There’s delight on every page. In fact this would be a perfect read were it not for her intensely irritating habit of equating Slow with a rejection of the modern world. She repeatedly cites the example of a monk (either Christian or Buddhist) as her ideal (strangely, never nuns, but perhaps she’s heard what it’s like to be taught by one) because of their ability to free themselves from the material world and to spend the day in contemplation and prayer. To my mind such a life is pointless, fatuous and parasitical, more to be despised than admired. A person who devotes their life to contemplation and prayer is deliberately choosing not to make the most of whatever talents they possess. It’s one thing to ask people to slow down, quite another to suggest that they drop out altogether.
The picture on the front cover of “World Enough and Time” shows a Scottish landscape which has been photo-shopped onto a picture of the author’s unfeasibly tidy desk. The Scottish scene has been chosen as this is where she was brought up, although she has lived for most of her life in the States. She’s thoroughly American now and this book would be much better if only she had retained more of the Presbyterian Scottishness of her youth.
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