Product Details
Gardener's Year

Gardener's Year
By Karel Capek

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Product 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.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #568389 in Books
  • Published on: 2005-05-01
  • Original language: Czech
  • Dimensions: .60 pounds
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 208 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review
'They don't make writers like that any more' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph

'His thoughts and descriptions remain fresh and provocative' Ken Worpole, New Statesman

'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


'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 )

'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


'...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 )

'...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
(, Literary Review )

From the Back Cover
“There was no writer like him.” —Arthur Miller

“A charming and loving chronicle of the Czechoslovak playwright’s backyard garden in Prague. . . . [A] funny but meaty little book.” —The New York Times

“Capek’s work has lost nothing of its freshness and luster.” —The New York Times Book Review

About the Author
Karel Capek was a Czech novelist and playwright of international and enduring fame. Among his other works are The Life of Insects, Hordubal, and Nine Fairy Tales.