Next to Nature: A Lifetime in the English Countryside

Product Information

He is our tribal storyteller, plugged into a common stream of inquisitive conversation that joins us as a species -- RICHARD MABEY One of the great prose stylists on the twentieth century . We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. I loved his descriptions of the land, birds, bugs, farm animals, neighbors and friends, weather, his trips and walks, subject matter of his preaching at the various churches, state of the farms by season, church celebrations, etc. Hope this book reaches a much wider audience than just readers who might remember Akenfield and those of us who immediately turned to the Word from Wormingford column when the Church Times landed on the door mat.

This was a 2022 Christmas present, signed by the centenarian author, now no longer with us, alas, having died in January of this year. From here, Blythe has spent almost half a century observing the slow turn of the agricultural year, the church year, and village life in a series of rich, lyrical rural diaries. Beginning with the arrival of snow on New Year’s Day and ending with Christmas carols sung in the village church, Next to Nature invites us to witness a simple life richly lived.Still, he seems to have been regarded with enormous fondness, each month introduced by a famous friend of 'Ronnie', ranging from Rob Macfarlane through Rowan Williams to Maggi Hambling. I cannot fault the quality of the writing, but the endless references to the Bible, sermons and church life generally, although they may form a huge part of Blythe's life today, have very little to do with the dramatic change we have seen in the countryside, even since Akenfield.

Not that it's all hauntings, or at least not unfriendly ones; Blythe's bedroom is John Nash's old studio, and "I have lived most of my days under Gainsborough's and Constable's trees, and not figuratively; for many of them go on growing. he lives with a deep, authentic sense of wonder * TLS * Some of the most beautiful and precise prose in modern English . The Hogarth Press where I’m working, is in the heart of the literary world, with authors coming in all the time.All the charm, wonder, eccentricity and vigour of country life is here in these pages, and told with such engaging directness, detail and colour.

For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. A nature diary, a reflection on changing rural life over the period from the Second World War, and a commentary on a deeply dedicated man of the church. an expansive exploration of how land­scapes, humans, and words interact, touched with great humanity. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. Next to Nature is a hoard of observation, gossip and stories designed to take you through the year, with something rich and strange on every page -- Hilary Spurling * The Spectator, Books of the Year 2022 * [Ronald Blythe] is an English institution .

I decided to read each month’s entries at the beginning of each month of 2023, which has undoubtedly been the best approach as it has made this wonderful book last a whole year. Occasionally one is lost, bringing mourning as surely as a villager passing on, and truth be told, these aren't the only intrusions of that other, less forgiving time: "in the market town, the stone griffins on the church tower maintain their watch, seeing off goblins and foul fiends. a work to amble through, seasonally, relishing the vivid dashes of colour and the precision and delicacy of the descriptions' THE SPECTATOR'My favourite read of the year . Slightly Foxed brings back forgotten voices through its Slightly Foxed and Plain Foxed Editions, a series of beautifully produced little pocket hardback reissues of classic memoirs, all of them absorbing and highly individual. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

I got “Next to Nature” for Christmas 2022 and started reading through its monthly collections of essays in January. However these are minor irritations and do not detract too much from what are very rich and perceptive insights. Reading this book is to be in the company of a supremely sensitive observer who has spent a lifetime seeing and scenting nature .From here, Blythe spent almost half a century observing the slow turn of the agricultural year, the church year and village life in a series of rich, lyrical rural diaries. To immerse yourself in this East Anglian year is be reminded of why we love and value the rhythms and realities of rural life. The structure is perfect, compiling Blythe's columns from the Church Times by date, but not by year, so that we read through the circular time of the natural and ecclesiastical year, without altogether knowing where we are in a linear time that seems far less significant out in this little patch of the old rural England, where any self-respecting village needs something to hang dreadful stories on; Borley Rectory was just down the road, and "This was a Mabey walk to rival his walk with me to Wormingford Mere where, although I don't like to boast, we have a dragon. Slightly Foxed introduces its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal. I seldom read any book for an entire year so Ronnie, as he was known to his many friends, has felt like a companion throughout 2023.