The acclaimed author of Into the Tangled Bank overlays the traditional Japanese division of micro-seasons across a typical British year, looking at the natural world through fresh, enquiring eyes.
See the British year afresh and experience a new way of connecting with nature - through the prism of Japan's seventy-two ancient microseasons.
Across seventy-two short chapters and twelve months, writer and nature lover Lev Parikian charts the changes that each of these ancient microseasons (of a just a few days each) bring to his local patch - garden, streets, park and wild cemetery.
From the birth of spring (risshun) in early February to 'the greater cold' (daikan) in late January, Lev draws our eye to the exquisite beauty of the outside world, day-to-day.
Instead of Japan's lotus blossom, praying mantis and bear, he watches bramble, woodlouse and urban fox; hawthorn, dragonfly and peregrine. But the seasonal rhythms - and the power of nature to reflect and enhance our mood - remain.
By turns reflective, witty and joyous, this is both a nature diary and a revelation of the beauty of the small and subtle changes of the everyday, allowing us to 'look, look again, look better'. It is perfect gift to read in real time across the British year.
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited
ISBN: 9781783965779
Number of pages: 272
Dimensions: 216 x 138 mm
Lev Parikian’s beautiful book is a very clever and unique melding of Japanese wisdom and British pragmatism. In seventy-two short chapters he views the changes in the British seasons through the prism of the Japanese... More
There is no shortage of recent books about nature, but Lev Parikian takes a very clever and original approach in this highly enjoyable book. As Parikian points out, the division of the year into seasons is entirely... More
What a delight to think of 72 seasons instead of the boring four that we are all used to (or maybe just the one long grey slightly warm one it tends to feel like).
After reading through the book fairly quickly I...
More
Please sign in to write a review
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?