This is one of the ones that got away in my 2024 reviewing. I read this book ages ago, but never got around to reviewing it for some reason which is shocking, for it is fascinating. Each of the twelve chapters takes one skill from its historical peak, then charts how we’ve let it go, considering how we can regain or reverse the decline, and concluding with some personal action points.
He begins with a straightforward skill: navigation, of which the Polynesians were the acknowledged experts, combining all their knowledge into dynamic mental maps known as ‘Etak’, planning journeys in stages with known landmarks such as islands, knowledge of currents and wind systems, and including observations of things such as bird migration too. Apart from switching off your phone, and using good old-fashioned maps, Lee suggests getting to know all your local landmarks, getting deliberately lost, memorising routes etc. I really enjoyed this section – a good start.
The next few chapters consider reading, writing, solitude, conversation and motion similarly, even though they are more conceptual skills, before returning to craft. We then go off down the more conceptual route again to look at memory, and here he cites the sheer volume of lines having to be remembered continually by Shakespeare’s players: a skill that Judi Dench also shares. Dreams, thought and time complete the chapters. The chapter on thought is also interesting because it deals with AI and biases, and how you can deal with it – he suggests tweaking questions asked of AI tools, as rephrasing often gives noticeably different responses, for instance.
This book gives plenty of food for thought, and skimming through it again some months after initially reading it, I was reminded how much I enjoyed reading it the first time. My apologies to MO’M Books for leaving my review so long.
Source: Review copy – thank you. Michael O’Mara hardback 2024, 320 pages.
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The craft parts of this book would probably intrigue me more, but I actually like the idea of including mental skills too—memorisation is a great example. (People can still do it, though! I mean, we still have stage actors!) I do remember going to the Maritime Museum in Greenwich a few years ago and being absolutely bowled over by the information about Polynesian navigators, and their incorporation of navigational practicalities into stories.
The Polynesians were amazing – that was the best first chapter to start on. The craft chapter used watchmaking as its high point, and that was more fascinating than the conceptual skills too.
I used both satnav and maps, the first for driving to unknown destinations but the second – well, just because: because we need overviews of how things are related to each other, because maps in themselves can be beautiful things, because visual representations of reality need appreciating as well as critiquing, and a whole lot more. Your summaries of the other topics definitely draw me towards this title, thanks!
He recommends using good old-fashioned maps. A must for seeing how everything links together. He also recommends setting satnavs to north pointing.
I usually consult a road map before driving, but when using satnav I mentally try to maintain a sense of where north is. Still, I think it shakes things up a bit to reorientate maps with east, south or west at the top – it certainly freshens my concepts of the relationships of geographical points and distances!
This sounds fascinating! My library has a copy, so I’ll check it out sometime.
Sounds like a very timely and sensible book. I often note in school how children don’t have the most basic skills, and Mr. K grumbles regularly about modern cars which are all computerised – he’s from the days when you could tinker endlessly with your own vehicle! We really have lost so many skills!
Although I frequently go wrong even with the satnav talking at me, miscounting exits on roundabouts primarily, since being single again I don’t miss the days of having to be map reader as I get terrible car-sick headaches. I can understand Mr K missing the days of tinkering with cars though.
This sounds like such an interesting book! I hear him about map-reading. If you get car sick, then I can quite understand how great it would be to be free of it, Annabel. But I hate the feeling of not knowing where I am and what the options are, and Mr Litlove resents being told by a female voice which way to go, lol!