[Review] An Apology for Idlers by Robert Louis Stevenson

An irresistible invitation to reject the work ethic and enjoy life’s simple pleasures (such as laughing, drinking and lying in the open air), Robert Louis Stevenson’s witty and seminal essay on the joys of idleness is accompanied here by his writings on, among other things, growing old, visiting unpleasant places and the overwhelming experience of falling in love.

First published 1877 | 113 pages | Classic Essays

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A collection of essays of varying content quality (if of fairly even literary quality).

The first four or five essays are pretty enjoyable and interesting. I especially liked “Crabbed Age and Youth”, which I think would make an interesting starting point for a discussion about contemporary society as well – it’s about the differing world/political views of younger and older people and offers an interesting insight. I wouldn’t say I 100% agree with everything Stevenson says in these earlier essays, but I equally don’t need to and the different perspective is part of what makes it interesting.

The second half of the collection goes quite a bit downhill though.

“Fontainebleau – Village Communities of Painters” is the longest essay, and I really got quite bored. It’s basically descriptions of French villages. It was fine, but meh.

It gets worse though. “The Old Pacific Capital” is the second longest essay and similar sort of travel writing vibe to Fontainebleau but set in California, and oh my gosh the amount of casual racism. Not in like a Jim Crow laws type of way but in a “missionaries were a good force for helping the savage indigenous peoples” kind of way [not a direct quote]. A product of its time for sure, but not something I would recommend someone read except as an insight into the mindset of the time. I will however grant him that he correctly identifies the predatory practices of land-grabbing white Americans buying up property. He says that England does not understand the extent of this issue – unfortunately, I feel like we’re understanding it more and more.

The final essay (“Forest Notes: Idle Hours“) is the shortest and has some of the nice description of forests and nature that the previous two essays did (probably the best bit about them – even if he does burn a tree down at one point because he wants to know why Californian trees burn so easily…. idk dude, maybe ask?!?!) without the length or the casual racism, so that’s a plus. But it also doesn’t really make me feel or think anything, and there’s no otherwise interesting plot either. And tell me why the guy knows that throwing stones at the dogs won’t stop them following you…. please tell me only watched someone else do that (and then told them off!)

Verdict

An Apology for Idlers – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Letter to a Young Gentleman Who Proposes to Embrace the Career of Art – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
On Falling in Love – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Crabbed Age and Youth – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
On the Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fontainebleau – Village Communities of Painters – ⭐️⭐️
The Old Pacific Capital – ⭐️ (maybe 1.5 but I don’t do 1.5 stars)
Forest Notes: Idle Hours – ⭐️⭐️

So I would give the first half about 3.5⭐️, some parts even 4⭐️, but then the second half 1.5-2⭐️. So I’m going to even it out at about 2.5⭐️. It’s a shame because the first part really deserves more, but alas. (Also, if this had been published today…. 1⭐️ and rage – because of the racism, but you know, product of its time and all.)

I was trying to decide between 2.5⭐️ and 3⭐️ because it felt like a 2.75⭐️ book but I’m not doing quarter ratings – and eventually decided to just rate each story and then find the average. Turns out the average was exactly 2.75⭐️ so my gut was pretty accurate. This didn’t help my issue though.

In the end though, I decided to rate down because I was not reading this as an insight into the casual racism of white men in the late 19th Century and was unpleasantly surprised by it. Interesting choice on the part of the person who chose to collect these essays and then blurb it only with the content of the first five essays….

In conclusion, read the first part for interesting thoughts on the stated topics and stop. Or, continue reading if you want a glance into the mind of a not-aggressively-but-very-very-casually-racist white man from the 1800s. Folks, this is the person who wrote Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

How do you think we should read essays from these periods that are steeped in casual racism? What do you think is a productive way to engage in this material, or should we not engage with it at all? Let me know what you think!

Keira x