James Rebanks

‘Enchanting’ Telegraph‘Miraculous’ Isabella Tree‘Exquisite’ FTFrom the No.1 bestselling author of The Shepherd''s Life, an unforgettable story of friendship, redemption and a life-changing voyage of discovery on a remote Norwegian islandHow far do you have to go to find yourself?One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been in decline. Still, somehow, she seemed to be hanging on.Back at home, Rebanks couldn’t stop thinking about the woman on the rocks. She was fierce and otherworldly – and yet strangely familiar. Years passed. Then, one day, he wrote her a letter, asking if he could return. Bring work clothes, she replied, and good boots, and come quickly: her health was failing. And so he travelled to the edge of the Arctic to witness her last season on the island.This is the story of that season. It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape, and of the woman who brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough, isolated toil of bitter winter, to the elation of the endless summer light, when the birds leave behind their precious down for gathering, like feathered gold.Slowly, Rebanks begins to understand that this woman and her world are not what he had previously thought. What began as a journey of escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.*Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Award*

Tisícky rokov nás naučili vnímať ovce ako nádherné, ale aj užitočné umelecké diela. Esejisticko-fotografická kniha Jamesa Rebanksa ponúka pohľad moderného človeka a súčasného oka digitálnej fotografie na tradičný a archaický svet chovu oviec. Britský autor James Rebanks pochádza z rodiny, ktorá sa na anglickom vidieku venuje ovčiarstvu už takmer 600 rokov. Ako popularizátor tradičného chovu oviec začal prispievať na Twitter, kde si vytvoril silnú skupinu fanúšikov, ktorých toto remeslo a s ním spojený spôsob života mimoriadne zaujali. Ako sám tvrdí, do napísania tejto knihy ho dotlačili práve oni. James Rebanks vo svojej eseji Pohľad pastiera otvára večnú otázku vzťahu človeka a prírody v úchvatnej scenérii anglického vidieka oblasti Lake District, ktorá bola v roku 2017 zapísaná na zoznam svetového dedičstva UNESCO. Táto kniha však môže mnohé povedať aj nám na Slovensku, kde bola tradícia pastierskeho remesla donedávna neodmysliteľnou súčasťou krajiny. Kniha Pohľad pastiera vychádza v edícii Skica, ktorú prináša Vydavateľstvo Absynt pod zavedenou značkou Kalligram. Knihu preložil Milan Kopecký.