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A review by midgardener
Gossip from the Forest by Sara Maitland
4.0
What a fantastic combination of subjects! Nature and Fairy go hand in hand. It was out of the mystery of the world in older days that Fairy was born, and it's that very relationship that Maitland examines here. Her thesis within this semi-academic work is intriguing and well-argued, it being, "that we ["we" referring to folks with heritage in cultures of western/northern Europe] have the stories we have because we are people whose roots are in the northern European forests." While this statement is, as she readily admits, one less proven by scientific method and more felt to be true by general exploration, this does not detract from the veracity of her work. On the contrary, I would say the intangible nature of her investigation is entirely fitting to the subject. Nature is an entity about which we learn more and more every day through science; and yet it is also an immensely spiritual and mysterious realm which we have largely separated from our modern, "Western" selves. The same can be said for Fairy as well, to an even larger degree, as Fairy is a world entirely created for and by the imaginations of long gone humans in need of answers and entertainment in dark nights when the forest swayed around their huts. Fairy (and, it could be argued, Magic as a broad entity) is born of those shadowed spaces between the trees in a primeval wood, where even the most knowledgeable scientist may feel something more, something incalculable, at work just beyond their vision.
Maitland's exploration of the selected woodlands within Great Britain combine cultural histories, modern ecological perspectives, and, always, a great reverence for the continued existence of wilderness. Not that all of these places are, indeed, wild: a number of the forests she visits were constructed as monocultural timber resources. But, as she had noted and as is evident over the past decades, the Forestry Commission, which originally headed up Britain's timber needs, now fills the role of Environmental Steward far more than Economic Enforcer. Noting their vital work when found upon her travels, she also brings in the invaluable perspective of Oliver Rackham, beloved naturalist and advocate for Britain's wild places. Other reviewers have claimed she leans a bit too heavily on Rackham's works; I do not entirely agree, considering how important a figure he has become over the years.
But concerning that single detracted star from my review, it was due to the occasional feeling that the fairy story aspect was a little forced. Each chapter, each location, was used to argue for a different side of the Fairy-Nature-People link; sometimes, those links felt tenuous, to the point that the chapter would have been just as grand without the Fairy aspect at all. That's the unfortunate side effect of having a thesis that is not entirely possible to prove via the scientific method, I suppose. Both on the whole and within its parts, this book is an excellent journey through the forests of Britain and the stories that have lived within them. I learned much about the cultures surrounding those old tales, much about the natural world of British woodlands, and much about how interlinked the human creative mind is with the sublime realm of Nature. I can already tell that this book will return to my hands in years to come, perhaps when I sit beneath a gnarled oak in an ancient woodland myself, wondering what fae things might be weaving within the leaves.
Maitland's exploration of the selected woodlands within Great Britain combine cultural histories, modern ecological perspectives, and, always, a great reverence for the continued existence of wilderness. Not that all of these places are, indeed, wild: a number of the forests she visits were constructed as monocultural timber resources. But, as she had noted and as is evident over the past decades, the Forestry Commission, which originally headed up Britain's timber needs, now fills the role of Environmental Steward far more than Economic Enforcer. Noting their vital work when found upon her travels, she also brings in the invaluable perspective of Oliver Rackham, beloved naturalist and advocate for Britain's wild places. Other reviewers have claimed she leans a bit too heavily on Rackham's works; I do not entirely agree, considering how important a figure he has become over the years.
But concerning that single detracted star from my review, it was due to the occasional feeling that the fairy story aspect was a little forced. Each chapter, each location, was used to argue for a different side of the Fairy-Nature-People link; sometimes, those links felt tenuous, to the point that the chapter would have been just as grand without the Fairy aspect at all. That's the unfortunate side effect of having a thesis that is not entirely possible to prove via the scientific method, I suppose. Both on the whole and within its parts, this book is an excellent journey through the forests of Britain and the stories that have lived within them. I learned much about the cultures surrounding those old tales, much about the natural world of British woodlands, and much about how interlinked the human creative mind is with the sublime realm of Nature. I can already tell that this book will return to my hands in years to come, perhaps when I sit beneath a gnarled oak in an ancient woodland myself, wondering what fae things might be weaving within the leaves.