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A review by carucath97
The Garden Against Time: In Search Of A Common Paradise by Olivia Laing
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
This book was so interesting, and not what I expected at all!
I had assumed it was going to be a bit like the series "House Through Time" but in prose form (and focusing on the garden) and while the author does mention the man who had fully formed the garden in the 1960s, otherwise there isn't much discussed in that regard (even though the house is an old Georgian manor so would have more history than that). It is more a history OF gardens (not an exhaustive history, more like a historic of specific things relating to gardens - and of the people and literature associated with them)
One thing to mention is that I think I imagined the garden being smaller than it actually is (I suppose my imagination of a 'garden' is something affixed to a fairly small house as compared to estate gardens I guess)
The book is very... intellectual? There are many references to literature (Milton, John Clare to name but a few) and the arts in general. Which does make sense as they relate to gardens and paradise (paradise is a recurring theme in this book, especially the concept of the Garden of Eden). This was all good and appropriate but the amount of flowers named (often just their Latin names) was slightly confusing to me as a gardening novice but it wasn't too much of an issue since I could always grasp the bigger picture.
In several chapters, the author devotes a lot of time to discussing specific figures (Milton, William Morris, John Clare, Derek Jarman, Iris Origo being the most notable) which is interesting (I learnt a lot!) but at certain points it strays a bit from the whole 'garden' theme of the book, though I would say it gets pulled back enough to not derail the book.
I loved reading the vivid descriptions of the various gardens, particularly the author's own, in a way that sounds beautiful (and fragrant) without 'romanticising' them too much. A thing very much to the book's credit is the author's acknowledgement of the often dark and grim history tied to gardens, enclosures and slavery being chief among them.
One, fairly minor, thing is that the author discusses a few gay figures (Jarman and also Mark Rumney, the man who once owned the garden the author is restoring) and they discuss the 'safety' of a garden in a hostile world. They even briefly discuss their mother (who is gay) but I was a bit surprised they not once discussed their own identity as a non-binary person. Not that they HAD to but it was surprising it never got mentioned once
That aside, I highly recommend this book. It truly is a very well written non-fiction book that really makes one introspective (and made me actually more interested in gardening!)
I had assumed it was going to be a bit like the series "House Through Time" but in prose form (and focusing on the garden) and while the author does mention the man who had fully formed the garden in the 1960s, otherwise there isn't much discussed in that regard (even though the house is an old Georgian manor so would have more history than that). It is more a history OF gardens (not an exhaustive history, more like a historic of specific things relating to gardens - and of the people and literature associated with them)
One thing to mention is that I think I imagined the garden being smaller than it actually is (I suppose my imagination of a 'garden' is something affixed to a fairly small house as compared to estate gardens I guess)
The book is very... intellectual? There are many references to literature (Milton, John Clare to name but a few) and the arts in general. Which does make sense as they relate to gardens and paradise (paradise is a recurring theme in this book, especially the concept of the Garden of Eden). This was all good and appropriate but the amount of flowers named (often just their Latin names) was slightly confusing to me as a gardening novice but it wasn't too much of an issue since I could always grasp the bigger picture.
In several chapters, the author devotes a lot of time to discussing specific figures (Milton, William Morris, John Clare, Derek Jarman, Iris Origo being the most notable) which is interesting (I learnt a lot!) but at certain points it strays a bit from the whole 'garden' theme of the book, though I would say it gets pulled back enough to not derail the book.
I loved reading the vivid descriptions of the various gardens, particularly the author's own, in a way that sounds beautiful (and fragrant) without 'romanticising' them too much. A thing very much to the book's credit is the author's acknowledgement of the often dark and grim history tied to gardens, enclosures and slavery being chief among them.
One, fairly minor, thing is that the author discusses a few gay figures (Jarman and also Mark Rumney, the man who once owned the garden the author is restoring) and they discuss the 'safety' of a garden in a hostile world. They even briefly discuss their mother (who is gay) but I was a bit surprised they not once discussed their own identity as a non-binary person. Not that they HAD to but it was surprising it never got mentioned once
That aside, I highly recommend this book. It truly is a very well written non-fiction book that really makes one introspective (and made me actually more interested in gardening!)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, War
Minor: Abandonment