| Title | : | Arboreal: A Collection of Words from the Woods |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1908213418 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781908213419 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 |
| Publication | : | First published October 6, 2016 |
Arboreal: A Collection of Words from the Woods Reviews
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This feels like a deeply personal book, so many writers here are sharing the moment in their life that they first fell in love with the wood, others are sharing their favourite wood with the reader. It does feel wrong at times finding out such personal stuff, almost felt like I had stolen their diary.
I was pleased to see so many names that I recognised, Fiona Stafford has a brilliant book about trees, full of some fantastic facts so I was looking forward to reading her bit. Kathleen Jamie one of my favourite authors also made the cut. Helen Dunmore, Madeleine Bunting, Ali Smith, Philip Hoare and Will Ashon are all authors in my TBR list.
On the whole, most of the pieces of writing were very good, a couple were overloaded with facts and numbers and I did struggle there. There is a nice range of items here, poems, photos, artwork, history, biography and plenty of science about trees. I learnt loads here, most interesting was when a tree gets blown down if you can leave it be then do that as it's life is far from over, many trees will re-root themselves and live for many more years, creating new odd shapes. The highlight of the book was a piece by Deb Wilenski, all about working with children in the woods, letting them explore and create their own art from the adventures they have. Keeping track of them must have been hell.
Check out this book, it's one of those you can pick up and read a bit every now and then, it doesn't demand to be read in one go.
Blog review>
https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2019... -
Woodlands have always been essential to humans; for millennia we have used them as a source of food, shelter, medicine and warmth. This all changed with the arrival of cheaper fuels and imported lumber and sadly the historic use of our woodlands steadily declined. However, the forest is still deeply rooted in our psyche. This was proven when back in 2010 the government announced that it intended to privatise the forestry commission, including many ancient woodlands and royal forests. This led to such a public outcry that the classic political U-turn was executed, and thankfully they remain in public ownership.
That woods and forests still matter to us is the fundamental point of this pivotal collection of essays, poems, meditations and art. They have been drawn together from 38 different writers, poets and artists and thinkers as a literary memorial to the late Oliver Rackham. Woods are the roots of a lot of our folk tales, myths and legends, but this book does not dwell in the past; the collection of voices brings a range of fresh views, contemporary perspectives and a serious look at the future. As well as the thought provoking essays, poems and thoughts on coppices, the book includes stunning images by Ellie Davies, photos of my favourite artists work, Andy Goldsworthy, and the collection of postcards sent by David Nash after the storm of 1987 to inform people that a fallen tree has as much to offer the woodland as a living tree.
Cooper had the unenviable task of pulling together all the contributions to this tome, and in all honesty he has done a fantastic job. Not every essay works for me, but that is not unexpected as each writers point of view is different. What we do have though is a collection of some of the best natural history writers currently writing including Jim Crumley, Sara Maitland, Philip Marsden, Kathleen Jamie, Tim Dee, Richard Mabey and Paul Evans, but the inclusion of others like William Boyd, Simon Armitage and Richard Skelton make this so much richer. It is a fitting tribute to Oliver Rackham and a fine collection of thoughts on just how vital woodlands and the natural world are to our well-being and balance, and how they resonate with us still today. -
"Arboreal: A Collection of New Woodland Writing focuses on the relationship between people and trees, between societies and forests. Each selection is subtitled with the name of a particular forest or woodland. While Arboreal is set in Britain, it would be of great interest to anyone interested in history or the environment, and the collection has something to offer readers of several genres: the prose selections range from creative nonfiction to short story, and poetry and photography are also included. It is a handsome book that would be a welcome addition to the library of anyone with an interest in traditional woodcraft, arboriculture, ecology, or natural history." - Greg Brown
This book was reviewed in the March/April 2017 issue of World Literature Today magazine. Read the full review by visiting our website:
https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/... -
...and I turn at once to the chapter by Alan Garner...
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as with all collections with different voices, this was hit and miss. the ones i loved, i really loved (namely evie wyld, ali smith, sara maitland and philip hoare, along with the poetry by simon armitage and jackie kay and the brilliant playing with words, etymology and language by richard skelton). a lot of this collection was more about the scientific reality of the trees whereas i was hoping for more of the personal stories, history, mythology and folklore surrounding each of the authors chosen woodland
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This is definitely worth curling up with. This anthology includes a series of short pieces by a series of writers and artists with a broad spectrum of interests in trees - professional, academic, artistic, political, or pure interest and passion.
These come, as you'd expect, with a range of perspectives, but some themes recur: the early work and direction of the Forestry Commission, in its work of managing British woodland, comes in for some serial pasting!
A love of trees, of woodland, suffuses the work, as we'd expect - and there's pretty good representation of associated bird life too, for those who might enjoy that.
A key - and to some extent, contested - theme of exploration is that of optimum management of woodland for the health of the trees and the environment. There are definitely examples of poor management and over-management.
The relationship between humans and trees/woodland is at the centre of much of the discourse. Trees are bigger than us, they've been around longer than us, they live longer than us, and we are still learning how they do what they do: can we recreate a world in which we can trust them to get on and do what they do best?
