In Praise of Slow Read online

  Praise for In Praise of Slow:

  ‘The No Logo of its age … strangely enthralling, an epiphany for those of us who have forgotten how to look forward to things or to enjoy the moment when it arrives’

  Melanie Reid, Glasgow Herald

  ‘Rush to your bookshop’

  Mail on Sunday

  ‘Entertaining … friendly and intelligent guide … with a light mix of well-researched historic trivia and contemporary statistics. [Honoré’s] anecdotes and self-deprecating humour convey the pleasure and reward that he experienced on his slow pilgrimage’

  Economist

  ‘Engagingly written and filled with interesting detail, his book is a timely manifesto for a more civilized world’

  Sunday Times (Book of the Week)

  ‘[An] entertaining … hymn to the pleasure of allowing everything its proper time … well-executed and persuasive’

  Will Hutton, Guardian

  ‘Try reading this book one chapter a day – it is worth allowing its subversive message to sink slowly in so it has a chance of changing your life’

  Bill McKibben, author of Enough: Staying Human in an

  Engineered Age and The End of Nature

  ‘This charmingly written … exploration of the quiet life is so good, you have to resist the temptation to race through it … a million times more inspiring than any of the mass of self-help books around on downshifting … A rare treat to be savoured – at your own pace, of course’

  Sunday Express

  ‘Essential reading’

  Observer

  ‘In Praise of Slow has made Honoré the unofficial godfather of a growing cultural shift toward slowing down’

  ABC News

  ‘Honoré [is] an international spokesman for the concept of leisure … It’s a message people seem to want to hear’

  Newsweek

  ‘In brisk, cleanly written chapters … Honoré traces his personal encounters with advocates of slow living … In Praise of Slow shows us various methods to release ourselves … from what Baudelaire denounced as “the horrible burden of time”, to break free of the “Matrix”-like illusion that we have no choice’

  Washington Post

  ‘[This] book makes a persuasive case against mindless speed and offers an intriguing array of concrete suggestions about ways “to make the moment last”’

  Los Angeles Times

  ‘Honoré is particularly good at detailing the addictive properties and vagaries of speed, and its ill effects on individuals and society, including himself’

  Globe and Mail (Canada)

  ‘Honoré offers compelling evidence that suggests controlling your own tempo of life is not only a healthier and happier alternative, but leads to a more rewarding and productive lifestyle’

  Toronto Star

  ‘Readable and persuasive … it is virtually impossible to read Honoré’s book without deciding to take things, you know, a little slower from now on’

  Irish Times

  ‘A compelling read … The book has a personal, intimate tone that belies the author’s considerable research … Its great strength is that it consolidates seemingly disparate ideas (slow food and slow work!), providing a unique insight into a pervasive cultural issue … Honoré gives his readers an opportunity to change their lives for the better’

  Vancouver Sun

  ’The novelty of Honoré’s approach lies in its practicality’

  Japan Times

  ‘It’s about time someone insisted — in intelligent, persuasive language – that we all put on the brakes, or at least check the instruments on the dashboard. Through anecdote, statistic and argument, Honoré wants to convert us to an atheism that is opposed to this culture’s mad theology of speed’

  Billy Collins, former American Poet Laureate

  ‘Thorough and highly persuasive … [In Praise of Slow] is well on its way to cult status … a necessary addition to the reading list of marketing, HR and new product development departments. Read [it] slowly to allow inward digestion without dyspepsia’

  Matthew Gwyther, Management Today

  ‘An engaging, well-written introduction to a philosophy which almost all of us could benefit from … an eloquent, considered work of praise for the Slow Movement, and important reading for all of us who wish to live a richer and fuller life’

  Resurgence

  ‘Honoré makes an eloquent and convincing case for slowing down. His book challenges the conventional view that faster is better. Readers would be wise to savour it slowly’

  Montreal Gazette

  ‘Superb and eminently readable … Honoré has written an incisive overview of an important cultural phenomenon’

  Spirituality and Health (US)

  ‘Persuasive, alarming and reassuring all at once … in lucid prose Honoré weaves his research and reflection with journalistic anecdotes so vivid you can feel the tantric tingling, taste the creamy artisan cheese – and imagine what it might be like to live at tempo giusto, choosing the right pace for each moment’

  National Catholic Reporter (US)

  ‘In his appealing first-person approach, Honoré offers a you-are-there view of global efforts to challenge the “false god” of speed … engaging and persuasive’

  Christian Science Monitor (US)

  ‘An important work… that will induce greater awareness of our present hurried state – as well as the wholesome alternative’

  Yoga Journal

  ‘A thoughtful guide and a convincing manifesto for changing the pace of our lives … a skillful blend of research, observation, and humor. Honoré comes across as neither too self-conscious nor too self-confident, but rather as exuberant and genuine. In Praise of Slow is a … gift to all of us’

  Science and Spirit magazine

  ‘In Praise of Slow is a revelation … It is possible to decelerate, and business could gain so much from a sense of work–life balance’

