James Rebanks

Hvor langt skal man gå for at finde sig selv? For mange år siden mødte den engelske fåreavler James Rebanks en ældre kvinde, der boede alene på en fjerntliggende norsk klippeø. Her tog hun sig af vilde edderfugle og samlede deres dun – et flere hundrede år gammelt håndværk, der engang gjorde mænd og kvinder rige, men som længe havde været i tilbagegang. Rebanks blev fascineret af kvinden på klipperne, der var stærk, eventyrlig og mærkeligt bekendt. Da han kom hjem, kunne han ikke få hende ud af hovedet. Årene gik. En dag skrev han et brev til hende og spurgte, om han måtte komme tilbage. Tag arbejdstøj med, svarede hun, og gode støvler – og kom hurtigt; hendes helbred var dårligt. Og så rejste Rebanks til kanten af Arktis for at være vidne til hendes sidste sæson på øen. Hvor tidevandet vender er historien om den sæson. Det er historien om et enestående, urgammelt landskab – og om kvinden, der vakte det til live igen. Fortællingen følger hendes arbejde fra det hårde slid i den barske vinter til glæden ved det endeløse sommerlys, når fuglene efterlader deres dyrebare dun til indsamling. Langsomt forstår Rebanks, at denne kvinde og hendes verden ikke er, hvad han troede. Det, der begyndte som en rejse væk, bliver til en enestående lektie i selvindsigt og tilgivelse.

‘Enchanting’ Telegraph‘Miraculous’ Isabella Tree‘Exquisite’ FTFrom the No.1 bestselling author of The Shepherd's Life, an unforgettable story of friendship, redemption and a life-changing voyage of discovery on a remote Norwegian islandHow far do you have to go to find yourself? One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been in decline. Still, somehow, she seemed to be hanging on. Back at home, Rebanks couldn’t stop thinking about the woman on the rocks. She was fierce and otherworldly – and yet strangely familiar. Years passed. Then, one day, he wrote her a letter, asking if he could return. Bring work clothes, she replied, and good boots, and come quickly: her health was failing. And so he travelled to the edge of the Arctic to witness her last season on the island. This is the story of that season. It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape, and of the woman who brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough, isolated toil of bitter winter, to the elation of the endless summer light, when the birds leave behind their precious down for gathering, like feathered gold. Slowly, Rebanks begins to understand that this woman and her world are not what he had previously thought. What began as a journey of escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.*Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Award*

For noen år siden besøkte James Rebanks en avsidesliggende øy utenfor Vega i Nordland. Her møtte han fuglevokteren Anna som tok seg av vill ærfugl og samlet ederdun, et eldgammelt yrke som var i ferd med å forsvinne. Men mot alle odds holdt Anna tradisjonen i live. Hjemme igjen på gården i Lake District kunne ikke Rebanks slutte å tenke på kvinnen ute i havgapet. Etter noen år skriver han til henne og spør om han kan komme tilbake. Ta med arbeidsklær og gode støvler, og kom raskt for helsen min er i ferd med å svikte, svarer hun. Rebanks reiser så nordover for å være med på hennes siste sankesesong. Dette er historien om den sesongen. Det er historien om et unikt og eldgammelt landskap, og om kvinnen som holder det i live. Etter hvert som ukene går, blir det som begynte som en flukt forvandlet til en ekstraordinær leksjon i selverkjennelse og tilgivelse.

Is our work merely a way to put food on the table, or does it have inherent value? Should our work define us? Does it play too large a role in our lives? Does it make us feel more human, or less so? This issue explores the realities of work for people with various jobs, but also probes the reasons people work and what they hope to gain from their labor. From warehouse workers to poets, food delivery specialists to cloistered nuns, farmers to police officers, this issue considers personal, spiritual, and social aspects of one of the most basic human activities. On this theme: James Rebanks prepares to pass on the farm to his children. Benoit Gautier rides a shuttlebus with dislocated French warehouse workers. Shira Telushkin asks why young women today are becoming cloistered nuns. Ben Wray talks to food-delivery riders in three countries about their attempts to organize. John Clair, a police chief, wants policing to be about relationships, not statistics. Norann Voll tells how her father taught her to embrace her blue-collar roots. Maureen Swinger honors the unpaid and unheralded work of caring for an aging loved one. Alastair Roberts recommends the divine rhythm of work and Sabbath rest God established in Genesis. Also in this issue: Adam Nicolson finds a different sort of freedom sailing a sixteen-foot wooden boat. Alister McGrath explores the connection between detective fiction and the spiritual quest. Tish Harrison Warren introduces Stanley Hauerwas to new audiences. Christian Wiman shares a new poem about a glass-eyed monk. Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.

