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e_woodhouse's review
3.0
Dal '300 a oggi, la storia del servitore nelle sue varie figure, più diversificate di quanto si potrebbe pensare: tra personale di casa, de giardino, delle stalle, e della tenuta (contadini, fattori etc. etc.). Un sistema tipicamente inglese che stupiva viaggiatori stranieri e che ancora oggi suscita grande fascino, basti pensare a serie televisive come il primo Upstairs, Downstairs e il più recente Downton Abbey, o il fiorire di memorie di personale di servizio: testi anche piuttosto vecchi che ancora oggi vengono ristampati (What the Butler Winked at, ad esempio, venne pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1923).
Jeremy Musson, giornalista di Country Life e autore, tra l'altro, di Country House Interiors racconta, con dovizia di particolari e moltissime citazioni da lettere, manuali (tra cui quello famosissimo per governanti e casalinghe di Mrs. Beeton) e appunto memoirs, l'evoluzione della vita del servitore e del suo ruolo e rapporto con la famiglia e il padrone, partendo dal Medioevo, proseguendo con l'epoca Tudor, il sei e settecento, e concentrandosi in particolare sull'Ottocento, il periodo in cui lo stile di vita magione-con-centinaia-di-dipendenti ebbe il suo apogeo, continuando fino al giorno d'oggi, in cui il servizio come lo si intendeva un tempo è quasi del tutto scomparso, disgregatosi pian piano coi cambiamenti sociali (sempre più veloci dopo la seconda guerra mondiale): nuove opportunità lavorative (per esempio in uffici e negozi) portarono i giovani a non scegliere più un lavoro che, se da una parte significava vitto e alloggio gratis e quindi possibiità di mettere da parte risparmi anche consistenti, e opportunità di carriera, dall'altra comportava molta fatica, pochissimo tempo libero e poca libertà in generale: sposarsi era sconsigliato dai padroni di casa che, spesso, di fronte al fidanzamento di un proprio servitore lo spingevano a rassegnare le dimissioni, e le vacanze erano inesistenti, se non brevissime quando la famiglia si allontanava a sua volta da casa per lunghi periodi.
Una lunga rassegna che risulta pesantuccia da leggere tutta d'un fiato, per via dei tantissimi aneddoti, delle cifre e delle citazioni; ma molto interessante e in qualche modo rivelatoria di vite vissute dietro le quinte.
Per chi non ha voglia di queste trecento pagine, un'idea della vita in una casa di campagna inglese - e di come cento anni facciano una grande differenza - la si può trovare in un programma televisivo di qualche anno fa, Edwardian Country House (trasmesso in USA col titolo Manor House), interamente reperibile su youtube, in cui un gruppo di temerari vive per due mesi in una casa d'epoca edoardiana, alcuni come padroni e altri come servitori a vivere la dura esperienza di alzarsi alle 6 del mattino, lavarsi al freddo, fare il bucato interamente a mano, cucinare da zero una cena luculliana, lucidare le scale, battere i tappeti etc. Hilarity ensues, ma anche molto poco edoardiane rivolte contro il padrone di casa (che, non appena indossati i panni del baronetto, da pacifico democratico diventa più reazionario di un Metternich).
Jeremy Musson, giornalista di Country Life e autore, tra l'altro, di Country House Interiors racconta, con dovizia di particolari e moltissime citazioni da lettere, manuali (tra cui quello famosissimo per governanti e casalinghe di Mrs. Beeton) e appunto memoirs, l'evoluzione della vita del servitore e del suo ruolo e rapporto con la famiglia e il padrone, partendo dal Medioevo, proseguendo con l'epoca Tudor, il sei e settecento, e concentrandosi in particolare sull'Ottocento, il periodo in cui lo stile di vita magione-con-centinaia-di-dipendenti ebbe il suo apogeo, continuando fino al giorno d'oggi, in cui il servizio come lo si intendeva un tempo è quasi del tutto scomparso, disgregatosi pian piano coi cambiamenti sociali (sempre più veloci dopo la seconda guerra mondiale): nuove opportunità lavorative (per esempio in uffici e negozi) portarono i giovani a non scegliere più un lavoro che, se da una parte significava vitto e alloggio gratis e quindi possibiità di mettere da parte risparmi anche consistenti, e opportunità di carriera, dall'altra comportava molta fatica, pochissimo tempo libero e poca libertà in generale: sposarsi era sconsigliato dai padroni di casa che, spesso, di fronte al fidanzamento di un proprio servitore lo spingevano a rassegnare le dimissioni, e le vacanze erano inesistenti, se non brevissime quando la famiglia si allontanava a sua volta da casa per lunghi periodi.
Una lunga rassegna che risulta pesantuccia da leggere tutta d'un fiato, per via dei tantissimi aneddoti, delle cifre e delle citazioni; ma molto interessante e in qualche modo rivelatoria di vite vissute dietro le quinte.
