Customer Reviews

The Week-End Book

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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I first came across this little gem in England last year. I picked it up in a used bookstore and took it along on a family trip through Ireland. What a smart move. This book offers many diversions for a weekend out of the city and an extended visit to the country. Filled with games and puzzles as well as sections on animal tracks and birdsongs this book has a little something for everyone.

I was so happy when I learned that The Weekend Book was being reissued. I'd been searching for other used copies to give as gifts (talk about the perfect gift to give to your hosts...) but they were expensive. This is the perfect gift and it's under 20 dollars (and even cheaper here on Amazon).

Oh, and did I mention that it is beautiful to look at as well?

I can't recommend this book highly enough, especially now that the glory of the summer weekend is upon us. Unlike something like Schott's Miscellany, this collection is actually filled with things worth knowing (the constellation, guides to birdsong, parlor games, etc.) and aside from being a useful book to have with you on vacation, it's also a fascinating look into the early 20th century world of P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie, and it's written with the same dry british wit.

A boyfriend gave my mother a copy of this in 1936.
She's still reading it, reciting the Shakespeare sonnets, consulting it on astronomy and giggling at the very witty Britty hate poems.
There are games and recipes.
It is an instruction manual on how to live life outside video games. What a concept.

I bought this as a gift for someone who had let me use their vacation home. They loved it! It's so very clever and funny that it just sucks you in--hard to put down! A much more thoughtful gift than the standard bottle of wine. Also the sort of thing that would be perfect for the bathroom....

So "The New York Times" reviewed this offbeat mini encyclopedia that was a best seller in England between 1924 and 1955. The book was heavily revised from time to time over the years (19 editions altogether), and this edition reprints many of the most successful and interesting essays.

Francis Meynell was a British book designer, occasional poet and publisher, who loved escaping from the City and traveling around England with his wife Vera on walking holidays. Paperback books did not yet exist, and carrying a number of hard bound books around in a backpack did not appeal.

John Julius Norwich, who wrote the Forward to this edition, said in an NPR interview that the couple "created a single volume with everything in it that they would want." In particular, they wanted poetry: there are three chapters on poems -- "Great Poems", "Late Poems" and "Hate Poems."

The book contained much more than poetry however. It was a survey of wildflowers, animals, birds, geological formations, crops, trees and stars.

It contained philosophy: "We must beware of prophesying woe to those who 'interfere with the balance of nature' because 'the balance of nature' is a meaningless phrase. What we really imply by it is the arrangement which best suits ourselves; for every operation on the farm interferes with 'Nature' to a certain extent and if 'Nature' is left to herself in England the land returns, as we have seen, to light forest and scrub."

There are rules and suggestions for outdoor and indoor games, the active and "the quieter." It quotes Stephen Potter's The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: Or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating, advising lesser tennis players to dress as if they've never played before, so that if they actually win a point, it will have a demoralizing effect on the opposition: "If you can't volley, wear velvet socks."

"Rounders is a good game, in spite of the quarrels which it engenders amongst those who do not study the observations following." Following the rules is key: "The runner must go unmolested to his nearest base." Other games include tierce, gallows, tishy-toshy and Up-Jenkyns!

Altogether, this is a charming book. You can't help smiling as you read, and perhaps being motivated to try some of the suggestions on your own travels here in the States.


Robert C. Ross 2008

This is the anti-TV approach to weekend entertainment.

I won't judge this book harshly as we picked up our copy for less than $4. You'll quickly see why this book was so popular during the 1920s and 1930s. You can simply open the book to any page and launch a discussion, a game or an adventure.

This book is a good companion and should be on the bookshelf of every cabin, vacation house and weekend getaway spot. As such, it makes a great gift, too.

This book is a good gift for a friend who is Martha Stewart-esque. It has high style look in hard cover. It has games to play in the car and types of plants that grow in different seasons, poems, etc.

I don't know how many of these I've bought. It's small, quirky, endlessly fascinating and attractive. It will entertain adults, children and you can play checkers on the endpapers. Go to Wikipedia and read more about the Week End Book. I usually print thier info or some other interview regarding it's publishing to include when giving as gift. Great for commuters.

I purchased this book after the heartbreaking loss of a dear friend. It was a gentle interesting way to take my mind off the grief. My attention span was very limited and this allowed me to pick it up and put it down as needed. I also bought extras and will be sharing it as gifts to friends who appear to need it.