Scan barcode
novella42's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Fascinating tree facts from Jonathan Drori and gorgeous illustrations from Lucille Clerc. I picked it up on a whim while trying to do some worldbuilding for a speculative fiction story I was writing, and it helped me settle on a species of tree that would fit in a very particular situation. I read it slowly and enjoyed the peacefulness of the book overall.
I wonder how long it took Drori to write it, because some entries seem as if they were written at a time when he had zero awareness of the colonizer's gaze, and other entries seem to come from a much broader understanding of the value of Indigenous perspectives.
Quite a few entries are colored by his own perception of some trees as being strange, bizarre, "ridiculous" in the case of the Traveler's Tree (Ravenala madagascariensis) -- so much of the book is from the perspective of an Englishman dazzled by exoticism.
For example, he spends the intro of the Baobab (Adansonia digitata) tree ruminating on the rounded sounds of linguistics and deciding it makes sense the Baobab is "one of the blobbiest trees on the planet," eventually concluding that local "superstitions" have the benefit of encouraging "greater reverence, and therefore protection, than these extraordinary trees might receive." The undercurrent of condescension in some entries really put me off, and the centering of Western perspectives got tiring. The Durian (Durio zibethinus) tree's entry at least gave equal time to people who enjoy the flavor, as to those who are put off by it, though again, he quoted an English writer, an American chef, and an English naturalist. I guess he knows his audience.
But at the same time, other entries seem to have a more openminded and decolonized worldview with an emphasis on Indigenous lifeways, technologies, and interconnectedness of living for millennia alongside unique tree species. The entry for Yaupon, Indian Black Tea (Ilex vomitoria) has quite a different focus and tone of respect for the Indigenous Timucua tribe. And though he uses the generic "Native Americans in these coastal regions" in the entry for Tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) he actually takes the time to describe the way Indigenous people prepared the acorns in their meals. You can feel his frustration at the way the trees were exploited by European settlers in the 1800s: "In 100 years tanoaks had made the journey from vital indigenous food source to worthless weed." In the entry on the Upas tree (Antiaris toxicaria) he even goes so far as to empathize with local people trying to protect the tree from incursions by foreigners:
I wonder how long it took Drori to write it, because some entries seem as if they were written at a time when he had zero awareness of the colonizer's gaze, and other entries seem to come from a much broader understanding of the value of Indigenous perspectives.
Quite a few entries are colored by his own perception of some trees as being strange, bizarre, "ridiculous" in the case of the Traveler's Tree (Ravenala madagascariensis) -- so much of the book is from the perspective of an Englishman dazzled by exoticism.
For example, he spends the intro of the Baobab (Adansonia digitata) tree ruminating on the rounded sounds of linguistics and deciding it makes sense the Baobab is "one of the blobbiest trees on the planet," eventually concluding that local "superstitions" have the benefit of encouraging "greater reverence, and therefore protection, than these extraordinary trees might receive." The undercurrent of condescension in some entries really put me off, and the centering of Western perspectives got tiring. The Durian (Durio zibethinus) tree's entry at least gave equal time to people who enjoy the flavor, as to those who are put off by it, though again, he quoted an English writer, an American chef, and an English naturalist. I guess he knows his audience.
But at the same time, other entries seem to have a more openminded and decolonized worldview with an emphasis on Indigenous lifeways, technologies, and interconnectedness of living for millennia alongside unique tree species. The entry for Yaupon, Indian Black Tea (Ilex vomitoria) has quite a different focus and tone of respect for the Indigenous Timucua tribe. And though he uses the generic "Native Americans in these coastal regions" in the entry for Tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) he actually takes the time to describe the way Indigenous people prepared the acorns in their meals. You can feel his frustration at the way the trees were exploited by European settlers in the 1800s: "In 100 years tanoaks had made the journey from vital indigenous food source to worthless weed." In the entry on the Upas tree (Antiaris toxicaria) he even goes so far as to empathize with local people trying to protect the tree from incursions by foreigners:
"Understandably, indigenous people wanted to protect the source of the poison from European invaders so they concocted the upas legend, or at least fanned its flames... and that helped to keep the true source of upas poison secret for 400 years. As propagandists have always known, our wish to believe the unbelievable knows no bounds."
It just makes me wonder if the process of writing this book opened Drori's eyes to the way humans and trees depend on each other, and that there is more than one perspective worth quoting. Especially when offering a journey around the world through the lens of these many different magnificent species.
I'm definitely keeping this book as a writing reference. I haven't decided if I want to try his follow-up book, also published in 2018, Around the World in 80 Plants. Maybe I'll just re-read Braiding Sweetgrass.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, and Xenophobia
Minor: Classism, Genocide, Suicide, Sexual assault, and War
lucyc3274's review against another edition
a pleasant weekend read, sassy and illustrated, designed less for botanists and more for history buffs, or just for people who like their nonfiction to have pictures. quite eurocentric; a disproportionate amount of this book is dedicated to trees growing in the temperate zone, and even trees growing the in the subtropics or the southern hemisphere are mostly described in their relation to colonization and colonizers.
drillvoice's review against another edition
5.0
An utterly delightful, beautiful book. So a fascinating blend of botany, history, and geography. And the illustrations are gorgeous.
connie_leavitt_rees's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
b0udica's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
hebo1987's review against another edition
4.0
Korta kapitel om respektive träd med väldigt vackra illustrationer.
scarletohhara's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I've read this year, this book is a keeper in personal libraries too. The reason why it took me so long to get through this book is because I was savoring it, reading page by page in short bursts.
The book has some fascinating facts about specific trees to get us thinking about nature, evolution, survival etc.
The book has some fascinating facts about specific trees to get us thinking about nature, evolution, survival etc.