Fencing Paradise: The Uses And Abuses Of Plants - Couverture souple

Mabey, Richard

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1903919320 ISBN 13 : 9781903919323

Editeur : Eden Project Books, 2006

Synopsis

In this remarkable journal of visits to Eden, Mabey transports his reader from Cornwall to the Mediterranean to the Tropics, from Old World to New, from present to personal memory, to new perspectives on our collective artistic and emotional past. Sensuous and evocative, exquisitely written, his new book challenges the reader to look differently at the world, and our place in the landscape. At the same time, Mabey is controversial in his views about what we mean by buzz words like 'renewable', or 'sustainable', and he is highly provocative in his final response to the Eden Project itself.

A propos du livre

Quatrième de couverture :

From the beginning human beings have made use of plants - to provide food, to build shelters, to trade, or to tell stories about ourselves in which plants have only a minor role. Perhaps enough is enough? Are we starting to believe that the domestication of plants - the 'fencing of paradise' - is a solution for the world's ills? Do we imagine that a tamed version of nature could be a substitute for the vanishing wild places of the planet?

Richard Mabey sets out to explore our landscape not as a 'sever scientist' but as an 'interpreter' or 'messenger', seeing nature on its own terms, rather than as a means to some human end. Mischievously snaffling seeds at the Eden Project and travelling from the Mediterranean to the Tropics to explore subjects as diverse as the French lavender industry, Victorian orchid cults or sugar production, while picking over buzzwords such as 'renewables' and 'sustainable', this is Richard Mabey on particularly sparkling and provocative form.

'There is plenty here to fascinate. Mabey's writing is richly evocative, his breadth of reference enormous.'

Financial Times Magazine

'He is a lucid and precise writer, with a poet's gift for language, a scholar's depth of reference and a naturalist's passions.'

Sunday Times

Revue de presse :

"Fluid and highly readable, Fencing Paradise is environmentally aware, but never preachy. Mabey dips into a broad pool of knowledge...to offer a panoramic depiction of our attempts to tame nature, and a cautionary vision of the possible consequences." (The Daily Telegraph)

"Mabey's lucid and very erudite "pot-pourri of responses, recollections and free associations" was sparked off by three seasons' worth of visits to the Eden Project. The ambitious scale of that massive hothouse umbrella is reflected in the breadth of his contemplation." (Independent on Sunday)

"A remarkable, beautifully written, exquisite book on botanical and ecological ideas, inspired by visits to the Eden Project. Subtitled "The Uses and Abuses of Plants", it's a gem." (The Bookseller)

"A terrific book...it's an engaging compendium of plant chat and history." (Catherine Shoard The Evening Standard)

"The author structures his book with a journey through the biotopia of the Eden Project in Cornwall, from where he darts off in history and geography to offer sparkling mini-essays on specific herbs and plants and more general matters botanical and ecological." (Steven Poole Guardian)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Eden Project Books
• Date d'édition: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1903919320
• ISBN 13: 9781903919323
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 240