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/lit/ - Literature

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5967155 No.5967155 [Reply] [Original]

Is the farmer life compatible with the literary lifestyle? I just want to grow my own food, read and write books.

>> No.5967158

you have to grow books

>> No.5967169

Rural life can be literary as shit, of course it's compatible.

>> No.5967184

only if there are rural prostitutes

>> No.5967209

Your courteous lights in vain you waste
Since Juliana here has come
For she my mind hath so displaced
That I shall never find my home

>> No.5967233

>>5967155
You will fail at one of those two things, maybe both. Those are two time consuming professions and I guess you'd do it all on your own?

>> No.5967244

it can only work if you are a crazy off the grid libertarian or if you are a christian

not decadent enough atmosphere for anything else

>> No.5967258

>>5967155
Go home Levin, you're drunk

>> No.5967266

>>5967155
Pastoral farmer eclogue style or ironic nihilist farmer like Frost?

>> No.5967268

The Irish writer John McGahern did something like that. Though he said something like - the writing brings in more income than the farming, and the writing doesn't bring in much income at all.

>> No.5967271

Burroughs was an unsuccessful farmer among other professions he was unsuccessful at. The heroin addiction might have had something to do with his lack of success.

>> No.5967273

>>5967233
I most likely would do it on my own, I can't see myself getting help in this regard. I'd like to be an old school farmer now (rather than one of those self sustainable hippy faggots), which seems quite difficult and would most likely end in dismal failure.

>> No.5967283

>>5967273
>would most likely end in dismal failure
It depends how you measure success. If you measure by dollars and cents then yes the odds are against you. If you measure by you had the opportunity to work the job you wanted to do and you got to live the life you wanted to live, then the odds are a little better.

>> No.5967287

>>5967273
Are you familiar with agriculture?

>> No.5967294

>>5967155
Yes. That was the whole deal with romanticism and it's longing for the lost Arcadia. The problem is that you need to get a grasp on the literary and the philosophycal, and that is less likely in the modern urbanized world. The pros of the rural is that it is closer to the aristocratic Being, thus you are more authentic. Even Maximilien de Robespierre saw this and knew that the liberals would kill this livestyle with their capitalism.

>> No.5967307

It can be, but it depends what you farm. I've worked on a few dairy farms and the milking hours are a pain in the arse and, along with other time consuming chores like hay baling, general maintenance and, if you choose, growing fodder crops or one of the few valuable crops, make for a pretty time consuming job. But, those were all commercial farms. If you just want to grow your own food you'll struggle to make ends meet. If you want to grow crops to sell you'll have to account for the market so you don't go broke. You'll need to buy an irrigator or two and equipment for harvesting and planting. Only a few crops, at least in Tasmania, are worthwhile enough to grow commercially, those being poppies, spuds and, maybe, pyrethrum.

It's not all that easy, OP, I wouldn't bother. It's not good if you don't like handling animals, things like de-budding calves and AI, though you can get someone to do those for you, may put you off. There's also the risk of getting killed by a cow, which isn't terribly uncommon if you get in between them and their calf.

>> No.5967309

Pentti Linkola aced both imo, didn't write fiction though.

>> No.5967339

>>5967294
I'm a philosophy major and I've read most of the western canon, I'd say I have an alright grasp on those things? To be honest one of the main attractors of this for me would be the relative quiet away from the city and time to contemplate high philosophy, though perhaps it's too idealistic.

>>5967287
I have limited experience with farming life, I garden in free time, the most realistic way for me to achieve this would be to take over my uncle's farm, I'd hope he could show me the ropes.

>>5967307
Thanks for the info, yeah it would definitely be a struggle, especially if not for commercial means, which is what I would want to do. I'm surprised though those are the crops that would be most viable, not that I'm doubting you.
Also
>Tasmania
Fellow Ausbro, I lived there last year, how do you people put up with that cold?

>> No.5967363

>>5967294
Aristocratic Being, thus more authentic? This is legitimately nonsense.

>>5967339
>read most of the western canon
>most of the western canon
>most
That's a lot of books, big guy.
Judging by your grammar and style you would have done well to have read more carefully

>> No.5967369

>>5967339
>yeah it would definitely be a struggle, especially if not for commercial means
you'd need a big investment, not just for land, but for everything involved in producing food for yourself, I assume you'd want a few animals too.
>I'm surprised though those are the crops that would be most viable
We have a monopoly on poppies in Australia here, so the value is quite high, though has been steadily dropping since I started working with them, and presumably before. We have very good soil for growing spuds on the NW coast, particularly from Sassafras to Burnie. Pyrethrum is just useful and there aren't many people growing it here.
>Fellow Ausbro, I lived there last year, how do you people put up with that cold?
I like the cold, it's the 30 degree days in summer I hate.

>> No.5967403

>>5967363
>Judging by your grammar and style you would have done well to have read more carefully

Perhaps, also the exposure to archaic styles of grammar as a child can take a significant toll if you're not bothering to pay a lot of attention to the theory which governs the syntax. Also drugz. I do use far too many commas though, it annoys no one more than myself, I can assure you.

>>5967369
Yeah, like I said above I'd probably take over my uncle's place, it is a fair expanse of land with a few sheep and passable soil. Iirc he grew spuds and corn so that was the baseline gameplan, but tbh I have very little knowledge about all that stuff.

>I like the cold, it's the 30 degree days in summer I hate.
I prefer the cold to the scorching heat but I couldn't handle the Tassie winter, I convinced myself I'd have to train myself up to experience that again lol

>> No.5967406

Tolstoy man, live in the city for a while, get disgusted, run to the farms to write.

