An Interesting Anthropology and an Emotional Reading – Manouche: Living With The Gypsies of France
It is my great pleasure to reserve this time to provide this brief review / introduction to a book that I just read this past weekend. I don’t usually leave book reviews, however in this case I feel compelled to share the enjoyment, emotional connection, and education that I have been fortunate to have experienced. It never ceases to amaze me how exhilarating and engaging reading a book can be; And in this case, I must promote that these habitual feelings of gratification and a feeling of pride in making good use of my free time, are magnified several times. The book I am referring to is titled: ‘Manouche: Living with the Gypsies of France’ and is a personal account written and expertly formulated from newcomer author: Nigel Parsons.
The story told offers a great and interesting insight into what it was like to live as a gypsy in France, beginning during the 1970s, while Nigel had been working a grape harvest together with a temporary gypsy settlement. The French family employing Nigel had warned him several times to stay away from the Manouche, but the warnings had fallen on deaf ears – the warm and welcoming communication he had already had with some of the 5 Roma families living nearby, along with the nightly bonfires, the music, and the dancing had already earned Nigel’s loyalty. The end of the harvest would always lead to a great end-of-harvest party and a great time for celebration. However, on this occasion, surprisingly Nigel learned that the 5 gypsy families had been excluded from this particular end-of-harvest feast. The gypsies disappeared overnight and were soon followed by Nigel.
The story that follows spans 40 years and brings with it a series of ups and downs. Great lifelong friendships are formed while cultures and ways of life are destroyed and lost within what can sometimes be a very cruel world. Nigel Parsons recalled the time he spent living with the Gypsies as some of the best and happiest days of his life. Gypsy families had and do have very little in the eyes of the majority, but these tend to be more of the materialistic elements of life. Reading the Manouche: Living with the gypsies of France, contributes greatly to reconfirming myself / the reader, that there is much more to life than material objects and belongings of various kinds. The connection that one human being can have with another can be and is much more powerful and determined.
Nigel Parsons now lives with his family in South West London, and he looks back on those interesting years during the 1970s with a fondness he simply cannot have for articles.