a New Yorker piece (as far as I can find, no such long-form journalistic correlate exists). The thesis: we are doing many things too fast, and there would be benefits to slowing down.
Honoré does a nice job sectioning the book into areas that are easily digestible: slow food, slow cities, slow medicine, slow music, slow sex, slow schooling, and so on.
There are certainly virtues in taking one’s time, reflecting, and there’s no doubt that mental health would improve (for many of us) with a slower pace of living. Further, the author isn’t slavishly pushing slowness in all things or situations, but a healthy dose of it, selectively, where its effects can be refreshing or salutary.
I found the areas where scientific and historical data existed to be the most interesting. For example, dissection of personal journals from 3-4 centuries ago suggests that we are playing some classical music literally too fast , perhaps 30-50% quicker than intended. Some people advocate extending a slowdown to all music, in order to appreciate hidden tones and feelings that are otherwise obscured with their current pace. Pretty novel idea, and was all new information to me.
Some historical writers had provocative views about time, not even 150 years ago, which are almost unintelligible today: some were opposed to the very notion of universal time (i.e. that a standardized unit, like an hour or day, should be imposed on everyone):
“The chopping up of time into rigid periods is an invasion of individual freedom and makes no allowances for differences in temperament and feeling.”
-Charles Dudley Warner, p44
The books lags strategically, in my view, when it is puffed up by Honoré’s thesaurus and his desire to languidly describe his own personal experiences at restaurants, for example. I found these parts tedious.
“Being slow means that you control the rhythms of your own life. You decide how fast do you have to go in any given context. If today I want to go fast, I go fast; if tomorrow I want to go slow, I go slow. What we’re fighting for is the right to determine our own tempos.”
-p16, Carlo Petrini (founder of the Slow Food movement)