>> No.5967426

>>5967339
>I'm a philosophy major and I've read most of the western canon, I'd say I have an alright grasp on those things?
I am aware that you yourself do know this. I am talking about someone who is born rural and will not try to go beyond it, since he doesn't have the know-how, regarless if he's from a rich rural family or not. Guess it's like the dilema concerning the peasant and the culture that initially gives rise to civilization . He might not know that he is contributing to the thing that will define a culture, but he is part of it and gives it's initial form.
I myself as a non-american can see beauty in the rural USA, that my urban(coastal) friends from the USA can't or they try hard not to respect it.

>> No.5967430

Only for warrior poets

>> No.5967434

>>5967363
>This is legitimately nonsense.
Typical materialist.

>> No.5967442

>>5967155
They're practically made for each other, my love.

>> No.5967453

>>5967403
>tbh I have very little knowledge about all that stuff
You should try to get a few jobs around various farms. If your uncle has connections you should use them, you won't find a job offer in the paper. It's not very much to understand if you only want a basic farm, I know a few farmers who have university degrees in agriculture, though.

>> No.5967463

>>5967442
I really have to disagree. The owners of farms I've worked on had about as much leisure time as the average shift worker.

>> No.5967869

Self-reliance is hard as hell and will take up most of your day if you want to do it properly

>> No.5968069

>>5967258
>tfw no kitty in your life

>> No.5968083
File: 43 KB, 500x360, alberto_caeiro_copy.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5968083

The farmer life IS the literary life.

>> No.5968090

Whatever your choice, you should definitely weigh in the opinions of unemployed college dropouts from an anonymous Sudanese clay pit.

>> No.5968100

Don't forgot that OP might be absolute shit at farming.

>> No.5968115

>>5968100
You'd have to be a literal retard to be shit at farming. It's mot hard, we even have robotic dairies now. Those things are pretty funny to watch, by the way.

>> No.5968117
File: 158 KB, 452x468, astonished_cow_2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5968117

>>5968115
>You'd have to be a literal retard to be shit at farming. It's mot hard
How much experience in farming do you have?

>> No.5968122

>>5968117
A fair bit, I've been working on farms since I was 16.

>> No.5968133

hesiod and virgil will teach you all you need to be a good farmer

>> No.5968140

>>5968133
How many cows should I sacrifice to Mars?

>> No.5968174

>>5968140
>cows
>to Mars
if you want to be a good war chief you should read iliad like alexander the great did

>> No.5968180

>>5968174
Mars was the god of agriculture, though.

>> No.5968676

>>5967155
Is it a fair assumption that you are an slightly anti social american, with maybe a touch of social anxiety or social anhedonia? It's too bad you don't live in Norway because here we subsidise farmers like crazy and everybody is introverted as fuck.

You get loans for property, equipment etc. and the 60 % of the average farmers income are subsidises.

I know a success story of a couple from Belgia who immigrated her, bought a little land, and made a nice living growing scandinavian orchids, very recently.

Also, a few students who wasn't happy with the city life moved to the country. And made their own brand of some type of expensive cheese.

And truckloads of germans come here to be semi neets in the country.

Basically, there are lots of opportunities here for people like you.

Norway has a long tradition of the reclusive farmer poet (and novelist), it is even considered a genre. For instance, not too many years ago, a slightly anti social guy with severe social anxiety. Moved too the country and made a living growing apples and producing cider. And his poems made him super famous.

I think he moved to pic related, “Hardanger”, place known internationally for its farmers market where you can buy top tier cider. Producing cider and writing poems is a pretty literary lifestyle.

>> No.5968700
File: 59 KB, 740x334, hardanger_740x334.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5968700

>>5968676
>pic related

>> No.5968710

>>5968676
>For instance, not too many years ago, a slightly anti social guy with severe social anxiety. Moved too the country and made a living growing apples and producing cider. And his poems made him super famous.

Hvem?

>> No.5968718

Lol so you wanna live like an old man pre-industrialization? Okay, go for it retard.

>> No.5968928
File: 62 KB, 440x705, 440px-OlavHHaugeCa1940.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5968928

>>5968676
Actually he was born on farm, but he did recluse himself for the majority of his life though.
>>5968710
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olav_H._Hauge

>> No.5969807

Essential farmer lit?

Hesiod
Virgil
Knut Hamsun (Growth of the Soil)

Anything else?

>> No.5969857

lol i sometimes can't deal with how stupid /lit/ can be sometimes

>> No.5969859

>>5969807
Anna Karenina
Of Mice and Men

>> No.5969871

Why in the fuck would a farmer be compelled to write a book? A farmer didn't even write the farmer's almanac.

>> No.5969924

>>5969857
At least we can see the romanticized view that hipsters have of farming.

>> No.5969956

>>5969807
Farmer's Glory
Rural Rides

>> No.5969965

I will go to your farm, OP, and fuck your watermelon.

>> No.5970010

>>5969965
fucking niggers

>> No.5970025

>>5969965
C'mon country mouse, the buckshot in your rear and the stint in the jailhouse alongside Callahan and Suttree didn't teach you none?

>> No.5970208

>>5969965
Watch out the niggers don't hear about it.
The niggers is liable to lynch ye.

>> No.5971811

>>5967155
You can't really just become a farmer, unless you already have a lot of money or land in your family.

>> No.5971817

>>5968676
America gives subsidies too, but they're very poor. Only people with 1000+ acres make much money, and that's largely from corn, soy beans or the rebates on crops that are less in demand, like cotton. Not very many grow cotton anymore, even here in the cotton states.

>> No.5971822

>>5968718
Farming is industrialized now, idiot.