How should we use the 24 hours in a day given to busy modern people? Arnold Bennett’s “How to Live on 24 Hours a Day” presents ways to effectively manage time and maximize self-development.
This blog post is about How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett, who is considered to be the best novelist of the 20th century in the United Kingdom and played an important role in connecting the mainstream of British novels with European realist literature.
Among Arnold Bennett’s books, which are known for their proliferation, this is the most widely read book. Written as if in a relaxed conversation over a cup of coffee, this book is valuable as a book of lessons that anyone living in the modern age can relate to, transcending time.
Arnold Bennett was born in 1867 in the potters’ heartland of England, the eldest of nine brothers. His grandfather and father were both potters, and when Arnold was born his family was said to be very poor. However, Arnold Bennett’s father studied hard in difficult circumstances and became a barrister. Arnold Bennett is often compared to Virginia Woolf, but while Virginia Woolf focused on the portrayal of human psychology as a member of the Victorian middle class, Arnold Bennett detailed the material aspects of his entire body of work. This was largely due to the fact that he came from a poor rural background.
Arnold Bennett became a novelist largely by accident. After his father’s death, he took the bar exam but failed and was sent to a local secondary school. There he developed an interest in French, which became the foundation of his lifelong education and a source of inspiration.
In 1889, at the age of 22, Arnold Bennett began his life in London by getting a job as a stenographer in a London law firm. From this time on he began to read intensively. He was particularly fascinated by French literature, reading works by Maupassant, the Goncourt brothers, Flaubert, and Balzac, and he also developed a keen interest in Russian literature, including works by Turgenev and Dostoyevsky. Around this time, he won a literary contest sponsored by a magazine and honed his writing skills by actively submitting his work to various newspapers and literary magazines. In 1896, at the age of 29, he quit his job at a law firm and began writing a series of works when he joined the editorial staff of a women’s magazine, which was progressive for its time.
Arnold Bennett moved to France at the age of 35, married a French woman, and became active in French society and the literary world. He then completed The Old Wives’ Tale, considered the greatest English novel of the century. He continued to write not only serious works, but also light stories, educational books, and plays.
After living in France for about 10 years, Arnold Bennett returned to England and participated in various social activities. When World War I broke out, he was appointed head of the French section of the Ministry of Information and Propaganda. It is said that the British leadership, having read his novel about a Parisian prostitute, recognized him as someone who knew the French mentality and appointed him.
Arnold Bennett earned a huge income from his extraordinary popularity in various fields, including novels, magazines, lectures, and plays. He wrote many of his works in hotels and owned a yacht. Arnold Bennett was also known as a high-caliber critic and possessed a highly artistic sensibility, recognizing the value of Impressionist art, Sergei Diaghilev’s ballet, and Stravinsky’s music before they reached London.
He wrote 30 novels, many of which show the essence of Arnold Bennett’s unique value judgments, which are cynical but kind, critical but very forgiving.
There are conflicting claims about when this book, How To Live On 24 Hours A Day, was written: some say it was written in 1908, while others say it was published in 1912. In any case, this book was written after the war, while Arnold Bennett was in France and becoming known as a first-rate novelist.
In this book he draws the reader’s attention to the obvious fact that “man, rich or poor, has only 24 hours in the day” and gives specific advice on “how to live those 24 hours”. It is interesting to note that he wrote a novel in a luxurious hotel and lived in the luxury of yachts and London society, but in this book he reveals that he never put down Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, a masterpiece of Stoicism. This is one aspect that shows that Arnold Bennett was basically a hardworking and reliable person, even though he later became very wealthy.
Arnold Bennett’s works on a number of life philosophies are all easy to read, and they clearly show the author’s passion and awareness to convey in an easy to understand way how to improve oneself to become a better person.
I think How to Live on 24 Hours a Day will also be a good reference for self-improvement. The courage and motivation needed to change one’s outlook on life is contained in this little book. Arnold Bennett wrote letters to his family almost every day and several postcards even during his prolific writing career. You will understand how he managed to do so while being so busy when you read this book.
I am sure you will not regret taking a few minutes to read this slim volume. A few hours will do. I suggest you read it with a light heart.
