Next to Nature: A Lifetime in the English Countryside

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Slightly Foxed introduces its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal. Hope this book reaches a much wider audience than just readers who might remember Akenfield and those of us who immediately turned to the Word from Wormingford column when the Church Times landed on the door mat. All the charm, wonder, eccentricity and vigour of country life is here in these pages, and told with such engaging directness, detail and colour .

I was rather taken in by a glowing review in The Guardian by Patrick Barkham, whom I rate very highly, and the involvement of Richard Mabey. I cannot fault the quality of the writing, but the endless references to the Bible, sermons and church life generally, although they may form a huge part of Blythe's life today, have very little to do with the dramatic change we have seen in the countryside, even since Akenfield. I think Ronald Blythe is a genius in a special, but perhaps overlooked, journalistic genre – the nature notes or country talk columns. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance.These times are so worrying with such terrible suffering and poverty,we pray and hope for better times but this book is a wonderful read. Occasionally one is lost, bringing mourning as surely as a villager passing on, and truth be told, these aren't the only intrusions of that other, less forgiving time: "in the market town, the stone griffins on the church tower maintain their watch, seeing off goblins and foul fiends.

Being with Ronnie Blythe in one of his books is like being on a magic carpet, the exhilaration of being alive, and of nature, and the world -- Ian Collins * Today Programme * Next to Nature is the perfect memorial, a latter-day Book of Hours . From here, Ronald Blythe has spent almost half a century observing the slow turn of the agricultural year, the church year and village life in a series of rich, lyrical rural diaries. With gentle wit and keen observation Blythe meditates on his life and faith, on literature, art and history, and on our place in the landscape. His work, which has won countless awards, includes Akenfield (a Penguin 20th Century Classic and a feature film), Private Words, Field Work, Outsiders: a Book of Garden Friends and numerous other titles.a sensibility which is richer or better fed, more deeply watered and manured, more drenched in Englishness -- ADAM NICOLSON [His] minute observation of places, people and plants, his ear for scraps of dialogue and his feeling for poetry and painting make everything about those days immediate . He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded their prestigious Benson Medal in 2006. And thus does Ronnie himself become the same as his beloved George Herbert and Thomas Hardy: a companion through the tragedy and beauty of human life and a witness to a world charged with the grandeur of God. And no wonder, when he seems such wise and genial company, one of those rare souls who understands that "it takes an age to create one's own peerless dust and muddle. There are some lovely passages and overall Ronald Blythe is an immense figure in his field but this is best reserved for those who share his Christian ways as first and foremost this is a book about his day to day religious thoughts.

It took me a little time to get used to his writing style and it would have been helpful to have footnotes relating to some of the biblical and literary references. As this is a compendium of Blythe's writing, I'm afraid I was a little lost with who people were, but I'm sure more avid fans will be very familiar with who's who. I seldom read any book for an entire year so Ronnie, as he was known to his many friends, has felt like a companion throughout 2023. It is a selection of Blythe’s regular columns for the Church Times, covering many years and arranged by month.We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed.