Twelve Sheep:Life lessons from a lambing season

by: John Connell (Author)

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: 4 April 2024

Language: English

Print Length: 192 pages

ISBN-10: 1805461907

ISBN-13: 9781805461906

Book Description

For John Connell, the lambing season on his County Longford farm begins in the autumn. In the sheep shed, he surveys the dozen females in his care and contemplates the work ahead as the season slowly tus to winter, then spring.The twelve sheep have come into his life at just the right moment. After years of hard work, John felt a deep tiredness creeping up on him, a sadness that he couldn't shrug off. Having always sought spiritual guidance, he comes to realise that, in addition to the soothing words of literature and philosophy, perhaps the way ahead involves this simple flock of sheep. In the hard work of livestock rearing, in the long nights in the shed helping the sheep to lamb, he can reflect on what life truly means.Like the flock that he shepherds, this book is both simple and profound, a meditation on the rituals of farming life and a primer on the lessons that nature can teach us. As spring retus and the sheep and their lambs are released into the fields, skipping with joy, John recalls the words of Henry David Thoreau, reminding us to 'live in each season as it passes.'
About the Author
Review A small gem, full of quiet wisdom and gorgeous descriptions of the wonder of nature, the redemption it holds, and how the landscape is charged with meaning...It's been a long time since I read such a positive book ― IndependentConnell has written a wise book, suffused with honesty and authenticity. ― Irish IndependentAs with much great spiritual literature, there is a resonance in Twelve Sheep between content and form. The sound, rhythm and pacing of the language has a deeply relaxing and meditative effect...It's a joy to read a writer who swims against our materialist dogma to confidently express the magic of life ― Irish TimesA book to read and re-read, then, slowly and thoughtfully ― Rural Jersey Country Life MagazineA beautiful and soothing book, at once far-reaching and intimate, it serves as a sublime exhortation to stop and savour our precious and fleeting time on earth, to be grateful for the life we're given -- Donal RyanThis is such a lovely book, beautifully constructed and crafted. As everyone knows who has enjoyed The Cow Book, John Connell writes like a dream. In Twelve Sheep he retus to the old family farm in Longford, and the contours of a landscape both starkly real and richly imagined, to quarry that inexhaustible seam, the simple yet profound life lessons that come from farming. This is a wise and humane book, a book to lift our spirits in grim times -- Michael WoodTwelve Sheep is what I call a real book, an honest book. I can hear John Connell's voice lilting off the page, and telling me the many truths he has discovered:truths I need to know, and everyone needs to know. -- Rosamund YoungSheep, and sheep farming, are far more interesting than you think -- Tim FlanneryI usually view rural Ireland from a train or car window but reading this gripping, fascinating book I felt I was becoming a cattle farmer -- Roddy Doyle on THE COW BOOKA vivid and sharply observed account of a way of life which is almost invisible, a new hidden Ireland. It is also a fascinating portrait of a single sensibility, a bo noticer, someone on whom nothing is lost, observing birth and death, the landscape and his own heritage -- Colm Tóibín on THE COW BOOKA gorgeous read, full of warmth, truth and tentative wonder. John Connell has written "an elegy to the nature I know", but this book is an elegy to so much more - to art and myth and sorrow and longing -- Sara Baume on THE COW BOOK Book Description A hymn to the rituals of farming life from a bestselling Irish author.
About the Author
John Connell is a multi-award-winning author, film producer, investigative joualist and farmer. His documentary programs have won over a dozen inteational awards. His number-one bestselling memoir The Cow Book was awarded Popular Non Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. He lives in County Longford. Read more