- Hardcover: 445 pages
- Publisher: Portico (5 July 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1906032327
- ISBN-13: 978-1906032326
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.5 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 800,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"...there is magic in in Ken Burnett's account of a year in the teeming life and death and drama of the land around his French home. ...Burnett is an engaging guide as month by month he takes us through his intimate voyage of discovery..." --The Mail on Sunday, 27 July 2008
Emma Thompson, Oscar-winning actress and screenwriter
`A simple walk in the woods becomes a year-long adventure packed with mysteries, insights and wonder, often all on the same page. Ken's 'Field' will make
you happy and, possibly, consider investing in rugged new footwear.'
you happy and, possibly, consider investing in rugged new footwear.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Is there room for another "countryside" book?,
By
This review is from: The Field By The River: Uncovering the Nature of Country Life (Hardcover)
This book has been available for a couple of weeks in a certain large independent bookshop in London and is the latest in an increasingly long line of pastoral books written by someone who is lucky enough to be in a position to retreat into the country and luckily for us is in a position to describe the country in such an eloquent and interesting way. Written as a month by month almanac this book is more than just a "countryside" book. There are discussions on farming practice, mainly as pertaining to the part of Brittany where the author now lives and where the book is largely set, but also leads off on various tangents, most of which reflect the author's thoughts on how man is changing the countryside.
Not a travel book, not a memoir, not a "nature" book, yet all of these things, this book has already been described as a new "year in provence" which doesn't really do it justice as Ken Burnett does not have the smug self satisfaction that came across (at least for me) in that book. This is a much "earthier" book and is all the better for it. A lovely summer read
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poignant laughter,
By
This review is from: The Field By The River: Uncovering the Nature of Country Life (Hardcover)
There is more to this book than I first thought. I bought it because I have a love of Highland wit, and the prospect of a grizzled Scotsman plodding round France making naturalist observations appealed to me. We got this - in spades. I laughed my shorts off on occassions and learned a fair bit (on a suitably simple level) about nature and our wonderful world. It would have got four stars just for the entertainment alone. It got five because of how it left me feeling at the end - humble, a nature lover yet again, and terribly scared that one day this beauty may simply not be there. There is an extremely subtle but powerful message in this book - that nature is our responsibility as well as our pleasure and delight. I didn't expect that, but making me laugh while reinforcing this point has a been far more effective and powerful tool than all the negative news media on the subject. I was moved. Very. And so - a fifth star.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful insight and curiosity- a delight,
By
This review is from: The Field By The River: Uncovering the Nature of Country Life (Hardcover)
I bought this book to read while away on a business trip in the far east having been recommend it by folks who loved this- arguing it was much much more than another bit of Brit in Provence-lit . They were right. This is a much much better book than many apparent rivals- more genuine in tone and full of wry humour and wit. I read it with real and growing pleasure as the narrative developed.
It's a tribute to the quality of the writing that I can imagine myself now not in hot, high rise Singapore but in magical rural France surrounded by a range of perfectly described wild creatures- and even wilder neighbours. Many of the scenes are perectly recreated just as the author must have experienced them. There's astute and wry observation of people and wildlife on every page. Ken Burnett's book is just chock full of insights- to the nature of rural life, to the way the coutryside impacts on people, and to the mind of the author as he discovers something new about the area he had lived in for years by becoming genuinely and intensely curious. It made we want to look at my own surroundings with the same interest and engagement not just enjoy his I recommend this book highly. And look forward to more from the author in this style.
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