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A review by sharonleavy
The Cow Book: A Story of Life on a Family Farm by John Connell
3.0
This is the story of a 29 year old Longford man who returned home to help out on his family farm after living and working abroad.
It covers January to June, which is calving season. The author documents these couple of months and the ups and downs that come with them for farmers. He balances the monotony of daily farm life with personal stories about his relationship with his father, how important neighbours are in rural Ireland, the connections farmers make with animals, how climate change and the Department affect farming. There are also stories about the history of cows and how important they are in legends and lore.
I don't think I'm the intended audience for this, I grew up in a farming community so for me the insight may not have been as special as it would be to someone who never set foot on a farm.
The one thing that I found broke the flow of the stories (because they are all short stories and anecdotes, interconnected, rather than one cohesive novel) was the repeated use of an old Irish word here and there followed by the explanation of the word. I think the English translation interrupted the flow of the stories and may have been better suited to a glossary at the back. I would have liked to know how some of the stories ended - what ever happened to the one-eyed dog?
I'm glad a book like this exists, because I think it's important to have modern farming life documented, but I didn't really take anything from it myself, which is why I've rated it 2.5, bang in the middle.
It covers January to June, which is calving season. The author documents these couple of months and the ups and downs that come with them for farmers. He balances the monotony of daily farm life with personal stories about his relationship with his father, how important neighbours are in rural Ireland, the connections farmers make with animals, how climate change and the Department affect farming. There are also stories about the history of cows and how important they are in legends and lore.
I don't think I'm the intended audience for this, I grew up in a farming community so for me the insight may not have been as special as it would be to someone who never set foot on a farm.
The one thing that I found broke the flow of the stories (because they are all short stories and anecdotes, interconnected, rather than one cohesive novel) was the repeated use of an old Irish word here and there followed by the explanation of the word. I think the English translation interrupted the flow of the stories and may have been better suited to a glossary at the back. I would have liked to know how some of the stories ended - what ever happened to the one-eyed dog?
I'm glad a book like this exists, because I think it's important to have modern farming life documented, but I didn't really take anything from it myself, which is why I've rated it 2.5, bang in the middle.