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August 29, 2004
REVIEWS: The wisdom of being slow
Who would have thought that progress would lead to lack of sleep? That a country like Japan would be worrying about “karoshi; death from overwork”? That Matshushita Electric Works would be luring top level executives with a display of their latest invention; the sleep room? Nobody could have guessed the above since the continuing trend is to fight the disasters of technology and industrialization with more technology. Thus, an undying belief in the “technological relief system”. Japan is simply the best example of the cult of speed but not the only one. Europe and America have some of the fastest moving cities in all respects. So whether they are sleep rooms or Hollywood movies like “Lost in Translation”, the hollowness of our accelerating city life seems to be the latest epidemic.
In his aptly titled book, In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed, Carl Honoré, a Canadian journalist based in London, introduces us to the “slow” manifesto! Stretching across various aspects of life such as food, mind/body, work, and leisure, he attempts to show the countless ways our lives can be savoured to the last drop like good coffee.
He doesn’t simply ask us to slow down but shows how he has incorporated the concept into his own life. The “slow” movement is in fact “rapidly” spreading across Europe and his book is simply its introduction “to a wider audience, to explain what it stands for, how it is evolving, what obstacles it faces, and why it has something to offer us all”.
As a speedaholic, Honoré himself is an inspiration for his work. When the concept of “The One Minute Bedtime Story” for his two-year-old son appealed to him, he quickly realized that it was time to slow down. And to find a counter ideology to our accelerating lives.
From slow food, slow cities, slow work to slow sex, Honoré seems to have found the solution to time-sickness. The slow movement captured his attention when he heard of Carlo Petrini and decided to visit him in Italy. The city of Bra is the home of the slow movement and three other Italian towns signed a pledge in 1999 to “transform themselves into havens from high-speed frenzy of the modern world”. And now there are more than 30 towns that have become members in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. Petrini’s principles, “pleasure before profit, human beings before head office, slowness before speed” appealed to Honoré and he decided to preach them to a wider audience.
Pakistan may not apparently seem as such an ideal place to apply the Petrini principles or to promote Honoré’s ideas for slow living. Yet Pakistani cities are increasingly attempting to follow western models with greater speed without direction. Our environment is suffering heavily as a consequence of industrialization and urbanization without sufficient planning and organization. Traffic frenzy, all forms of pollution and an increasing disregard for human life and community have already become the trademark features of most of our cities.
As a result our mental and physical health is deteriorating. On the UN Human Development Index of 2004, Pakistan was placed at #142, below Bangladesh (#138) and India (#127) which indicates the level of our development in areas such as mortality, education, and income.
But how can we simply “slow down”? The answer lies in creating an environment that will enhance the everyday life for all of us and by reverting back to a more community-based life style. Citta slow or slow cities are simply places where green spaces are encouraged, technology that promotes the environment is valued and preservation of local culinary traditions is encouraged.
Similarly in our lives, Honoré asks us to find a balance slowly. He suggests slow thinking for more intuitive and creative ideas, slow eating to savour the pleasures of taste, slow healing through eastern medicines to counter stress, and slow sex eliminating haste through Tantric mind/body techniques. And he takes his time chapter by chapter to demonstrate how he has made his transition from fast to slow.
Although this is Honoré’s first book, his writing style has a slight Baconian quality. Most of his sentences have a certain aphoristic aftertaste and each chapter begins with a suggestive quotation. For instance, he writes, “reaction, rather than reflection, is the order of the day”. But he quickly elaborates on his thoughts as if he is afraid of sounding too profound. This to and fro quality of his writing is slightly frustrating yet interesting at times. It keeps the book from becoming too serious as he attempts to handle a serious topic.
As I started reading the book, I realized I was rushing past most of Honoré’s detailed accounts of his stories and cliches. Ironically, it only proved my own time-sickness. But that aside the book could have been edited a bit more carefully. It may easily be tossed aside by most serious readers for that aspect alone. Yet speed-reading this book is not a bad idea, since it does carry a powerful message.
In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is
Changing the Cult of Speed
By Carl Honoré
Knopf, Canada
ISBN 0676975720
320pp. Canadian $36.00
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