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The Wood Paperback – March 14, 2019

by Lewis-Stempel John (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 441 ratings
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A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week' from 'indisputably, one of the best nature-writers of his generation' (Country Life)

Written in diary format, The Wood is the story of English woodlands as they change with the seasons. Lyrical and informative, steeped in poetry and folklore, The Wood inhabits the mind and touches the soul.
For four years John Lewis-Stempel managed Cockshutt wood, a particular wood - three and half acres of mixed woodland in south west Herefordshire - that stands as exemplar for all the small woods of England. John coppiced the trees and raised cows and pigs who roamed free there. This is the diary of the last year, by which time he had come to know it from the bottom of its beech roots to the tip of its oaks, and to know all the animals that lived there - the fox, the pheasants, the wood mice, the tawny owl - and where the best bluebells grew. For many fauna and flora, woods like Cockshutt are the last refuge. It proves a sanctuary for John too.

To read The Wood is to be amongst its trees as the seasons change, following an easy path until, suddenly the view is broken by a screen of leaves, or your foot catches on a root, or a bird startles overhead. This is a wood you will never want to leave.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    BLACK SWAN
  4. Publication date
    March 14, 2019
  5. Dimensions
    7.8 x 5 x 0.72 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1784162434
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1784162436
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ BLACK SWAN (March 14, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1784162434
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1784162436
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.8 x 5 x 0.72 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 441 ratings

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John Lewis-Stempel

John Lewis-Stempel

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
441 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

David
5.0 out of 5 stars Natural Affection
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2021
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This is a lovely gentle read. Not devoid of the reality of nature with all its sequence of life and death, the author supplements his diary of the year with many interesting facts of relevance.
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deb ely
5.0 out of 5 stars Fab
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2019
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Lovely book, beautifully written
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Steven Davies
5.0 out of 5 stars His finest work to date.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2018
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Nature writing as a genre has exploded over the last twenty years. To some extent, this practice of writing about nature according to the cyclical year has replaced formal nature poetry, as writers find new ways to express a connection with the land. Aware of his place within this tradition of pastoral English writing, Lewis-Stempel includes poems by such writers as John Clare, Edward Thomas, and Thomas Hood, whose poems appear in their entirety. This effect of the inclusion of formal poetry seems to be the author's way of locating himself within a metaphorical wood of nature poets, of which he is newest entrant.
Although writing in prose, Lewis-Stempel has delivered a book that deserves to be considered alongside these forbears. Among all his works, this one counts as the most poetic he has delivered, and is remarkable for the way in which it coins new uses of words, ('emerald' as a verb), as well as minting new words entirely, such as 'skyrows' to describe the flight of a heron. At every step, Lewis-Stempel is attempting to portray Cockshutt wood in minute detail, and in this sense his keen observations recall the work of John Clare. Just like the labourer-poet, the inherent veracity of what Lewis-Stempel relays is never in doubt. A modern 'green man', he understands nature in a way that the vast majority do not.
Larger than life, Stempel is as much a presence in this book as the woodland creatures he describes. Writing in an almost stream-of-consciousness prose, he oscillates between poetic meditations, ruminations on Pagan/Christian spiritualism, and biting modern humour. You never know just where the narrative is going to take you, as Lewis-Stempel has a habit of throwing in anachronisms such as Twitter, Saabs, and pop music into a world that he presents as being unalterably timeless. This gives the dramatic sense of the author navigating between these worlds and trying to find some deeper meaning connecting them.
Strangely, the strongest writing in the book is that which describes the wood in winter. December (which begins the text), January, and February, feature the most vivid descriptions of the natural world, and constantly show Stempel's brilliance using onomatopoeia, simile, and other poetic devices. His description of birdsong as being sewn upon the silence in the early part of the year is just one example of this. Elsewhere, he is adept at using metaphor to create meaning: the wood in the modern context is constructed as a retreat from society, a bulwark against modernisation where the spirit is renewed and connectedness restored. You can see that spiritual longing throughout the book: Stempel notes Pagan/Christian beliefs with an open-ended curiosity, a tentative 'what if?' It is his unwillingness (or incapability) of defining himself that makes him such a fascinating narrator.
The book closes plaintively. Particularly in the final chapters 'October' and 'November', Stempel's ruminations about the wood become more laconic, clipped into what are effectively lists of glistering observations. It is at this stage of the book that it most closely resembles a sort of requiem: he is saying goodbye to the wood, but also calling time on a period in his life. Lurking in the background also is the sense that the wood may be lost forever once it falls out of Stempel's paternal care. He is letting it go into a world that does not care about it in the same way that he does, so in some ways the book he has written serves as a tentative, poignant epitaph.
The emotion here is what distinguishes Stempel as a writer: we know how much he cares about the wood (and by extension the English countryside) without him needing to say it directly. It is accrued in the background of his writing, in his sharp humour, in his everyday recollections of the commonplace, and in his fondness for mystery, storytelling, and myth-making. When a writer can write as well about nature as he can, the need for didactic posturing and pontificating about climate change is overridden. This is why Stempel's appeal for the natural world never falls into vain preaching; Stempel is the English countryside in the same way John Clare was. The vital, life-defining importance of it to him is represented in his poetic expression of it.
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Amazon Kunde
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!
Reviewed in Germany on March 25, 2018
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This book is a pleasure! My third book by John Lewis-Stempel after "The Running Hare" and "Meadowland". All three of them are most wonderful, but this is the best, - in my opinion. Deeply touching.
If you love nature, culture, history, poetry ..........this book is a treasure-trove and while reading it you learn such a lot.
Not to forget the "pig-jokes" - very funny!
A book that makes you really happy! I'm sure, I will read it again, though I want to read some of John Lewis-Stempel`s other books first.
3 people found this helpful
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Mrs. P. Y. Stones
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2023
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Super book definitely worth reading, delivery excellent
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UJE
5.0 out of 5 stars Erstklassig
Reviewed in Germany on April 20, 2018
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unbedingt auch das Hörbuch holen... wunderbar geschrieben/erzählt - mehr gibts nicht zu schreiben amazon mehr gibts halt nicht zu schreiben
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Carol Brook
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice atmospheric book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2021
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I love the countryside and being outdoors myself so thought this would be a good read. I am only aprt way through it but so far so great. You could be there but actually sat in a warm armchair - great!
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