Waiting for the Weekend
Sintesi dell'editore
In Waiting for the Weekend, Witold Rybczynski unfolds the history of leisure. There have always been breaks from the routine of work: taboo days, market days, public festivals, holy days - we couldn't survive without them. He explores the origins of the week and the observance of the Sabbath, and shows how, beginning with the industrial revolution, when workers began staying home on Mondays, the practice of "keeping Saint Monday" evolved into the familiar institution of the weekend.
"At first, the five-day week was common in only three industries: the needle trade, building construction (where well-organized unions had been aggressive in seeking shorter hours), and to a lesser degree printing and publishing, where the change from the half-Saturday to the full-Saturday holiday was slow in coming."
Altri titoli dello stesso
Cosa pensano gli ascoltatori di Waiting for the Weekend
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Generale1 out of 5 stars
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Lettura5 out of 5 stars
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Storia1 out of 5 stars
- A. J. Russell
- 28/06/2013
Good narration of a dull and lazy authorial effort
A dry, dull, informationally light and largely unconvincing wander through the history of leisure.
Interesting bits at the beginning regarding the development of the calendar and weekdays, but little else to interest besides - too few facts, not enough detail to give colour or interest. I was hoping for something more lively that would teach me interesting things, but I didn't find it here.
Very well read - I can't fault Nadia May, she did her best with boring material. It just felt like an uncharacteristically lazy effort on the author's part.
Also, really poor sound quality, with some echoing and a very "distant AM radio" edge to it - poorly dubbed from an original 80s recording I would guess.
Overall, very disappointed.
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