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A carregar... The Magic Spring: My Year Learning to Be Englishpor Richard Lewis
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Adira ao LibraryThing para descobrir se irá gostar deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. Richard Lewis is a journalist in search of the roots of his culture and identity. But as he spends a year travelling round England visiting various festivals (including morris dancing, bonfires, harvest festival, and wassailing), he realises that most of them are relatively recent, and self-conscious, re-inventions of supposed traditions that can rarely be traced back before the Victorian era. He is repeatedly, and humorously, sceptical about the claim that these traditions have 'origins' in pagan rituals. But nevertheless he finds joy and even a degree of belonging in the living traditions in which he takes part. While debunking many re-invented traditions as the fictions of revivalists, his portraits of the people he meets remain affectionate and are never patronising. Fantastic! A wonderful journey through English traditions, from the well-known to the more obscure, and charting the passage of the seasons and the year. Great for those who have minimal familiarity with English traditions, giving a wonderful introduction to them and providing a glimmer of understanding as to why so many people will fight so hard to keep them going against the best combined efforts of legislation and accusations of 'uncoolness'. And just as great for those who've been watching the ceremonies for years - tar barrels, Padstow Oss, straw bears, it's all in here and described with joy, excitement and love. sem críticas | adicionar uma crítica
City-dweller Richard Lewis has been having a problem with roots. His, he means. It would have been so much more romantic if he had been born in Dublin or Marseille. But what if you're simply from Croydon? What hope for romance then? Starting with the conviction that England must have a folklore as compelling, as exotic and as beautiful as that of other places, Lewis embarks on a search for traditional roots that takes him well off the beaten track, from the humble folk clubs of the fenlands, across the Yorkshire moors via the Morris-dancing Cotswolds to a magic circle of druids deep beneath the Forest of Dean. The Magic Spring seeks to not only dispel some myths about English traditions, but to tell the story of their creation, to examine why they persist and how they connect to the modern land. Lewis follows the changing seasons, digs into his own past and discovers not only a deep affinity with his country, but also, in a climax on the Isle of Avalon, that roots are less about where you're from than he thought. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — A carregar... GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)914.20486History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Europe England and Wales Travel 1837- Victoria & Windsors 2000-AvaliaçãoMédia:
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He tells everything in a very matter of fact voice, but with a lot of sympathy for all the goings-on (he joins them gladly too).
Very enjoyable if you find the subject interesting - my interest in it is only mild and after some 200 pages it took an effort of will to go on reading - every chapter became "a bit more of the same" for me. ( )