How to Be Idle

'How To Be Idle' filled me with a huge sense of vindication, as I am an idler by nature. In this book, Hodgkinson takes the reader through a day of idling, covering such topics as lie-ins, hangovers, rambling, and fishing. He draws on a diverse and idiosyncratic range of literature, including [b:Against Nature|210255|Against Nature|Joris-Karl Huysmans|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385099642s/210255.jpg|306152], [b:Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America|1869|Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America|Barbara Ehrenreich|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442378091s/1869.jpg|1840613], and [b:Three Men in a Boat|4921|Three Men in a Boat (Three Men, #1)|Jerome K. show more Jerome|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392791656s/4921.jpg|4476508], all of which I enjoyed. The tone is affable and amusing, albeit avowedly masculine (this is my only real quibble). The idea is to present a philosophical alternative to the tedious protestant work ethic that gained ascendancy during the Industrial Revolution. Rather than living to work, we should work just as much as we need to in order to live and spend the rest of our time enjoying ourselves.

My personal style of idling is somewhat different to Hodgkinson's, whilst retaining the same spirit. I don't drink or smoke and prefer coffee to tea. However, my daily routine is that of an idler. I wake up sometime after 10am, doze for a while thinking about the day ahead, assemble a cup of coffee and bowl of muesli, consume both slowly whilst still in my pyjamas, then spend most of the day reading in libraries and cafés or pottering about the house. I can enjoy this lifestyle as I am a PhD student, one with a work ethic than tends to spending weeks thinking and then half a day actually producing work. It's a happy life, much more congenial than the nine to five office job that I used to have. (Being time-rich suits me much better than having twice the income and getting up at 7am every day.) Other idle pleasures I would add to Hodgkinson's list include: doing the washing up whilst listening to music, mocking terrible films with friends, cycling around at 2am, browsing libraries, and writing reviews on goodreads.

Now I'm tempted to try and sort my friends into idlers and botherers. Whilst the world needs both, I am content to be an idler who sometimes bothers. show less

While I need to instruction on how to be idle, it's always good to have refresher courses and "How to be idle" is such a refresher course. Hodgkinson's thesis, that pre-Industrial Revolution, humans didn't necessarily adhere to a work ethic and spent much of their time kicking back, attending Saints' feast day dinners and drinking, can't be faulted too greatly, although I take on board criticism that Hodgkinson writes for a male audiences and some of what he suggests may not be as possible for women.

Hodgkinson's suggestion of returning to the pre-Industrial Revolution lifestyle, including cutting back to four day working weeks, would no doubt entice some, but for someone like myself, who prefers as much international travel as humanly show more possible, one needs to work full-time (or at least be paid that way). show less

I didn’t finish this book, though I read large chunks of it. The author has some really good points, that apply just as much (if not more so) to American society as to his own British. Why should we look at any apparent idleness with suspicion? Why is it more important to look like we’re busy for eight hours than to accomplish something really useful in four and enjoy the rest of our time?

And yet….

The book would have worked better for me if H. had been clearer about idleness as “doing what you choose to do, and yes, that activity might actually resemble work” (which does appear in some spots to be what he ultimately means) rather than idleness as “doing things socially considered fun, like hanging out in pubs, lying in bed show more doing nothing, smoking, boozing" (which seems to be the larger part of his argument). Many of the activities he talks about as examples of how to enjoy idleness would drive me batty with boredom. It’s quite possible that an evening of knitting for the joy of the yarn and the desire to see the final project (and not because I really need to finish this project for a deadline) would fit right into his definition of idleness, but if it doesn’t, well, I’d much rather spend an evening knitting than an evening drinking beer in a pub.

Also, I come away from this book with the strong impression that he’s speaking to men, not to women. For example, he brushes off the work of childrearing with “train them to get their own breakfasts on weekends as soon as possible”. That’s nice, but in the intervening years, the kid has to be nursed or bottlefed, diapered, bathed, kept from poisoning itself, civilized into a reasonable human, etc., etc. As a mother, especially as the mother of a mentally disabled kid and for several years a single mother thereof, I had no choice on whether to be idle, because if I didn’t do the work of caring for my child, no one else was going to take up the slack. (The chapter in which H. sings the praises of skiving, slacking on work and enjoying watching someone else do it instead, raised my hackles to say the least.) The chapter on sex, too, is clearly aimed at men, with a token wave of “yeah, women just lose all interest in sex once they’ve got some kids”. (Er, not necessarily.)

Overall, an interesting concept, and I would love to see a book on the glories of idleness written by a mother, but H.’s take didn’t work for me. show less

Tom Hodgkinson would like to return to the days of Samuel Johnson, before the Industrial Revolution came along and turned independent workers into cogs in the bosses' machine. "How To Be Idle" encourages the reader to sleep in, lie about, meditate, daydream, go fishing, take a nap, and generally opt out of the rat race. True, he goes a bit too far -- odes to smoking and hangovers have no charm for me. (Yeah, stick it to The Man by wrecking your lungs and liver!) But on the whole, I agree that idleness is beneficial and necessary, at least in comparison with the usual hyper-caffeinated sleep-deprived existence. Productivity nuts take note -- Samuel Johnson slept in and lingered over dinner AND got a lot done.

