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Review
"'A wonderful book... Richard Lewis taps into the joy and celebration that accompanies those who choose to dress up at the weekend to dance with baldric and bladder, hankie and sword.' Billy Bragg Nice reviews on hardback publication: 'Wonderfully light-hearted... The author discusses English folk in a very intelligent and thoughtful way... Quintessentially English, in fact.' Jah Wobble, Independent on Sunday 'Engaging... Lewis conveys the quirkiness and the innocence with gusto' Tom Fort, Sunday Telegraph 'A quirkily subjective and gently whimsical ramble through the English countryside. Despite the book's comic tone, he avoids mocking or patronising his subjects - quite an achievement' Helen Gordon, New Statesman"
Professor Ronald Hutton
The research is admirable: he really has done his work very well.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lewis made me laugh out loud and that'll do for me. Imagine a Louis Theroux or Danny Wallace character wandering England looking for those ancient English customs that we hear so much about but tend to ignore. Why do we proudly fly the cross of St. George on our car and shout from high our rekindled pride in Englishness but feel too embarrassed to sing a folk song or go morris dancing? Lewis doesn't simply observe these customs (together with sun worshipping, straw bear following, tree talking) - he joins in to try and find the English spirit within him, something to connect him to his English forefathers. Lewis' conclusions are perhaps disappointing for those looking to find the link between the mists of ancient time and the customs of today but a boon to those looking to have fun, drink ale and throw off the embarrassment of singing ta-loo-ra-loo-ra-lye and waving a hankie about. Don't show your English pride by singing anti-Irish/Scottish/Welsh songs - show it by learning an old ballad or two and sing it in the pub to the accompaniment of a melodeon. Better still - get this book, order yourself a pint of warm real ale and settle back for a very amusing read.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
My first thoughts were, 'oh no, young media savvy bloke seeks to score points against easy target', and I found myself looking for the sarcasm, the opportunistic folk-knocking. But the book was much better, much more thoughtful and interesting, and deserved a kinder eye than that. Richard Lewis is "English Bloke", and attempts to get to the bottom of English folklore through a much closer acquaintance with folk music, traditions and festivals than he ever thought he'd need. His crucial 'in' is that he plays music. It's his passport to a hidden, slightly secretive, and definitely unappreciated, English counter-culture. It's sort of a travelogue, and sort of a history of folklore and folk music, and it's event got traces of the self-revelatory 'I was blind but now I see' transformative account, but what redeems it from being too specifically, and inadequately, any of those things, is that he is - or at any rate becomes - sincere about the events, and the people, he's writing about. Highlights were his descripton of himself in the hobby horse festival in Gloucester (I think?!), and his hysterical descriptions of the gurning contest in Cumbria. He also includes a concise and very intelligent critique about Jane Austen's narrow England.
He's not the most charismatic writer, sometimes too journalistic, not lyrical enough; but at times he creates sad and beautiful images which have stuck with me ever since. I didn't necessarily come away with a bundle of firm, well drawn conclusions, but I did emerge with more knowledge, and certainly more understanding, of a culture I have probably affected to despise in the past. Never again. That said, I've never yet read a writer who can translate music to the written page in a way that reflects my actual experience of it, and Lewis is no different: he almost had me believing in the intrinsic merit of the variety of different tunes played by Morris dancers, until I stood at the Sweeps Festival in Rochester myself, shortly after reading this book, ready, willing, determined to be impressed - and heard tune after tune cranked out excrutiatingly on a hundred different accordions, each sounding so much alike that they may as well have been one single, endless, tedious tune. It hasn't converted me, but I was impressed with the journey - a labour of love.
He's not the most charismatic writer, sometimes too journalistic, not lyrical enough; but at times he creates sad and beautiful images which have stuck with me ever since. I didn't necessarily come away with a bundle of firm, well drawn conclusions, but I did emerge with more knowledge, and certainly more understanding, of a culture I have probably affected to despise in the past. Never again. That said, I've never yet read a writer who can translate music to the written page in a way that reflects my actual experience of it, and Lewis is no different: he almost had me believing in the intrinsic merit of the variety of different tunes played by Morris dancers, until I stood at the Sweeps Festival in Rochester myself, shortly after reading this book, ready, willing, determined to be impressed - and heard tune after tune cranked out excrutiatingly on a hundred different accordions, each sounding so much alike that they may as well have been one single, endless, tedious tune. It hasn't converted me, but I was impressed with the journey - a labour of love.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ricahrd Lewis hit the point in life when your realise that it is easier in the 21st Century to be from the UK and British than to be English. The Irish, Welsh and Scots have a better grip on their culture and Richard goes out to discover what it means to be English.
Via real ale, morris, mummers plays, dressing as horses, folk music and psuedo-pagan rituals he explores a year in what most would regard as a slightly quaint counter-culture.
He discovers that most supposedly ancient / pagan traditions are Victorian embellishments or inventions. Clearly there have been rituals over time that may relate to Christianity, may not, may be middles ages, may stem from before the Romans - we just don't know.
The book avoids drawing a conclusion, but you suspect that the modern echoes and recreations are in a real sense in the tradition of older ideas, even though form and content move on. And this is no bad thing.
Via real ale, morris, mummers plays, dressing as horses, folk music and psuedo-pagan rituals he explores a year in what most would regard as a slightly quaint counter-culture.
He discovers that most supposedly ancient / pagan traditions are Victorian embellishments or inventions. Clearly there have been rituals over time that may relate to Christianity, may not, may be middles ages, may stem from before the Romans - we just don't know.
The book avoids drawing a conclusion, but you suspect that the modern echoes and recreations are in a real sense in the tradition of older ideas, even though form and content move on. And this is no bad thing.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mostly not all that
Not the best book I have read on the UK, but not the worst, though it does not come through on the promise to tell all about tradition sadly. Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2005 by "boyracer47"
Transforming
This was a gentle and cleansing read. It gave me a lot to think about, there were some really touching moments, some laughs and one or two tears. Read more
Published on 15 July 2005 by Kate Szostak
A Magic Book
For me, this book was a real inner journey. A journey of love and emotion. A piece of great literacy and a wonderfully addictive book. Thank you Richard Lewis.
Published on 12 July 2005
This England?
The problem here is that the author starts with a premise to rediscover England and English roots, yet in his attempts not to sneer he gets overly self-important and any achingly... Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2005 by "rodneyb108"
Poorly done
I wanted to love this but found it to be a real let down on all accounts. When it tried to be funny it faltered and when it tried serious analysis it tied itself up in knots. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2005 by "pda1978"
Brilliant
As an expat Englishman, this book was a joyful tonic to life abroad. Richard Lewis brilliantly unpicks a variety of weird and wonderful and very English traditions, managing to... Read more
Published on 23 May 2005
It glows!
This is my new favourite book so I have to disagree with some previous reviewers. It made me laugh and most importantly it made me want to get the hell out of London and start... Read more
Published on 22 May 2005 by Claudia Burns
Warm, touching and funny
I found The Magic Spring to be a rather moving account of one person's attempt to reconnect with the land, the seasons, with life in its most elemental form and to make peace with... Read more
Published on 22 May 2005 by Roland Green
wasted opportunity
This could have been a much-needed guide to English custom but got bogged down by being an out of date version of just another wannabe travel author. Read more
Published on 20 May 2005 by "rbyford3"
not that good
As a lover of English history, tradition and ceremony I was expecting an irreverent yet interesting travelogue, but found a bit of a lazy meander. Read more
Published on 4 May 2005 by Ronald Furness
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