  Business World

  ‘An intelligent manifesto that overturns the idea of speed as an absolute good … Much more than a hymn to slowness … A guide with tips and tools to transform the way we live’

  La Repubblica (Italy)

  ‘Delightful, surprising, inspiring – and subversive. There is so much food for thought here that I cannot recommend this book enough’

  Yes! magazine (US)

  ‘In his well-researched and often amusing book, Honoré … presents an eloquent case for a thorough re-examination of priorities and shows how even subtle shifts in the way we live can have a very real effect on our well-being’

  Guardian

  ‘His advice is too grounded in day-to-day practicality to be guilty of didacticism or whimsy … read this uplifting and enlightening book very soon; but do, please, take your time’

  Times Literary Supplement

  Carl Honoré is a writer, journalist and commentator living in London with his wife and their two children. He has written for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including the Economist, Observer and the National Post. His first book, In Praise of Slow, was an international bestseller and was Book of the Week on Radio 4. It was published in 30 languages around the world.

  Visit his website at www.carlhonore.com.

  By Carl Honoré

  Under Pressure: Putting the Child Back in Childhood

  In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is

  Challenging the Cult of Speed

  IN PRAISE OF

  SLOW

  How a Worldwide Movement

  is Challenging the Cult of Speed

  CARL HONORÉ

  To Miranda, Benjamin and Susannah

  AN ORION EBOOK

  First published in Great Britain in 2004 by Orion

  This ebo
ok first published in 2010 by Orion Books

  Copyright © Carl Honoré 2004

  The moral right of Carl Honoré to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Some of the material in this book first appeared in the National Post.

  Some of the names in this book have been changed to protect people’s privacy.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 978 1 4091 3304 9

  This ebook produced by Jouve, France

  The Orion Publishing Group Ltd

  Orion House

  5 Upper Saint Martin’s Lane

  London WC2H 9EA

  An Hachette UK Company

  www.orionbooks.co.uk

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Praise

  About the Author

  By Carl Honoré

  INTRODUCTION The Age of Rage

  ONE Do Everything Faster

  TWO Slow is Beautiful

  THREE Food: Turning the Tables on Speed

  FOUR Cities: Blending Old and New

  FIVE Mind/Body: Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

  SIX Medicine: Doctors and Patience

  SEVEN Sex: A Lover With a Slow Hand

  EIGHT Work: The Benefits of Working Less Hard

  NINE Leisure: The Importance of Being at Rest

  TEN Children: Raising an Unhurried Child

  CONCLUSION Finding the Tempo Giusto

  Notes

  Resource List

  Acknowledgements

  Index

  There is more to life than increasing its speed.

  GANDHI

  INTRODUCTION

  THE AGE OF RAGE

  People are born and married, and live and die, in the

  midst of an uproar so frantic that you would think

  they would go mad of it.

  WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, 1907

  ON A SUN-BLEACHED AFTERNOON in the summer of 1985, my teenage tour of Europe grinds to a halt in a square on the outskirts of Rome. The bus back into town is twenty minutes late and shows no sign of appearing. Yet the delay does not bother me. Instead of pacing up and down the sidewalk, or calling the bus company to lodge a complaint, I slip on my Walkman, lie down on a bench and listen to Simon and Garfunkel sing about the joys of slowing down and making the moment last. Every detail of the scene is engraved on my memory: two small boys kick a soccer ball around a medieval fountain; branches scrape against the top of a stone wall; an old widow carries her vegetables home in a net bag.

  Fast-forward fifteen years, and everything has changed. The scene shifts to Rome’s busy Fiumicino Airport, and I am a foreign correspondent rushing to catch a flight home to London. Instead of kickin’ down the cobblestones and feelin’ groovy, I dash through the departure lounge, silently cursing anyone who crosses my path at a slower pace. Rather than listen to folk music on a cheap Walkman, I talk on a mobile phone to an editor thousands of miles away.

  At the gate, I join the back end of a long lineup, where there is nothing to do except, well, nothing. Only I am no longer capable of doing nothing. To make the wait more productive, to make it seem less like waiting, I start skimming a newspaper. And that is when my eyes come upon the article that will inspire me eventually to write a book about slowing down.

  The words that stop me in my tracks are: “The One-Minute Bedtime Story.” To help parents deal with time-consuming tots, various authors have condensed classic fairy tales into sixty-second sound bites. Think Hans Christian Andersen meets the executive summary. My first reflex is to shout Eureka! At the time, I am locked in a nightly tug-of-war with my two-year-old son, who favours long stories read at a gentle, meandering pace. Every evening, though, I steer him towards the shortest books and read them quickly. We often quarrel. “You’re going too fast,” he cries. Or, as I make for the door, “I want another story!” Part of me feels horribly selfish when I accelerate the bedtime ritual, but another part simply cannot resist the itch to hurry on to the next thing on my agenda—supper, emails, reading, bills, more work, the news bulletin on television. Taking a long, languid stroll through the world of Dr. Seuss is not an option. It is too slow.