This book made me think about life and how I'm living it (and for those who dislike it, at least read the last chapter, it has the most fuel for thought). Although I don't agree with him entirely I do think that we have become enslaved by the system and serve it rather than it serving us. Many of us live to work rather than work to live and we need to look at how we're living and decide if we really want to continue in misery or change things to suit us. We have moved, unthinking, into the 20th and 21st centuries, all the time moving faster, working harder, striving for something that might be within our grasp if we slowed down and thought about it.

Although I wouldn't be as idle as he espouses, I do think that I wouldn't mind show more down-shifting my life.

This book is a series of views on a variety of issues from smoking to napping, a book that encourages us to think about our lives rather than just put our lives in neutral and keep going. Agree with him or disagree with him, he made me think about how much of my life is spent rushing instead of enjoying. show less

OH YEA HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS, COLLEGE STUDENT, BEFORE YOU TAKE ON THAT STUDENT LOAN AND SIGN UP FOR THAT CREDIT CARD AND SIGN ON WITH THE FIRM … CAVEAT EMPTOR … THERE IS ANOTHER WAY!

“if you are ever sacked or made redundant, then i suggest you thank the good lord above. it was while on the dole that i first conceived of the idea of the idler magazine. as a dolie, i had long periods of lying in bed and then in the bath. but it was these luxurious (though admittedly guilt-torn) stretches of hypnagogia that gave me the foundations to create a work life for myself which i have thoroughly enjoyed. “ HOW TO BE IDLE, page 269.

first let me just say that i know i’m 10 years late on this book …
second, i could write a few books about show more the issues raised in this book, but i won’t!

and, i write reviews without reading other people’s reviews first. while making me look a bit dull at times, it’s very illuminating to read them after i write mine to see what i missed and how my review likely would have been effected by others' thoughts.

so, what makes this book worth reading are the issues it raises. it’s one of those books where i thought 'i’ve had these type of thoughts, and i’ve never developed them and this author did—how wonderful.'

i remember watching “point break” and bodie, patrick swayze’s character, referring to all the los angeles commuter’s cars as metal coffins. and who could forget the drabness in the comedy, “office space”?

but this book, albeit comic, is serious business. now, more than ever, given the financial collapse of 2007 and the current situation where the world is seeing the nasty effects of a “free market economy” where politician are outwardly controlled by super PACS and consumerism has nearly everyone by the short hairs. this book asks the question that is in the forefront of so many people’s minds?

HOW DID WE COME TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE WE WERE EXPECTED TO DEDICATE THE MAJORITY OF OUR WAKING HOURS TOILING FOR THE PROFIT OF A SMALL GROUP OF WEALTHY PEOPLE?

hodgkinson gives some answers, namely the industrial revolution, fear, consumerism, our founding father’s b.s., (*@#$ thomas edison!) and then, to my disappointment, comically references many alternate paths and choices … that seem rather frivolous.

[ rant –0— every time i watch tv and see obama talking about how we need more jobs, i think, “i don’t want a job.” we don’t need jobs. we need money. in fact, we don’t need money, we need resources. how did we get to the point where jobs were the same as resources?]

“HOW TO BE IDLE” is anthological in that it references many works of others on the subject of “being idle”. walt whitman, the luddites, john lennon, and so, so many others ….

HTBI has chapters on napping, waking late, smoking, drinking, sex, tea time, lunch, parties, meditation, bar, walking, hangovers, and fishing among other things. this is where it kind of lost me. (most of this stuff has a 12 step program related to it, btw!). it just seemed like there are such important things to write about and instead he spent the majority of the book … what? IDILING about these things. i just kept thinking: is the point of rebelling against the capitalist system we live in so that we can drink and smoke and sleep and nap? isn’t it about living your life and your dreams?

i guess it’s all tongue and cheek and food for thought and, what’d you expect of him? but IDLENESS (and let’s get real, he’s a successful author and runs a magazine, father, husband, how idle can he be?)
so i guess my review is this: READ IT, you’ll certainly learn a little history, have a few laughs, and it could just change your life. show less

Hodgkinson breaks the day down, hour by hour, and systematically presents alternatives to the usual “rat race” activities. Why sit in traffic when you could be asleep or thinking big thoughts? Why work a 9-to-5 job when, as Hodgkinson proposes, humans are bred for flexibility and variety in their working life? Why go to bed early when you could be at the pub, engaged in meaningful conversation, or even dreaming up revolutions? Many people are put off by Hodgkinson’s romanticizing of the pre-industrial era, but if taken with a grain of salt, it can be made more palatable. A cross between Buddhism, anarchy, and a nostalgic longing for a bygone era, this book is not just a celebration of following your own path; it raises idleness to show more the level of a sacrament. show less