Is our work merely a way to put food on the table, or does it have inherent value? Should our work define us? Does it play too large a role in our lives? Does it make us feel more human, or less so? This issue explores the realities of work for people with various jobs, but also probes the reasons people work and what they hope to gain from their labor. From warehouse workers to poets, food delivery specialists to cloistered nuns, farmers to police officers, this issue considers personal, spiritual, and social aspects of one of the most basic human activities. On this theme: James Rebanks prepares to pass on the farm to his children. Benoit Gautier rides a shuttlebus with dislocated French warehouse workers. Shira Telushkin asks why young women today are becoming cloistered nuns. Ben Wray talks to food-delivery riders in three countries about their attempts to organize. John Clair, a police chief, wants policing to be about relationships, not statistics. Norann Voll tells how her father taught her to embrace her blue-collar roots. Maureen Swinger honors the unpaid and unheralded work of caring for an aging loved one. Alastair Roberts recommends the divine rhythm of work and Sabbath rest God established in Genesis. Also in this issue: Adam Nicolson finds a different sort of freedom sailing a sixteen-foot wooden boat. Alister McGrath explores the connection between detective fiction and the spiritual quest. Tish Harrison Warren introduces Stanley Hauerwas to new audiences. Christian Wiman shares a new poem about a glass-eyed monk. Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.

For noen år siden besøkte James Rebanks en avsidesliggende øy utenfor Vega i Nordland. Her møtte han fuglevokteren Anna som tok seg av vill ærfugl og samlet ederdun, et eldgammelt yrke som var i ferd med å forsvinne. Men mot alle odds holdt Anna tradisjonen i live. Hjemme igjen på gården i Lake District kunne ikke Rebanks slutte å tenke på kvinnen ute i havgapet. Etter noen år skriver han til henne og spør om han kan komme tilbake. Ta med arbeidsklær og gode støvler, og kom raskt for helsen min er i ferd med å svikte, svarer hun. Rebanks reiser så nordover for å være med på hennes siste sankesesong. Dette er historien om den sesongen. Det er historien om et unikt og eldgammelt landskap, og om kvinnen som holder det i live. Etter hvert som ukene går, blir det som begynte som en flukt forvandlet til en ekstraordinær leksjon i selverkjennelse og tilgivelse.

‘Enchanting’ Telegraph‘Miraculous’ Isabella Tree‘Exquisite’ FTFrom the No.1 bestselling author of The Shepherd's Life, an unforgettable story of friendship, redemption and a life-changing voyage of discovery on a remote Norwegian islandHow far do you have to go to find yourself? One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been in decline. Still, somehow, she seemed to be hanging on. Back at home, Rebanks couldn’t stop thinking about the woman on the rocks. She was fierce and otherworldly – and yet strangely familiar. Years passed. Then, one day, he wrote her a letter, asking if he could return. Bring work clothes, she replied, and good boots, and come quickly: her health was failing. And so he travelled to the edge of the Arctic to witness her last season on the island. This is the story of that season. It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape, and of the woman who brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough, isolated toil of bitter winter, to the elation of the endless summer light, when the birds leave behind their precious down for gathering, like feathered gold. Slowly, Rebanks begins to understand that this woman and her world are not what he had previously thought. What began as a journey of escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.*Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Award*

Da James Rebanks vokste opp, var det farfaren som lærte ham hvordan han skulle ta vare på land og dyr på gamlemåten. Familiegården deres i Lake District var en del av et gammelt jordbrukslandskap, et lappeteppe av dyrket mark og enger, av beiter fylt med husdyr, og hekker som vrimlet av dyreliv. Men da James arvet gården, var området knapt gjenkjennelig. Livet på landet forteller om hvordan landskap rundt om i verden har blitt brakt nær kollaps, og hvordan den eldgamle rytmen av fellesskap, arbeid, vær og vill natur har gått tapt. Og likevel er dette en historie om håp: om hvordan en bonde, inspirert av fortiden, begynte å berge et lite hjørne av England som nå var hans, og gjorde sitt beste for å gjenopprette livet som hadde forsvunnet, for å etterlate seg en arv for fremtiden.

