Handmade: Learning the Art of Chainsaw Mindfulness in a Norwegian Wood

Description

Humans have always used their hands to create the world around them. But now most of us have gone from being practitioners to theorists, from being producers to consumers. What happens to our society when we are so divorced from the act of making? What happens to us as individuals when we limit the uses to which we put our hands? These are questions that preoccupy Siri Helle when she inherits a cabin of 25 square metres, without electricity, inlet water, or a loo, and decides to build an outhouse herself. Without any previous experience of building anything, she has to learn on the job and what she learns is not just about how to lay a floor and construct walls, but about what she is capable of and about craft and about the satisfactions to be found in making things by hand. Written with humour and insight, Handmade is the inspiring story of someone who tried to do it herself - and did.

Born in 1982, Siri Helle is an agronomist in organic farming. She occasionally works as a writer and journalist, carpentry assistant and goat herder. Lucy Moffatt has translated books from Norwegian on subjects as diverse as female sexuality, the cryosphere, neuroscience, conservation biology and insomnia. In 2020 she won NORLA's Translator's Prize. KARI DICKSON has translated Norwegian crime fiction, literary fiction, children's books, theatre and non-fiction. She also tutors at the University of Edinburgh, and has worked with the British Centre for Literary Translation and the National Centre for Writing.

This is a delightful and timely book about resilience and environmental care... This story of ingenuity and determination is an inspirational read for anyone keen to explore how they can live a more self-sufficient life -- Clare Hunter, author of Threads of Life A paean to the power and purpose of practical skill, celebrating hands-on engagement with the natural world... Handmade champions female strength and skill in the great outdoors and Helle's message, powerfully wrought and lyrically expressed, is that the promise of a different way of living is in our hands -- Esther Rutter What a delight! Handmade is a highly original invitation to find creativity, intelligence, authenticity and health, all in the palms of our hands -- Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of Rooted Charming -- Simon Usborne * The Sunday Times * Beautifully packaged... Celebrating the importance and impact of making lasting things with your hands, [Handmade is] a delightful read that makes for a perfect present -- Francesca Brown * Stylist's Best New Books for March 2022 *