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The Roadmender
Michael Fairless
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Presently we part, and the two go, dogged and footsore, down the road which is to lead them into the great silence.
[14]
IIIYesterday was a day of encounters.
First, early in the morning, a young girl came down the road on a bicycle. Her dressguard was loose, and she stopped to ask for a piece of string. When I had tied it for her she looked at me, at my worn dusty clothes and burnt face; and then she took a Niphetos rose from h. . . Read More
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Community Reviews
An unadulterated dip into the mystical attitudes held by many over-educated British people at the time of Queen Victoria's death. Reading this period piece, it is shocking to realize how far we've come (not necessarily progressed) in 110 years. It's worth reading for that reason alone. The book's la
Fairless offers a lyrical account of a fictional roadmender's delight in honest toil, which, however lovingly portrayed, might be more convincing if less fictitious. Given that it was written by a young woman lacking the health, strength and necessity to perform the repetitive and punitive manual la
I didn't realise until I read the postscript that 'Michael Fairless' was the pen name of a young woman in poor health, who died just after she finished writing The Roadmender. But I can't say I was greatly surprised - it went a long way towards explaining the sentimental and wholly unrealistic view
The philosophy, mysticism and countryside descriptions deserve 5 stars, but I found the intrusion of the poor but honest peasantry beyond sentimental. So on balance, 4 stars, though the last few pages are among the best things I've ever read.
A short and sweet reminder of what is real and what is important in life. It was written over a hundred years ago, but is still highly relevant. I love much of the reflections in this book, but here are three quotes that really struck me.
"If we live in an age of mechanism let us see to it that we ar
I really enjoyed this book for its lyrical turn of phrase, for its old-fashioned expectation that I would share its culture and know the literary allusions it was making, for its heart-soothing dream-like flow.
Words that encouraged and challenged at the same time were:
I am learning to be ambidextr
I really liked this one. A meandering story through the life of an itinerant worker, filled with a sort of lay theology emphasising the unity of creation and the value of work and connection to the earth itself, told in a series of vignettes in Sussex, London, and Sussex again.
Most of the vignettes
A man reflects on his life / world / mysticism.
I found this quite an odd book. It grabbed my attention (I read it in one sitting - it’s a relatively short book) with its mixture of ideas on living a simple / frugal / charitable life, which seem relevant today (the book was written over a 100 years a