The acclaimed chronicle of the regeneration of one family's traditional English farmNATIONAL BESTSELLER * Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing * Named "Nature Book of the Year" by the Sunday Times * New York Times Editors' Choice * Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize * A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Sunday Times, Financial Times, New Statesman, Independent, Telegraph, Observer, and Daily Mail"Superbly written and deeply insightful, the book captivates the reader until the journey's end." -- Wall Street JournalThe New York Times bestselling author of The Shepherd's Life profiles his family's farm across three generations, revealing through this intimate lens the profound global transformation of agriculture and of the human relationship to the land. As a boy, James Rebanks's grandfather taught him to work the land the old way. Their family farm in England's Lake District hills was part of an ancient agricultural landscape: a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. And yet, by the time James inherited the farm, it was barely recognizable. The men and women had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled; the skies had emptied of birds and their wind-blown song. Hailed as "a brilliant, beautiful book" by the Sunday Times (London), Pastoral Song (published in the United Kingdom under the title English Pastoral) is the story of an inheritance: one that affects us all. It tells of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost. And yet this elegy from the northern fells is also a song of hope: of how, guided by the past, one farmer began to salvage a tiny corner of England that was now his, doing his best to restore the life that had vanished and to leave a legacy for the future. This is a book about what it means to have love and pride in a place, and how, against all the odds, it may still be possible to build a new pastoral: not a utopia, but somewhere decent for us all. Published in the United Kingdom as English Pastoral.]

Da James Rebanks var dreng, lærte hans farfar ham at arbejde med jorden og dyrene på den gamle måde. Deres slægtsgård i Lake District var en del af et ældgammelt landbrugsland: et virvar af afgrøder og engdrag, græsgange med får, køer og heste og læhegn, der myldrede af naturens liv. Men da James arvede gården, var den næsten ikke til at genkende. Der var ikke længere folk, som arbejdede ude på marken, de gamle kampestensgårde var i forfald, og himlen var stille – fuglene og deres sang var forsvundet. Vores fælles arv er beretningen om, hvordan landbrugsland i hele verden er på randen af kollaps, og hvordan gamle og gennemprøvede metoder, formet af arbejde, vejr, fællesskaber og vild natur, er gået tabt. Og om en enkelt bonde, som bruger sin viden om fortiden til at prøve at redde det lille hjørne af England, der nu er hans, og efterlade sig en arv til kommende generationer. Det er en bog om, hvad det vil sige at elske og ære et sted, og om hvordan det måske, mod alle odds, stadig er muligt at opbygge et bæredygtigt landbrug i pagt med naturen. Man behøver ikke være hverken fåre-entusiast, landmand eller gå ind for radikal naturfredning for at finde bogen vedkommende.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NATURE BOOK OF THE YEAR The new bestseller from the author of The Shepherd's Life'A beautifully written story of a family, a home and a changing landscape' Nigel Slater As a boy, James Rebanks's grandfather taught him to work the land the old way. Their family farm in the Lake District hills was part of an ancient agricultural landscape: a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. And yet, by the time James inherited the farm, it was barely recognisable. The men and women had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled; the skies had emptied of birds and their wind-blown song. English Pastoral is the story of an inheritance: one that affects us all. It tells of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost. And yet this elegy from the northern fells is also a song of hope: of how, guided by the past, one farmer began to salvage a tiny corner of England that was now his, doing his best to restore the life that had vanished and to leave a legacy for the future. This is a book about what it means to have love and pride in a place, and how, against all the odds, it may still be possible to build a new pastoral: not a utopia, but somewhere decent for us all. 'A heartfelt book and one that dares to hope' Alan Bennett 'A wonder of a book, fierce, tender, and beautiful' Helen Macdonald Winner of the Wainwright Prize Winner of the Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize Shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize

