Really Rural: Authentic French Country Interiors

Rating:
Summary: Appalling book design
Review: A very fascinating, original book with a thoughtful text and illuminating photographs. It was definitely not intended to help you design your French Country summer house! I would have given it five stars, except that I've never seen a book designed so poorly that it was almost impossible to read. The photographs and their captions were nowhere near the corresponding text. Often it was difficult to tell what caption went with what photograph. Some photographs were missing captions. I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth as I read, trying to find the photographs being described in the text or vice versa. There were several pages where the text was in a light color over a background of a photograph, only readable with a very strong light or a magnifying glass. A great deal of thought had obviously gone into the writing, the translation, and the selection of illustrations; it was a shame that the material was handled this way. I am surprised at Thames and Hudson.

Rating:
Summary: Appalling book design
Review: A very fascinating, original book with a thoughtful text and illuminating photographs. It was definitely not intended to help you design your French Country summer house! I would have given it five stars, except that I've never seen a book designed so poorly that it was almost impossible to read. The photographs and their captions were nowhere near the corresponding text. Often it was difficult to tell what caption went with what photograph. Some photographs were missing captions. I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth as I read, trying to find the photographs being described in the text or vice versa. There were several pages where the text was in a light color over a background of a photograph, only readable with a very strong light or a magnifying glass. A great deal of thought had obviously gone into the writing, the translation, and the selection of illustrations; it was a shame that the material was handled this way. I am surprised at Thames and Hudson.

Rating:
Summary: charming view of rustic life
Review: Amazing that so many places have totally bypassed the 20th century. Even more amazing to meet the people who are still living this way - a truly dying breed. Very atmospheric - you can almost hear the clocks ticking and smell the clean linen. Excellent photography. A book you want to dip into time and time again. If you miss France, then at least with this book, France doesn't seem quite so far away!

Rating:
Summary: A fab book. A real insight into how people used to live.
Review: Amazing that so many places have totally bypassed the 20th century. Even more amazing to meet the people who are still living this way - a truly dying breed. Very atmospheric - you can almost hear the clocks ticking and smell the clean linen. Excellent photography. A book you want to dip into time and time again. If you miss France, then at least with this book, France doesn't seem quite so far away!

Rating:
Summary: Not depressing...at all!
Review: Despite previous reviews, this book proved to be a lovely and heartwarming insight to French Rural Life. Beautifully illustrated, with enchanting essays, this book offers a glimpse into a life far removed from the everyday American existence. Part coffee table illustrations, part loving essay, this book captures a way of life totally alien to what most of us call day to day life. This is a lovely collection of life in rural France and is sure to make you smile and anticipate your next adventure there. Read it and be Happy!

Rating:
Summary: Not depressing...at all!
Review: Despite previous reviews, this book proved to be a lovely and heartwarming insight to French Rural Life. Beautifully illustrated, with enchanting essays, this book offers a glimpse into a life far removed from the everyday American existence. Part coffee table illustrations, part loving essay, this book captures a way of life totally alien to what most of us call day to day life. This is a lovely collection of life in rural France and is sure to make you smile and anticipate your next adventure there. Read it and be Happy!

Rating:
Summary: Not sure why this book was recommended.
Review: I was so excited when ordering books to help decorate my new home in the French Country style, but I was extremely disappointed when the book arrived. They should re-title this book REALLY DEPRESSING. Only recommend this book if you are interested in the depressing and dirty side of rural poverty.

Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly Real
Review: It is a sorrow that the reader from McLean, Virginia, was disappointed with this book. I found it to be a valuable connection to the past and a welcome reality check for the future. While we benefit from select technology, this book reinforced to me that not all modern "conveniences" have necessarily enriched our lives. This book is a look back to a time when the world moved more slowly; when the physical demands of country life sculpted muscular bodies, when a stubborn farm animal was more unforgiving than any personal trainer and when we could nestle into our beds at the end of the day to enjoy sound, unmedicated slumber. This book beautifully illustrates that "keeping it simple" is not just a magazine title or a lifestyle choice; that daily life woven in and around the rhythmic renewal of the seasons brings with it the unspoken awareness of one's place and one's purpose in the universe. This is not the urban, armchair tourist's source for "decorating ideas," nor the suburban, weekend farmer's guide to garden planning - you will not find the items celebrated within at Smith and Hawken. You will find an insightful look into the real lives of real people, all of whom I found to be far more dignified than depressing. Further, the respect that these people afford the animals and the land they depend on for their sustenance is a model we would all do well to study - no genetically-engineered or altered food on their tables. "Free-range" food before it was trendy. Making "your own" absolutely everything before Martha Stewart made a billion bucks off of selling the concept just for the bragging rights. I am grateful to the people who agreed to be interviewed for this book. In the society we live in now, experiencing simplicity without an agenda made this book a delight.

Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly Real
Review: It is a sorrow that the reader from McLean, Virginia, was disappointed with this book. I found it to be a valuable connection to the past and a welcome reality check for the future. While we benefit from select technology, this book reinforced to me that not all modern "conveniences" have necessarily enriched our lives. This book is a look back to a time when the world moved more slowly; when the physical demands of country life sculpted muscular bodies, when a stubborn farm animal was more unforgiving than any personal trainer and when we could nestle into our beds at the end of the day to enjoy sound, unmedicated slumber. This book beautifully illustrates that "keeping it simple" is not just a magazine title or a lifestyle choice; that daily life woven in and around the rhythmic renewal of the seasons brings with it the unspoken awareness of one's place and one's purpose in the universe. This is not the urban, armchair tourist's source for "decorating ideas," nor the suburban, weekend farmer's guide to garden planning - you will not find the items celebrated within at Smith and Hawken. You will find an insightful look into the real lives of real people, all of whom I found to be far more dignified than depressing. Further, the respect that these people afford the animals and the land they depend on for their sustenance is a model we would all do well to study - no genetically-engineered or altered food on their tables. "Free-range" food before it was trendy. Making "your own" absolutely everything before Martha Stewart made a billion bucks off of selling the concept just for the bragging rights. I am grateful to the people who agreed to be interviewed for this book. In the society we live in now, experiencing simplicity without an agenda made this book a delight.

Rating:
Summary: Either you'll love it or cry reading it..(see reviews below)
Review: Rural France is a perfect complement to "cafés" from the same author. Marie France Boyer is one of the most sensitive authors that I know. Her books are the best documented you might ever search for (see her book about Marie-Antoinette in Versailles asin:0500016909 ). She is a reference in terms of elegance, good taste and french etiquette. Most of all, she really loves people. If you really love people, you'll really love "Really rural". If your roots are rural or if you think your grand-grand mama came from a tiny village in Europe, buy this book. You might cry looking at these old women posing close to their Aga cooker in the center of their kitchen/living-room/bed-room. The most exciting feature of this book lies in the fact that you can still meet thousands of people and interiors like this in France, and spend good time with them. These peasants will allways be happy to meet you. You might be the only person who will have visited them since months. Within ten years, most of these houses and people will have disappeared. Because of new security regulations, all the items that make these interiors warmful will be removed: coal heater, wood chimneys, candle lights, dwells in the garden. Cheese will never be made anymore on the sink of the kitchen. Come and take pictures. Then send them to your new friends from France. They will frame them and fix them on the wall above the fireplace. Near Bois-Briand (Nantes) where we live, you can discover many of these wonderful, inspiring interiors and people. Come and visit us.