This is my uber-self-sufficiency book, the one I would save if my house were on fire. I could tell you it's because of the all-encompassing advice, from preparing an allotment to keeping livestock, making bread, tanning or spinning flax. I could tell you it's because of the picture he paints of life on a smallholding as hard but immensely rewarding. I could tell you it's because of his curiously opinionated writing style (he has harsh words for those who put salt on their porridge, for example). But in truth the thing I love best about this book is the illustrations. Not a photo in sight, the book is illustrated in colour with pen-and-ink drawings and glorious woodcuts I could just look at forever.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Review: John Seymour's The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency
This is my uber-self-sufficiency book, the one I would save if my house were on fire. I could tell you it's because of the all-encompassing advice, from preparing an allotment to keeping livestock, making bread, tanning or spinning flax. I could tell you it's because of the picture he paints of life on a smallholding as hard but immensely rewarding. I could tell you it's because of his curiously opinionated writing style (he has harsh words for those who put salt on their porridge, for example). But in truth the thing I love best about this book is the illustrations. Not a photo in sight, the book is illustrated in colour with pen-and-ink drawings and glorious woodcuts I could just look at forever.
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6 comments:
How does the "New" edition compare with the original? We have an ancient, tattered and worn, much revered and still-more-referenced copy of the original that has guided us into and through our own self-sufficiency adventure (http://mikro2nd.net/farm/). I would have loved to have met John Seymour, if just for the chance to say "Thanks" for the positive impact he has had on my life.
When I flicked through a copy of the "New" edition in a bookshop a few months ago, I didn't see enough actually new or updated material to make it worth the expense. But then I was not looking very hard.
So: Any idea of the actual differences between the old and the new editions? Is there enough new value for it to be a compelling buy?
Sorry Mike, I don't have the old edition so I can't compare them. But if it ain't broke don't fix it. If you love your old edition, stick with that. But if the spine has disintegrated (from that time you were making wine and didn't realise it was sitting in a puddle of sterilising solution) and the pages are all falling out (and a couple of them were eaten by the pigs by accident), then consider trading up.
Amazon have it on offer at £13.20 instead of the usual £20, or you can get it on the Amazon marketplace from £11.20.
Have you read "Fat of the land", also by Seymour? It's supposed to be more autobiographical.
Just be aware that following his advice in some areas can now leave you in breach of the law.
I only came across his writing and philosophy quite recently - blame my Aussie upbringing - and was quite impressed.
Ah - our copy is not quite at that Falling Apart stage - yet, but quite grubby in places from gardening-hands thumbing through for some obscure bit of advice. We also have a copy of his "Self-sufficient Gardener" - also very useful in its own (more restricted) way, and I recall reading to death one of his books on woodland management (can't recall the title :-() I love his down-to-Earth writing style.
@stonehead: In breach of the law how? (I'm genuinely curious, not trolling.) Also probably not in breach of the law where I am ;-)
Feeding human food scraps to livestock is recommended by Seymour (and countless generations of subsistence farmers who were wise enough to waste nothing) but is now illegal in Britain. I'm sure there are other examples of perfectly sensible and traditional practices that are now forbidden, but that one sprung first to my mind.
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