Livet på landet er historien om en arv: en arv som påvirker oss alle. Da James Rebanks vokste opp, var det farfaren som lærte ham hvordan han skulle ta vare på land og dyr på gamlemåten. Familiegården deres i Lake District var en del av et gammelt jordbrukslandskap, et lappeteppe av dyrket mark og enger, av beiter fylt med husdyr, og hekker som vrimlet av dyreliv. Men da James arvet gården, var området knapt gjenkjennelig. Livet på landet forteller om hvordan landskap rundt om i verden har blitt brakt nær kollaps, og hvordan den eldgamle rytmen av fellesskap, arbeid, vær og vill natur har gått tapt. Og likevel er dette en historie om håp: om hvordan en bonde, inspirert av fortiden, begynte å berge et lite hjørne av England som nå var hans, og gjorde sitt beste for å gjenopprette livet som hadde forsvunnet, for å etterlate seg en arv for fremtiden. Kåret til en av Årets beste bøker 2020 i Telegraph, Financial Times, New Statesman, Independent, Observer og Daily Mail. Årets beste naturbok 2020 - The Sunday Times

The acclaimed chronicle of the regeneration of one family's traditional English farmNATIONAL BESTSELLER * Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing * Named "Nature Book of the Year" by the Sunday Times * New York Times Editors' Choice * Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize * A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Sunday Times, Financial Times, New Statesman, Independent, Telegraph, Observer, and Daily Mail"Superbly written and deeply insightful, the book captivates the reader until the journey's end." -- Wall Street JournalThe New York Times bestselling author of The Shepherd's Life profiles his family's farm across three generations, revealing through this intimate lens the profound global transformation of agriculture and of the human relationship to the land. As a boy, James Rebanks's grandfather taught him to work the land the old way. Their family farm in England's Lake District hills was part of an ancient agricultural landscape: a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. And yet, by the time James inherited the farm, it was barely recognizable. The men and women had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled; the skies had emptied of birds and their wind-blown song. Hailed as "a brilliant, beautiful book" by the Sunday Times (London), Pastoral Song (published in the United Kingdom under the title English Pastoral) is the story of an inheritance: one that affects us all. It tells of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost. And yet this elegy from the northern fells is also a song of hope: of how, guided by the past, one farmer began to salvage a tiny corner of England that was now his, doing his best to restore the life that had vanished and to leave a legacy for the future. This is a book about what it means to have love and pride in a place, and how, against all the odds, it may still be possible to build a new pastoral: not a utopia, but somewhere decent for us all. Published in the United Kingdom as English Pastoral.]

Nogle mennesker har frihed til at vælge deres egen vej i livet. Det gjaldt ikke for James Rebanks. Han er fåreopdrætter på en gård i Lake District i England, der har været i familiens eje i mere end seks århundreder. James Rebanks bog, The Shepherd’s Life: A Tale of the Lake District, er allerede en stor succes hos både anmeldere og læsere. Hans skildringer af livet som fårebonde er både engagerende, rørende og ærlige. I en stemningsmættet tekst guider Rebanks os gennem et får-år. Bogen er en unik fortælling om livet på landet – et liv, som er fjernt for de fleste af os. Det er en historie om Rebanks arbejdsliv og menneskene omkring ham, hans barndom, hans forældre og bedsteforældre. Det er historien om at være vedholdende på trods af et vanskeligt erhverv, og den er fortalt med stor kærlighed til naturen. For Rebanks og hans familie danner vejret og årstiderne de altafgørende rammer om livet. Om sommeren er fårene på bjerget og høet i laden, om efteråret går man på markedet og bringer nye dyr til besætningen, om vinteren skal dyrene holdes i live, og med foråret kommer nye lam.

