Books in brief: The Tree

   

    Following on neatly from Orchard, John Fowles's The Tree is, as William Fiennes describes it in his foreword, "a sui-generis polemical memoir-essay". It's a collection of recollections and observations, suitably dendritic in form, ranging from anti-Linnean sentiments to a skewering of the essence of art and Fowles's own creative process. It's a short book but it offers much to think about and would, I am sure, repay re-reading.

    Just by the way, I wouldn't have thought of bracketing JF together with Elizabeth Goudge, but among several references in the book to paintings is one to a favourite work of his, Pisanello's The Vision of Saint Eustace ("this ambiguous little masterpiece"), which features so memorably in Miss Goudge's The Herb of Grace.

Comments

[Dark Puss]

Genuine question, what does "sui-generis polemical memoir-essay" mean?

[Cornflower]

It's a memoir in the shape of an essay, very much of a singular kind, and pretty disputatious - I think you might find it interesting!

[Dark Puss]

Thank you! I probably would :-)