The Forgotten Arts & Crafts
John Seymour
Dorling Kindersley
Nonfiction, History/Reference
Themes: Country Tales
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Description
These days, most people in industrialized nations take running water, packaged foods, ready-made clothing, heat, disposable packaging and more for granted. It's all just a turn of a faucet, a flip of a switch, or a quick jaunt to the store (or the internet) away, isn't it? Not so long ago, however, daily life relied on the skills of trained craftspeople and knowledgeable housewives, men and women who transformed raw materials into the necessities of civilized life. Many of these skill are endangered, some few having gone entirely extinct, but the recent trend toward self-sufficient living is inspiring a revival. Author John Seymour draws upon his childhood, his travels to remote corners of the world, and his own curiosity about pre-industrial living to offer a glimpse into such lost arts as barrel-making, blacksmithing, basket-weaving, thatching, and more.
Review
This book is a little difficult to rate. On the one hand, it explores just what went into the daily existence of yesteryear, how much stored
knowledge and how many craftspeople were required for even the smallest village to thrive. From building a house with local materials to holiday
decorations, from labor-intensive works meant to last a lifetime to the nitty-gritty of everyday cleaning and personal sanitation, a broad and diverse
range of topics are discussed. On the other hand, Seymour does little but glimpse at most of his subjects, often coloring his descriptions with heavy
doses of nostalgia that alienate more modern readers. No, Mr. Seymour, I have no recollection of visiting the village smithy as a child, so your
charming explanation hardly helps me decipher the process you're describing. The illustrations are little more helpful, often showing tools without
explaining their use or cluttered workshop scenes that only confuse rather than enlighten. In discussing the lifestyles of our ancestors, the author's
rose-colored glasses are so thick they're practically a blindfold; yes, there were (and are) many admirable things about simpler living, but there were
also many drawbacks and limitations, and it's a little hypocritical to praise the centuries or millennia of innovations that led to, say, the spinning
wheel and loom while universally condemning developments beyond an arbitrary "back in my day" cutoff point. Several of the articles also feel thin, barely
mentioning or explaining a particular craft before dwindling to a close.
The Forgotten Arts & Crafts succeeds at showing just how complex village life was (and remains, in many parts of the world), offering a look
at the many skills and trades that eventually paved the way for our modern world... many of which deserve to be preserved against a future that cannot
support our current wasteful, short-sighted lifestyle. I was just hoping for a little more depth.