Product Description

From the internationally acclaimed Czech writer Karel Capek comes this beautifully written and marvelously apt account of the trials and tribulations of the gardener’s life. First published in Prague in 1929, The Gardener’s Year combines a richly comic portrait of life in the garden, narrated month by month, with a series of delightful illustrations by the author’s older brother and collaborator, Josef. Capek’s gardeners—all too human, despite their lofty aspirations—often look the fool, whether they be found sopping wet, victims of the cobralike water hose, or hunched over, hands immersed in the soil, “presenting their rumps to the splendid azure sky.” In their repeated folly, Capek gives us not only cause for laughter but also, in the end, “testimony of the imperishable and miraculous optimism of the human race.”

This Modern Library edition is published with a new Introduction by Verlyn Klinkenborg, a New York Times editorialist and the author of Making Hay and The Last Fine Time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #292180 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-01
• Original language: Czech
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .1 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
"'They don't make writers like that any more' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph 'His thoughts and descriptions remain fresh and provocative' Ken Worpole, New Statesman"

About the Author
Karel Capek was a Czech novelist and playwright of international and enduring fame. Among his other works are The Life of Insects, Hordubal, and Nine Fairy Tales. Geoffrey Newsome is the author of the Czech textbook Correct Those Mistakes.