Per chi non ha voglia di queste trecento pagine, un'idea della vita in una casa di campagna inglese - e di come cento anni facciano una grande differenza - la si può trovare in un programma televisivo di qualche anno fa, Edwardian Country House (trasmesso in USA col titolo Manor House), interamente reperibile su youtube, in cui un gruppo di temerari vive per due mesi in una casa d'epoca edoardiana, alcuni come padroni e altri come servitori a vivere la dura esperienza di alzarsi alle 6 del mattino, lavarsi al freddo, fare il bucato interamente a mano, cucinare da zero una cena luculliana, lucidare le scale, battere i tappeti etc. Hilarity ensues, ma anche molto poco edoardiane rivolte contro il padrone di casa (che, non appena indossati i panni del baronetto, da pacifico democratico diventa più reazionario di un Metternich).
emdebell's review
4.0
Well-researched and easy to read, this book at once satiated my desire to know more about the history of the country house servant and left me wanting more. The author did a very good job showing not only the tasks and lives of the servants, but also how and why that lifestyle evolved, as well as how that, in turn, affected architectural design. Plenty of quotes from both servants and masters were included, providing a fully fleshed-out view of the situation, yet the writing remained light and interesting.
julan1027's review
3.0
This is a very comprehensive and academic style work on the history of the country house servant from the early middle ages through the present. It includes writings from servants and employers spanning the various time periods, as well as writings from periodicals and government offices about issues relating to servants and the maintenance of large country estates.
Some of the writings from the earliest periods were a bit of a challenge to interpret. For instance, "put to office and woerke of traveylle, toylinge, and slubberynge", is still a bit unclear to me. In such instances it would have helped if, rather than quoting, Musson would have said "maids of the time were expected to do ...(this, this, and this)", because I can't even begin to guess what slubberynge might be. The first chapter of the book, as a result, was a struggle to get through.
While a bit of a dry read at times, and occasionally repetitive, it was all interesting. The chapter I most enjoyed was the final chapter which looked at the state of the country house and its residents and employees in the post-WWII period.
Some of the writings from the earliest periods were a bit of a challenge to interpret. For instance, "put to office and woerke of traveylle, toylinge, and slubberynge", is still a bit unclear to me. In such instances it would have helped if, rather than quoting, Musson would have said "maids of the time were expected to do ...(this, this, and this)", because I can't even begin to guess what slubberynge might be. The first chapter of the book, as a result, was a struggle to get through.
While a bit of a dry read at times, and occasionally repetitive, it was all interesting. The chapter I most enjoyed was the final chapter which looked at the state of the country house and its residents and employees in the post-WWII period.
livres_de_bloss's review
1.0
This book gets an A+ for meticulous and thorough research but a C for readability. It didn’t flow the way other books on the same subject or textbooks do. The overall story got lost in the details.
colorfulleo92's review
4.0
This took me about 8 days to finish, not because it wasn't good or interesting. It certainly was. But wasn't in the right mind for so much information. But it was an entertaining read and it was so interesting to learn about the life of servants. Reminded me a little about the Edwardian/Victorian cooking show on YouTube showing life and recipes in the kitchen. I'm not mad it took so long as it wasn't a book that slogged on its own. It was just me
letab's review
1.0
So dry and boring I barely made it through this one. It's the perfect book if you have insomnia! I would've much preferred a book on the actual duties and lives of these servants rather than meticulous lists of how much every servant in a house was paid and the increases of such pay through the years. Sadly, this was just a waste of my "wages" and will be quickly donated or used as a doorstop.
librarianonparade's review
4.0
You can blame Downton Abbey for this one. In this country we seem obsessed with the age of the grand country houses, the world of Upstairs and Downstairs, the golden age before the War - nd I'll confess, I'm no exception. There's something so evocative about the era, a kind of idealised image of England that probably never truly existed to begin with - and perhaps it says something about us that we hark back to it so much.
What I liked most about this book is how it managed to evoke that bygone age without surrendering to the gilt and the gloss. It pulls no punches in describing how hard the servants lives were, how often it was lonely and exhausting and miserable, and how frequently the hierachy within the ranks of the servants was as hide-bound and sharply delineated as the divide between Upstairs and Downstairs.
Of course, this book explores more than just the golden age of the Edwardian era - it traces the evolution of servants and staff right the way from the medieval household of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, right up to the present day, with the majority of country homes now owned by trusts or English Heritage. It's certainly interesting to note how servants went from being part of the 'family', not hidden away or invisible, to being very much someone who should be neither seen nor heard.
What I liked most about this book is how it managed to evoke that bygone age without surrendering to the gilt and the gloss. It pulls no punches in describing how hard the servants lives were, how often it was lonely and exhausting and miserable, and how frequently the hierachy within the ranks of the servants was as hide-bound and sharply delineated as the divide between Upstairs and Downstairs.
Of course, this book explores more than just the golden age of the Edwardian era - it traces the evolution of servants and staff right the way from the medieval household of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, right up to the present day, with the majority of country homes now owned by trusts or English Heritage. It's certainly interesting to note how servants went from being part of the 'family', not hidden away or invisible, to being very much someone who should be neither seen nor heard.
jlmb's review
4.0
Well, this was right up my alley! I enjoyed learning the specifics of how England's large country estates have been run for the past 600 years. The book took a while to read because it was so packed with details to the point of being overwhelming at times. But that's ok! I wanted the details. This is obviously not a book for the casual reader to pick up but rather one for a reader looking to further their knowledge in a subject they already know to a certain degree.
