Scan barcode
A review by tofumeow
How to be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson
3.0
I love being idle. On the many days I have off, I don't do anything productive, and I don't feel guilty lounging around. So you would think I would love this book!
Some of the chapters in this book were great, like the one on the stupidity of holiday. I have never really understood the desire to blow wads of money traveling around the country on days off. Just stay at home and relax. Also, the quotes and passages from philosophers, poets and writers were very good and made parts of this book a gem.
Yet...other things rubbed me the wrong way. The chapters on smoking, raves and drinking were a bit much. As was his mocking of going to the gym or jogging. Spending an hour exercising, then laying on the couch puts me in a much better mood than if I never got off the couch to begin with. His worries (then dismissal) of wondering if he was an alcoholic made me a little suspicious of the joys of all these vices. Not to mention, a lot of the poets he was idealizing had a very short life expectancy. Give me the more austere life of a contemplative hermit, than the hard partying hedonist.
Some of the chapters in this book were great, like the one on the stupidity of holiday. I have never really understood the desire to blow wads of money traveling around the country on days off. Just stay at home and relax. Also, the quotes and passages from philosophers, poets and writers were very good and made parts of this book a gem.
Yet...other things rubbed me the wrong way. The chapters on smoking, raves and drinking were a bit much. As was his mocking of going to the gym or jogging. Spending an hour exercising, then laying on the couch puts me in a much better mood than if I never got off the couch to begin with. His worries (then dismissal) of wondering if he was an alcoholic made me a little suspicious of the joys of all these vices. Not to mention, a lot of the poets he was idealizing had a very short life expectancy. Give me the more austere life of a contemplative hermit, than the hard partying hedonist.