422 reviews for:

Il giardino contro il tempo: Alla ricerca di un paradiso comune

Olivia Laing

3.95 AVERAGE

lilktcata's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

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Incredibly thoughtful & encouraged me to think a little bit more about the gardens and world around me

angie_spumoni's review against another edition

3.75

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

phoenix53's review against another edition

4.25

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One of those pleasant books that tickles my ADHD in the right way. This is a fascinating read in itself, and also suggests dozens of new trains of thought and many other books to read. It reminded me of how much I loved reading Milton's Paradise Lost and told me where his tomb is in London, so I'm grateful to it for suggesting my next excursion.

gnugrnx's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 22%

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To me this felt disjointed, a succession of anecdotes and rambling digression without any structure or narrative arc. Made for a hard read to follow, and since I didn't get what points the author was trying to make it felt pointless to power through.

alexsisis's review against another edition

2.0

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This book was not what I was expecting it to be. I was looking for a gardening memoir and got various history lessons with a few gardening anecdotes mixed in.

irmh's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

thebechdelbitch's review against another edition

4.0

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

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 Like Moby Dick for gardens - this told me everything I wanted to know and then a lot more (I still enjoyed it) 

The best bits were when Olivia spoke about their own personal experiences, the worst bits were the commentary on slavery and classism which felt a little performative I must say. 

Apparently they are now working on a book about Pasolini which I will absolutely be picking up, as their writing style is fully exquisite.

Content warning for pandemic flashbacks too.

allyb's review against another edition

4.75

hopeful informative reflective

quingar's review against another edition

4.0

emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

rachel_patrick's review against another edition

3.0

informative reflective slow-paced