- Hardcover: 264 pages
- Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1 Amer ed edition (Dec 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571199585
- ISBN-13: 978-0571199587
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,593,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
‘Gale is an elegant and witty writer, with an engagingly bizarre imagination.’
Sunday Telegraph
‘Gale’s blend of artifice and realism is not quite like anybody else’s.’
Observer
‘Gale’s wonderful novels are rife with coincidence, charm and unrelenting humanity. I wait for them the way some people wait for springtime.’
Armistead Maupin
Product Description
From the author of The Facts of Life comes a cunning mix of tragedy and comedy, featuring one man’s journey to self-discovery.
Lawrence Frost has a special relationship with all things green – his patience with plants and trees knows no bounds. His ability to get on with his wife, Bonnie, is another matter however. Having always taken her and his daughter Lucy for granted, under duress and out of jealousy he lashes out and suddenly loses both of them. The subsequent shock of his violent and conflicting emotions sends him off on a journey of penance that will take him across the Atlantic to America. Along the way he falls in love with an enigmatic chanteuse whose dramatic demise throws his life into further chaos. Finally, he finds sanctuary, alone, working in a Californian retreat and health spa, where he tends to the estate’s flora. Here, he is eventually able to lay the ghosts from his past to rest before finding the peace and happiness which are necessary to mend his fractured family tree.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is rather an odd book. It doesn't seem to know what it wants to be and the plot runs all over the place and at varying speeds. Sometimes it drags over nothing very much and then a seemingly vital episode is rushed along too quickly. The main character is Lawrence and most of the narrative is devoted to him but he's rather a closed book, difficult to understand and therefore to empathise with. It starts out well enough as the unfortunate man is accused of murder but then that story is rushed to a hasty conclusion in the course of an early chapter and suddenly we are off on a free Carribbean cruise (handy!) surrounded by a plethora of frankly bizarre characters none of whom are explored in any depth so we don't really care about them either. A great deal of time (too much?) is spent on the cruise to very little effect and then that storyline is rushed to a rapid end too following an unlikely run-in with a tiger!
After that we are spun off into several little threads; the murder plot makes an unexpected re-appearance, an unsuccesful attempt is made to flesh out the wife and mother characters and there are a couple of highly unlikely co-incidences that take quite a bit of swallowing. I wasn't at all surprised to read an interview where the author admits to not really following any kind of plan in this book - he just let the characters do what they wanted to do!
Despite all this, I did enjoy 'Tree Surgery'. Patrick Gale is capable of writing with a delicious wit that is sometimes not very evident in his more 'serious' works. Here, I believe his tongue is very often firmly in his cheek - at least, I hope so...surely no-one could have created a character like Lala and expect her to be taken seriously! Ultimately though, it is let down by its characters and a lack of warmth. Tragic things happen in this book and yet they pass for nothing, we don't care because everything and everyone is so thinly drawn - a pity!
After that we are spun off into several little threads; the murder plot makes an unexpected re-appearance, an unsuccesful attempt is made to flesh out the wife and mother characters and there are a couple of highly unlikely co-incidences that take quite a bit of swallowing. I wasn't at all surprised to read an interview where the author admits to not really following any kind of plan in this book - he just let the characters do what they wanted to do!
Despite all this, I did enjoy 'Tree Surgery'. Patrick Gale is capable of writing with a delicious wit that is sometimes not very evident in his more 'serious' works. Here, I believe his tongue is very often firmly in his cheek - at least, I hope so...surely no-one could have created a character like Lala and expect her to be taken seriously! Ultimately though, it is let down by its characters and a lack of warmth. Tragic things happen in this book and yet they pass for nothing, we don't care because everything and everyone is so thinly drawn - a pity!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have really loved some of Patrick Gale's books, particularly Rough music, A Sweet obscurity and Notes from an Exhubition but this was a sad disappointment. Sad as the plot was beyond ridiculous, disappointing because it all started out so well with some very promising characters and themes but the co-incidences in the second half of the book defy all credibility and had me laughing out loud in disbelief. However it wont stop me reading more of this very entertaining author and I would reccommend him to anyone - just not this book!
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book recently on the strength of reading Gale's collection of short stories (a gift). The unlikely title and some of the plot-details on the cover may be off-putting to some. This would be a pity because Gale tells a story of many layers which succeeds because you actually care about nearly every character, and the intrigue of the plot as each character develops. (Yes the plot does depend on some unlikely coincidences, but by the time these are recognised, you don't really care, because of the way it works for the characters). At the end you understand the seemingly bizarre title, in fact the bittersweet conclusion left me a little moist-eyed. (Only Mark Helprin's books have done that to me before.)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Tree Surgery for Beginners
Not a patch on Notes from an Exhibition which was wonderful. Tree Surgery for Beginners had characters who were difficult to warm to and a complicated and silly plot. Read more
Published 20 months ago by BrendaMc
Not up to his usual standard
I'm a massive fan of Patrick Gale's work but am finding this book really hard going. The characters and plot aren't believable at all. I'm struggling to finish it.
Published on 14 Jan 2010 by Gabriel
Not worth the effort
I read and enjoyed Patrick Gale's 'Notes from an Exhibition' and looked forward to this one. Unfortunately, for me, it doesn't come within a mile.
Published on 20 Oct 2009 by Derek Watkins
Tree Surgery for beginners
patrick Gale is a prolific writer. Have had much time to read of late due to an arm injury and have so far read 5 of his books. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2009 by T. Daum
A wonderful, comic, light hearted, life affirming novel
A wonderful, comic, light hearted, life affirming novel. It starts in a dark place and feels as if the characters perform a dance to the author's music, to end in the warmth and... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2009 by Carlton
A brilliant beginning and terribly contrived end!
When I first started reading this book I found it inventive, exciting and a brilliant read, about two thirds through this book I began to think this is a bit unrealistic and did... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2009 by Philip Thompson
Tales of the Unexpected ...
Gale carves up the Family Tree & puts it back together in ways that surprise to the last page. Much of this is achieved by exploiting the reader's prejudice about birth order &... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2005 by Carole Farmer
Tales of the unexpected ...
Gale carves up the Family Tree & puts it back together in ways that surprise to the last page. Much of this is achieved by exploiting the reader's prejudice about birth order &... Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2005 by Carole Farmer
Disappointing compared with reviews in the press
This was read by our book circle. We felt that the plot was too contrived and predictable and that the characters were more like caricatures than real people. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 1999
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