Musson does a brilliant job compiling the back matter of the book. His notes are extensive, his index thorough and his list of sources/bibliography is amazing! He separates the bibliography according to chapters so if your focus is the 17th century , it is easy to see all the sources for that particular period. It's great! I added a lot of books to my to-read list.
While most of the time I felt Musson piled the details and facts upon the reader, sometimes I felt his explanations were lacking, mainly when he was discussing certain people or locations. I guess he assumed the reader would already know who he was referring to, or where he was referring to, but I didn't always know. Luckily I had Professor Google to the rescue. I did enjoy it when he would refer to characters in novels since one of the reasons I wanted to read this book was to help me better understand older British novels that I read. I do have a better grasp now on the intricacies of social positions of various servants and how they related to the gentry they served. I think this will help in future readings of nineteenth century novels.
Reading about the amount of work some of the servants did - especially the scullery maids, laundry maids and the under housemaids - made me truly appreciate the modern inventions that ease our lives today. Thank you dishwasher! Thank you washing machine & dryer! Thank you rubber gloves! Seriously, I can't even imagine how horrific the hands of the laundry and scullery maids must have been. What nightmare jobs those would have been. Definitely some servants had it a lot easier than other. Butlers had it pretty dang easy in comparison to a poor scullery maid. Basically all the women's jobs were much more backbreaking than the men's jobs. The valet and lady's maid were very similar but other than that, no, the guys had it easier.
The strict hierarchy of the servants on large estates was fascinating. I had known from various movies and tv shows that this was the case, but I didn't realize how structured the rankings and accompanying behaviors were. Servants for the top servants. Separate dining rooms for the "Upper Ten" servants and for the "Lower Five"(i.e. everyone else & always a lot more than 5). It seemed crazy that no one was allowed to help anyone else - you were never to break rank and do any work "beneath" you. My favorite story was when some crumbs were on a table and pointed out to the butler(the table was his province) by the house librarian. "Am I to understand that crumbs on the library table are the preserve of the butler?" To which the butler replied "Yes" and then he swept the crumbs to the floor with his hand and added "And now they are the preserve of the housemaid." Haha. It wasn't until after WWII that this strict observation of roles was dismantled and people started doing more varied work.
There are lots of little stories like the one above that put a personal face upon the history. I really took delight in reading those. This book is well worth the read if you want to further your understanding of that period of time in Britain. It would be a boring slog to those not already keen on the subject matter.
Musson does a brilliant job compiling the back matter of the book. His notes are extensive, his index thorough and his list of sources/bibliography is amazing! He separates the bibliography according to chapters so if your focus is the 17th century , it is easy to see all the sources for that particular period. It's great! I added a lot of books to my to-read list.
While most of the time I felt Musson piled the details and facts upon the reader, sometimes I felt his explanations were lacking, mainly when he was discussing certain people or locations. I guess he assumed the reader would already know who he was referring to, or where he was referring to, but I didn't always know. Luckily I had Professor Google to the rescue. I did enjoy it when he would refer to characters in novels since one of the reasons I wanted to read this book was to help me better understand older British novels that I read. I do have a better grasp now on the intricacies of social positions of various servants and how they related to the gentry they served. I think this will help in future readings of nineteenth century novels.
Reading about the amount of work some of the servants did - especially the scullery maids, laundry maids and the under housemaids - made me truly appreciate the modern inventions that ease our lives today. Thank you dishwasher! Thank you washing machine & dryer! Thank you rubber gloves! Seriously, I can't even imagine how horrific the hands of the laundry and scullery maids must have been. What nightmare jobs those would have been. Definitely some servants had it a lot easier than other. Butlers had it pretty dang easy in comparison to a poor scullery maid. Basically all the women's jobs were much more backbreaking than the men's jobs. The valet and lady's maid were very similar but other than that, no, the guys had it easier.
The strict hierarchy of the servants on large estates was fascinating. I had known from various movies and tv shows that this was the case, but I didn't realize how structured the rankings and accompanying behaviors were. Servants for the top servants. Separate dining rooms for the "Upper Ten" servants and for the "Lower Five"(i.e. everyone else & always a lot more than 5). It seemed crazy that no one was allowed to help anyone else - you were never to break rank and do any work "beneath" you. My favorite story was when some crumbs were on a table and pointed out to the butler(the table was his province) by the house librarian. "Am I to understand that crumbs on the library table are the preserve of the butler?" To which the butler replied "Yes" and then he swept the crumbs to the floor with his hand and added "And now they are the preserve of the housemaid." Haha. It wasn't until after WWII that this strict observation of roles was dismantled and people started doing more varied work.
There are lots of little stories like the one above that put a personal face upon the history. I really took delight in reading those. This book is well worth the read if you want to further your understanding of that period of time in Britain. It would be a boring slog to those not already keen on the subject matter.