  So, at first glance, the One-Minute Bedtime series sounds almost too good to be true. Rattle off six or seven “stories,” and still finish inside ten minutes—what could be better? Then, as I begin to wonder how quickly Amazon can ship me the full set, redemption comes in the shape of a counter-question: Have I gone completely insane? As the departure lineup snakes towards the final ticket check, I put away the newspaper and begin to think. My whole life has turned into an exercise in hurry, in packing more and more into every hour. I am Scrooge with a stopwatch, obsessed with saving every last scrap of time, a minute here, a few seconds there. And I am not alone. Everyone around me—colleagues, friends, family—is caught in the same vortex.

  In 1982 Larry Dossey, an American physician, coined the term “time-sickness” to describe the obsessive belief that “time is getting away, that there isn’t enough of it, and that you must pedal faster and faster to keep up.” These days, the whole world is time-sick. We all belong to the same cult of speed. Standing in that lineup for my flight home to London, I begin to grapple with the questions that lie at the heart of this book: Why are we always in such a rush? What is the cure for time-sickness? Is it possible, or even desirable, to slow down?

  In these early years of the twenty-first century, everything and everyone is under pressure to go faster. Not long ago, Klaus Schwab, founder and president of the World Economic Forum, spelled out the need for speed in stark terms: “We are moving from a world in which the big eat the small to one in which the fast eat the slow.” That warning resonates far beyond the Darwinian world of commerce. In these busy, bustling times, everything is a race against the clock. Guy Claxton, a British psychologist, thinks acceleration is now second nature to us: “We have developed an inner psychology of speed, of saving time and maximizing efficiency, which is getting stronger by the day.”

  But now the time has come to challenge our obsession with doing everything more quickly. Speed is not always the best policy. Evolution works on the principle of survival of the fittest, not the fastest. Remember who won the race between the tortoise and the hare. As we hurry through life, cramming more into every hour, we are stretching ourselves to the breaking point.

  Before we go any further, though, let’s make one thing clear: this book is not a declaration of war against speed. Speed has helped to remake our world in ways that are wonderful and liberating. Who wants to live without the Internet or jet travel? The problem is that our love of speed, our obsession with doing more and more in less and less time, has gone too far; it has turned into an addiction, a kind of idolatry. Even when speed starts to backfire, we invoke the go-faster gospel. Falling behind at work? Get a quicker Internet connection. No time for that novel you got at Christmas? Learn to speed-read. Diet not working? Try liposuction. Too busy to cook? Buy a microwave. And yet some things cannot, should not, be sped up. They take time; they need slowness. When you accelerate things that should not be accelerated, when you forget how to slow down, there is a price to pay.

  The case against speed starts with the economy. Modern capitalism generates extraordinary wealth, but at the cost of devouring natural resources faster than Mother Nature can replace them. Thousands of square miles of Amazonian rainforest are cleared every year, while over-trawling has put sturgeon, Chil
ean sea bass and many other fish on the endangered species list. Capitalism is getting too fast even for its own good, as the pressure to finish first leaves too little time for quality control. Consider the computer industry. In recent years, software manufacturers have made a habit of rushing out their products before they have been fully tested. The result is an epidemic of crashes, bugs and glitches that costs companies billions of dollars every year.

  Then there is the human cost of turbo-capitalism. These days, we exist to serve the economy, rather than the other way round. Long hours on the job are making us unproductive, error-prone, unhappy and ill. Doctor’s offices are swamped with people suffering from conditions brought on by stress: insomnia, migraines, hypertension, asthma and gastrointestinal trouble, to name but a few. The current work culture is also undermining our mental health. “Burnout used to be something you mainly found in people over forty,” says one London-based life coach. “Now I’m seeing men and women in their thirties, and even their twenties, who are completely burned out.”

  The work ethic, which can be healthy in moderation, is getting out of hand. Consider the spread of “vacationitis,” the aversion to taking a proper holiday. In a Reed survey of five thousand UK workers, 60% said they would not be using their full vacation entitlement in 2003. On average, Americans fail to use up to a fifth of their paid time off. Even illness can no longer keep the modern employee away from the office: one in five Americans turns up for work when he should be tucked up in bed at home or visiting a doctor.

  For a chilling vision of where this behaviour leads, look no further than Japan, where the locals have a word—karoshi—that means “death by overwork.” One of the most famous victims of karoshi was Kamei Shuji, a high-flying broker who routinely put in ninety-hour weeks during the Japanese stock market boom of the late 1980s. His company trumpeted his superhuman stamina in newsletters and training booklets, turning him into the gold standard to which all employees should aspire. In a rare break from Japanese protocol, Shuji was asked to coach senior colleagues in the art of salesmanship, which piled extra stress onto his pinstriped shoulders. When Japan’s stock bubble burst in 1989, Shuji worked even longer hours to pick up the slack. In 1990, he died suddenly of a heart attack. He was twenty-six.