Noen mennesker har frihet til å velge sin egen retning i livet. Slik har det ikke vært for James Rebanks. Han er odelsgutten på en sauegård i Lake District som i mer enn seks hundre år har vært i familiens eie. James Rebanks' første bok ble en stor publikums- og kritikersuksess. Hans skildringer av sauebondens liv er fascinerende lesning, det er engasjerende, rørende og ærlig. Boka hans om et gammelt yrke forteller historien om en dypt rotfestet tilknytning til et særegent landskap og en stille og tilbaketrukket livsstil. I en stemningsfull og klar prosa tar Rebanks oss gjennom en sauebondes år. Boka er en unik fortelling om livet på landsbygda, et liv som de fleste av oss har mistet nærheten til. Det er en historie om arbeidslivet og menneskene rundt ham, hans egen barndom, hans foreldre og besteforeldre. Det er historien om å holde ut i et vanskelig yrke, fortalt med en kjærlighet til jorda og dyra som smitter over på leseren. For Rebanks og hans familie former været og årstidene livet. Om sommeren skal sauene på fjellet og høyet i hus, om høsten gjelder det å gå på markedet og skaffe nye dyr til flokken, om vinteren må dyrene holdes i live, og litt senere, vårens kribling når lammingen nærmer seg. Den påfølgende beitesesongen gir dem pågangsmot til et nytt år som sauebønder.

The New York Times bestseller and International PhenomenonOne of the Top Ten Books of 2015, Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times." It's bloody marvelous." - Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author of H IS FOR HAWK"Captivating... A book about continuity and roots and a sense of belonging in an age that's increasingly about mobility and self-invention. Hugely compelling." - Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Some people's lives are entirely their own creations. James Rebanks' isn't. The first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, his family have lived and worked in the Lake District of Northern England for generations, further back than recorded history. It's a part of the world known mainly for its romantic descriptions by Wordsworth and the much loved illustrated children's books of Beatrix Potter. But James' world is quite different. His way of life is ordered by the seasons and the work they demand. It hasn't changed for hundreds of years: sending the sheep to the fells in the summer and making the hay; the autumn fairs where the flocks are replenished; the grueling toil of winter when the sheep must be kept alive, and the light-headedness that comes with spring, as the lambs are born and the sheep get ready to return to the hills and valleys. The Shepherd's Life the story of a deep-rooted attachment to place, modern dispatches from an ancient landscape that describe a way of life that is little noticed and yet has profoundly shaped the landscape over time. In evocative and lucid prose, James Rebanks takes us through a shepherd's year, offering a unique account of rural life and a fundamental connection with the land that most of us have lost. It is a story of working lives, the people around him, his childhood, his parents and grandparents, a people who exist and endure even as the culture - of the Lake District, and of farming - changes around them. Many memoirs are of people working desperately hard to leave a place. This is the story of someone trying desperately hard to stay.

Noen mennesker har frihet til å velge sin egen retning i livet. Slik har det ikke vært for James Rebanks. Han er odelsgutten på en sauegård i Lake District som i mer enn seks hundre år har vært i familiens eie. James Rebanks' første bok ble en stor publikums- og kritikersuksess. Hans skildringer av sauebondens liv er fascinerende lesning, det er engasjerende, rørende og ærlig. Boka hans om et gammelt yrke forteller historien om en dypt rotfestet tilknytning til et særegent landskap og en stille og tilbaketrukket livsstil. I en stemningsfull og klar prosa tar Rebanks oss gjennom en sauebondes år. Boka er en unik fortelling om livet på landsbygda, et liv som de fleste av oss har mistet nærheten til. Det er en historie om arbeidslivet og menneskene rundt ham, hans egen barndom, hans foreldre og besteforeldre. Det er historien om å holde ut i et vanskelig yrke, fortalt med en kjærlighet til jorda og dyra som smitter over på leseren. For Rebanks og hans familie former været og årstidene livet. Om sommeren skal sauene på fjellet og høyet i hus, om høsten gjelder det å gå på markedet og skaffe nye dyr til flokken, om vinteren må dyrene holdes i live, og litt senere, vårens kribling når lammingen nærmer seg. Den påfølgende beitesesongen gir dem pågangsmot til et nytt år som sauebønder.

Some people's lives are entirely their own creations. James Rebanks' isn't. The first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, he and his family have lived and worked in and around the Lake District for generations. Their way of life is ordered by the seasons and the work they demand, and has been for hundreds of years.