The Gardener's Year

Description

It is seldom that a practical guide to gardening attains the level of a literary masterpiece, still more seldom that a book on gardening can amuse and instruct even those who have no garden to plant., nor the faintest interest in acquiring one. The Gardener's Year is a charismatic product of Karel Capek's genius: amusing, informative, and full of a quizzical interest in people, animals and plants. In this new version, Geoffrey Newsome -the highly acclaimed translator of Capek's witty Letters from England -has captured the grace and irony of the original Czech, to produce a volume that will be treasured equally by those who love gardening as a relaxation, by those who loathe it as a chore, and by those who have no interest in it whatsoever.

'There was no writer like him... He made it possible to actually invent worlds, and with laughter into the bargain. This prophetic assurance was mixed with a brand-new surrealistic humour, and it was honed to hard-edged social satire, still a unique combination'. - Arthur Miller. Karel Capek (1890-1938) was one of the most original Czech writers of the 1920s and 30s, whose works were the inspiration for much of the science fiction of Europe and America. Endlessly inventive and extraordinarily prescient, full of humour and wit, his plays explore and defend man's humanity. He is known for RUR where the robot - an idea Capek was the first to invent - gradually takes over all aspects of human existence except procreation; The Insect play, a satirical fable in which beetles, butterflies and ants give dramatic form to different philosophies of life; The Makropulos Case, which examines human mortality, finally celebrating the average lifespan and The White Plague, a savage and anguished satire against fascist dictatorship and the virus of inhumanity.

'Capek's The Gardener's Year is a celebration of the virtues of being close to the soil...The Gardener's Year...is perfect vacation reading for the gardener and nongardener...It's sunny with a hint of a breeze and just a small cloud the size of a man's hand.' ~ Barbara Day, The Prague Post, 06/08/2006 'Karel Capek's distillation of the agony and the ecstasy that runs through every gardener's year has been beautifully translated by Geoffrey Newsome.' John Patten, Country Life, August 2003 Review in Hortus, No. 67, Autumn 2003 'They don't make writers like that any more' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph * Blurb from reviewer * 'His thoughts and descriptions remain fresh and provocative' Ken Worpole, New Statesman * Blurb from reviewer * '...The Gardener's Year, excellently translated by Geoffrey Newsome, is a work of great charm and considerable subtlety...' ~ Miranda Seymour, The Literary Review, September 2003 -- Miranda Seymour * Literary Review * 'Capek is observant about nature and perceptive about people. Universal truths hover behind the gentle self-mockery. Labour, patience, humility and hope are really the themes of this beguiling writer. How lovely to meet him the pages of such a charming little book' ~ The Spectator, 2003 * Spectator, The *