By: Rosie McCann
Author Bio:
Rosie is a final year French and Art History student. She loves reading and is particularly interested in translated fiction. In this review, Rosie explores the importance of returning to our local environments and the importance of the farming discourse.
THE REVIEW:
I’m not quite sure what it was about this book, with its pretty illustrated cover art by Angela Harding, and classic orange penguin logo in the top right-hand corner, that got so many people around me asking questions about what I was reading. The day I bought it I had an interesting chat with an old man on the train to Edinburgh, and my friends and family have been, I think (?), intrigued by its title. Of course, I was more than happy to discuss, I love talking about the books I’m reading, just the people around me don’t usually seem too interested. This time, it wasn’t me who started the conversations. I think the fact that this book sparked conversation and raised questions before people had even read it is testament to the complex and important discussions it contains within the pages.
In short, I’ve been telling everyone that this book is about how farming, and its landscape have changed over the years, how the land and the industry has been developed and about the discussion of the importance in finding some kind of balance between the increasing efficiency of farming whilst still protecting or maintaining the natural environment. It may not sound like a book you want to read. It might sound quite heavy when I put it like that, or very dense and formal but really, this book contains a very sweet and heartfelt story, based on autobiographical experience, and written by a farmer from around the Lake district. It’s not written like scientific research, or an academic paper, instead he uses conversational language, and the text is very accessible and easy to understand. I have very little farming knowledge, as do the majority of the people who live in England, and the UK more generally, but we all rely on the farming that has gone on for centuries upon our island kingdom, regardless of diet or where we live, countryside or city. That’s partly one of the reasons I think this book is so important. Although written by a farmer, his perspective is not heavily biassed, he lays out and explains the complicated and interlinked issues of farming, the supermarket chain, the economy and the environment clearly and with no nonsense yet still emphasises the sensitivity behind many of the arguments and viewpoints, with understanding and appreciation.
Rebanks isn’t trying to justify or condemn any styles of farming and doesn’t seem judgemental over any methods which he may not practise himself. He’s not trying to convince us with any sort of evangelism that there’s a right way of doing it, or even turn us against anything or anyone. This book offers us a rounded insight into the struggles experienced by farmers, and therefore struggles which affect our food supply, and, by consequence, all of us. These insights are important precisely because they have gone unconsidered or forgotten. We can easily be swept up in by the everchanging and tumultuous state of our world that we can forget to think more locally, about what surrounds us and what we have direct impact on. The throes of politics, stress on the economy and spiralling state of the environment can become all-consuming and overwhelming, especially when being constantly fed all of this at once, in the newspaper, on the television and in informal conversation at the local pub. This book offers a really good introduction into a topic which has so much impact on all of these subjects above, but seems to be left out of many discussions, and if they enter them, they are rarely at the forefront of them. Rebanks does recognise that farming isn’t a topic which is necessarily relevant in every environmental issue of course, but because this topic is rarely pushed into public interest or even understood by a large amount of the population, he contributes contrasting arguments to balance out debates on the different methods of farming and their consequential environmental impacts.
Reading this heart-warming story about generations of farming families in the North of England, I have, by no means, become an expert myself. However, I now feel that I have a little more insight and understanding into the farming world and how it affects me, and all of us. Rebanks is gentle in his phrase, non-accusing. He is encouraging and optimistic, which is refreshing to read as so many books surrounding the environment which I have read tend to emphasise and focus on the doom and gloom of our situation. Rebanks doesn’t omit this aspect in his three-part non-fictional story, he mixes statistics and facts alongside his life-time observations about the environment and the industry of farming to clarify and contextualise the polemics of today, whilst also elaborating on the fact that these struggles are not in any way new, despite the rapid changes of the 20th century. There has always been a fine balance to strike whilst farming.
Read this book! It’s fast-paced and has a non-formal style so it won’t take you long. I think it’s inspiring and powerful, you’ll definitely come away having learnt something you didn’t know about this country, our environment and what we rely so heavily upon. To be honest, I’d say English Pastoral is relevant to anyone who goes to the supermarket, it may not be a genre you’re a fan of, or read very often, but you won’t regret it.
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