Hurra for Peter Wibroe og for denne bog! ’En hyldest til havekunsten iblandet lidt verbalt ukrudt.�
Da jeg i oktober i år så programmet om Peter WibroeHurra for Peter Wibroe og for denne bog! ’En hyldest til havekunsten iblandet lidt verbalt ukrudt.�
Da jeg i oktober i år så programmet om Peter Wibroe og hans have i fjernsynet, hvor hans ’upcoming� bog blev nævnt, erklærede jeg straks, at jeg måtte eje den. Da jeg fik den i fødselsdagsgave kort efter, begyndte jeg stille og roligt at vende siderne og nyde bogen. For det er ikke en bog, man skal ræse igennem, men derimod indtage langsomt � som et møjsommeligt tilberedt måltid, hvor man smager nøje på ingredienserne og ikke blot spiser for at blive mæt.
Bogen er en hybridgenre � en ’coffee table� bog, der blander tanker om haveæstetik og filosofi, sådan cirka i lige store dele. Og da mine interesser blandt andet balancerer mellem præcis disse to emner, var bogen ’right down my alley�. Dertil kommer selve Peter Wibroes person, som naturligvis, og heldigvis, gennemsyrer bogen.
De fotos af haven og huset, som bogen er fyldt med, er fantastisk smukke og fortæller mere end ord om, hvilken præstation der ligger bag Exillion � det lille barokinspirerede slot med den renæssanceprægede have, PW har skabt sig i Danmark. Teksten i bogen er inspirerende, livsbekræftende og polemisk, men også bombastisk, brokkende og ind imellem en kende unuanceret. Jeg er dog langt hen ad vejen dybt enig med ham.
Jeg elsker tanken om at gå i æstetisk eksil, og jeg beundrer det mod, der skal til (og penge) for at lægge grådigheden og grimheden i verden bag sig og give pokker i dem for at dyrke jorden og skønheden � stik imod tidsånden.
Det er godt for jantelovs-Danmark at have excentrikere som Wibroe. Flere af dem, tak!
Et par citater illustrerer, hvordan Wibroe i teksten blander både det smukke og det aldeles uskønne:
”Den store konditor har sprøjtet flødeskum ud over hele haven og forvandlet buksbomparterren til en islagkage�
”Teknologien er også godt i gang med at afskaffe aviser, bøger og alt andet papir. Lige med undtagelse af toiletpapir, for man kan trods alt ikke tørre sig i røven med en iPad� ...more
’Leonard and Virginia had no children: their books and their garden were their children� (foreword, by Cecil Woolf, the Woolfs� nephew).
More accuratel’Leonard and Virginia had no children: their books and their garden were their children� (foreword, by Cecil Woolf, the Woolfs� nephew).
More accurately perhaps, it was Leonard Woolf’s garden. Virginia would help pick pears or apples sometimes, or make jam and feed the goldfish, play bowls with Leonard in it or simply walk through it every morning when she went to her writing lodge. She used the garden. Leonard created it.
This book is a gorgeous garden book full of beautiful photos and descriptions of the garden. It is not the kind of garden(ing) book that gives you any practical advice. I don’t often read this sort of book from cover to cover but tend to browse in them, looking at the pictures (because the visual side of it is crucial in a gardening book) and studying practical suggestions when needed. This one I did read from one end to the other because there is a good balance between pictures and text and because it is a kind of garden biography, with lots of biographical details about the Woolfs as well.
I have quite a few garden books and have seen gardens that are more spectacular than this one, and so die-hard gardening experts might find the book a bit light. The same might be the case for die-hard fans of Virginia Woolf since there is quite a bit about the garden as it looks today and as Leonard cared for it for 18 years after Virginia’s death. However, as a lover of both gardens and Virginia Woolf, the book is wonderful. There are pictures of her green bedroom, of her and Leonard positioned around the garden, of her and Vita, of the view of the garden from their upstairs balcony (a stunning view!), of a couple of Vanessa’s pictures (Virginia’s sister, who was an artist), drawings of garden plans � and even embroidered garden plans (created by the author) as well as numerous photos of various trees, shrubs, flowers and paths around the garden. Inspiring despite the fact that Leonard’s tastes in colours and plants were often more exotic than mine.
It is a loving and respectful portrait of the Woolfs and a detailed and aesthetically pleasing book about the garden at Monk’s House near the village of Rodmell, Sussex, where I am definitely going on my next trip to Britain. (I have studied the map and realize I drove right past it a few years ago, not knowing what hidden treasures lay beyond the downs we passed. Oh well, I don’t need an excuse to return to England). ...more
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