On "Rag and Bone: A Family History of What We've Thrown Away": A Book Review

 

Title: Rag and Bone: A Family History of What We've Thrown Away
Author: Lisa Woollett
Genre: Non-Fiction, History, Biography

About the book...
Part history, part family biography, in Rag and Bone Woollett explores the way we have treated our waste from Roman times to present, approaching this history with emphasis on the Industrial Revolution and the shift to heavy use of plastic and from the perspectives of mudlarking and beachcombing and her own personal experiences.  

It is the Winner of a Royal Society of Literature Giles St. Aubyn Award for Non-Fiction.

What I think...
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was surprisingly subtle, mixing personal reflections in with bits of history, both general and family, which made it a quick paced and engaging read. 

While reading I didn't have the feeling of being bogged down in information, but this book really does carry a lot of weight in terms of the topics being addressed ultimately leading up to our present state regarding pollution and the oceans.  

Topics of history covered range in topics including things such as clay pipes, bone buttons, shoes, coal, and even eels. In each case, the short sections on them was decent enough in length to give a good sense of the subjects being addressed, but not enough to be overwhelming. The integration of Woollett's own family history and how they fit into the larger story also added to the richness of what was being written about and made it much more personable.

I liked the earlier sections of the book that focused on mudlarking and the River Thames a bit more than the rest of the book, as I've had a long time fascination with what can still be and continues to be recovered from the Thames. I also enjoyed reading about just how much of what was thrown away was recovered and reused or found new life.

The last section of the book offered a lot of food for thought, offering up an interesting history of how we entered the world of plastic and the impact our use of plastic has had on our beaches. While much of this, I feel, has become common knowledge, it's always still somewhat startling to read about or see pictures of.

Woollett's photographs of some of her finds are also presented as lovely, glossy colored inserts and were a delight to look at (a number of them can be found here on her website too!). 

To sum it all up...
A fascinating look into the subjects of consumerism, they way Europe has treated its trash through history, and the way our perspectives towards the ever more apparent impact our waste has on our world. ♥