Rate this book

The Backyard Parables: Lessons On Gardening, And Life (2013)

by Margaret Roach(Favorite Author)

3.52 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1455501980 (ISBN13: 9781455501984)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Grand Central Publishing

review 1: I hate to give this two stars (only) because this woman is very knowledgeable and really is a good writer (technically speaking). It's just that for me, it was somewhat of a yawner.... descriptions just a bit TOO technical, too drawn out. Digressions were sometimes interesting, sometimes.... yawners. So, it was "ok" as far as I was concerned. I'm an avid gardener, but she's a bit too deep in her gardening observations for me. I do recommend if you're into technical, thorough, detailish gardening memoirs.
review 2: Margaret Roach continues her autobiography anchored in her upstate New York garden. I first knew of Margaret from her thoughtful editor's letters in Martha Stewart Living magazine, then read of her exodus from the pressure cooker of NYC and MSL... moreO in "And I Shall Have Some Peace There," having been entranced by her "A Way to Garden" book, which she continued on her website after leaving the corporate world.Like much of her writing, this meanders all over the two-and-a-half acres which is its subject, but unlike much meandering writing, the byways are pleasant, and we see things we would not have seen had we stayed on topic or on the path. The scattery style takes some getting used to; Margaret Roach lives alone, and writes her internal monologue unchecked by a listener or editor to steer her back toward the original thread. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but it is not unpleasant.From nearly any other writer, I would have been exasperated after Winter (the book is divided into the four seasons and four corresponding elements), but knowing Margaret through her blog and books, I knew where we were headed and was content to tag along for the ramble through the garden and seasons, the growth, destruction, heartbreak, and promise of renewal that is working the earth. One editing quibble I have are the incessant interruptions from "sidebars" which are not sidebars, but take up pages and interrupt the text. The information in them is important technical gardening information, but it's verbatim or nearly so from the blog. It would have been far more helpful to put these at the end of chapters or as appendices rather than breaking up the text in mid-thought and mid-sentence; Margaret does this herself enough without sidebars adding to it.This isn't for everyone. Visit awaytogarden.com and if it speaks to you there, you'll enjoy this read. less

Download links for: The Backyard Parables: Lessons on Gardening, and Life

Advertising