What a delightfully surprising little book! As an American, the hunting scenes he describes are beautifully foreign to me, and I almost wish we didn't rebel and remained British. Almost. The jist of Scruton's book is this: hunting a mans way of participating in nature, and being in communion with other animals. It is a celebration of our primitive carnal reality, and an uplifting of the animal to our dignified, perhaps spiritual, level. The fruits of this exchange of species produces a tranquil and fulfilling harmony. Images of centaurs, "war without the danger", suspenseful chase, and a ritualistic showing of dignity between Hunt Master and Farm Owner, remind me why Sir Roger Scruton is one of my favorite authors.
As an American, I am somewhat ashamed of my nations brand of hunting now having read this. The advanced technology we use in our hunting, range finders, cameras, printed cover, and other artifacts do not put us in union with nature, like the Englishmen do with horses and hounds, but only widen the gap, which is somewhat counter productive to the purpose of hunting. I cannot afford hunting dogs, but this book has ignited that desire in me, and I now value that over range finders and cameras. I won't be wearing uniforms and shouting "Tally-Ho!" anytime soon, but my approach has definitely changed now. In what might have been a really primitive ritual in my hunting, like a third world tribesman dancing the bloodthirsty beat of a drum, my approach is more like a liturgy, preparing for a holy sacrifice which I am graced to participate in (if you're Catholic like me, you'll know what I'm talking about).
All that being said, this book is about so much more than hunting. It is about patriotism, love, women, what it means to be civilized, what it means to be a man, how hunting produces men because it produced a rite of passage, and how hunting keeps political correctness at bay. There are tons of gems in this book that I will surely be reading this over and over again throughout my lifetime.
Just fyi, I bought my copy from an English seller overseas, and the cover is different than the one posted here. Mine is a picture of leather boots, and I very much prefer it to than one shown on Amazon.
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Michael Pakaluk
A profound and beautifully written book
Commenté aux États-Unis le 23 avril 2014
