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Reviews
The Cabaret of Plants: Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination by Richard Mabey
sjgochenour's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not sure what I think of this one. When Mabey is on historic and scientific ground, he covers a lot of fascinating territory — salt-tolerant samphire, ancient yews, bristlecone pines and baobabs, endemic Cretan tulips, and orchid collecting. But when he slips into a philosophical or reminiscent mode, he is . . . boring? And not particularly insightful.
mispaintedlady's review against another edition
5.0
I decided to take this as a slow read. Picking up when I felt like it. Now I can't get enough of other plants the Victorians obsessed about, yews and what other botanical histories I am missing. This won't disappoint if you love horticulture and plant obsessions.
ljgolden's review against another edition
4.0
Learned so many fascinating plant facts from this book, though the only one I’ll likely remember is that yew trees have branches that, if low enough to the ground, can put down roots. That, and I need to visit the Burren in Ireland to see a bunch of plants that don’t typically grow near each other.
jnnutter's review against another edition
3.0
Mabey uses a lot of beautiful language in this. There are certainly a lot of enjoyable moments, some great well researched information. A loosely carved argument. But with all that said, it felt a bit like I was dragging my feet through it. So much so that I put it down for 4 years before finishing it this week. The information is interesting, but the anecdotal associations were verbose and for me didn't add much.
not bad, not great. Loses points for being such an effort to get through even though I consciously wanted to like it. 3.25/5
not bad, not great. Loses points for being such an effort to get through even though I consciously wanted to like it. 3.25/5
hemlockreads's review against another edition
3.0
Started a bit slow for my taste but I loved the mix of personal anecdote, history, science fact, and folklore. A very good work read since chapters are pretty self contained.
timbooksin's review against another edition
3.0
The stories that connect plant life to the humanities and earlier scientific thought are fairly captivating. I appreciated the images, too. I don't particularly think the stories evidence a comprehensive argument, though, so a bit more explanatory writing would have been nice.
snowynight's review against another edition
4.0
I really love how this book extensively explores the science of plants and how they connect with human history. Very accessible yet in-depth read that shows the writer's love and knowledge in this subject.