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The Tree

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 259 ratings · 29 reviews

John Fowles (1926-2005) is widely regarded as one of the preeminent English novelists of the twentieth century--his books have sold millions of copies worldwide, been turned into beloved films, and been popularly voted among the 100 greatestnovels of the century.

To a smaller yet no less passionate audience, Fowles is also known for having written The Tree, one of his few w...more

Paperback, 112 pages

Published September 28th 2010 by Ecco (first published 1979)

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Jun 10, 2011 Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays, bios-memoirs, nature

This book is profoundly beautiful. I bought my own copy of this in paperback after reading a library copy. That alone should tell you how much this book moved me - I don't like to hold on to books, but this one is an exception. This book will travel with me and I will read it over and over.

While the entire essay is not more than 100 pages (in the 30th anniversary reprint edition), there are three sections: the first contrasts Fowles and his father and their views on nature, order, and chaos. Th...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs-or-review-copy

This is the 30th anniversary edition of John Fowles legendary essay about trees. Or rather, what trees mean in a greater sense than just the biological. At first, I expected this to be similar to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring-both were written decades ago. However, this slim text is more of a set of questions rather than answers. In fact, despite the title, it could be said that trees are just the smallest portion of his purpose.

"Do we feel that unless we create evidence-photographs, journal ent...more This is the 30th anniversary edition of John Fowles legendary essay about trees. Or rather, what trees mean in a greater sense than just the biological. At first, I expected this to be similar to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring-both were written decades ago. However, this slim text is more of a set of questions rather than answers. In fact, despite the title, it could be said that trees are just the smallest portion of his purpose.

"Do we feel that unless we create evidence-photographs, journal entries, picked and pressed flowers, tape recordings, pocketed stones-we haven't actually been intimate with nature?"

Fowles was known for writing The French Lieutenant's Woman as well as other fiction titles. Here, in this book, he discusses via anecdotes the relationship between humans and nature, and the juxtaposition between nature on its own and our experience of nature. First, the introduction by Barry Lopez comfortably sets the scene, and hints that this is no simple environmental manifesto. And never does Fowles lecture about how people should view nature; rather, he talks about what nature may or may not mean in a larger sense.

For example, he talks about his childhood home where his father cultivated small garden and fruit trees. Nothing was out of place, and while it was in the city, his father managed to tame anything unruly from the garden. Clearly it was his goal to conquer the plot of land. He was the victor over it. Yet his son, Fowles, purchases property that is larger, but by no means tame. Fowles neither cultivates or cuts back, he sees no point in amending the soil, pruning the trees, and to the horror of his father, the parcel of land is wild. Is it a moral battle over who conquers the natural world? Is it nature if you've directed its every movement? Fowles doesn't presume to answer, he just asks.

In a further irony, which tells a great deal about his father, Fowles recalls how his father could walk for miles in the city, yet would only hike a few hundred meters in the countryside. The untame pastoral scene frightened him or inhibited him, likely because of its chaos. Thus, Fowles discusses chaos in nature, and how the most lovely of scenes is never the most natural. He also makes a valid point that our modern society, with three decades of hindsight added since this was written, has used film and photography to 'show' nature, making the interaction with it less urgent. How often do people seek it out? Is putting a pot of daisies on the patio nature or decor? Do we travel to faraway places to imbibe unique cocktails or are we willing to hike in a forest for no other purpose than to look? Again, he gives no condescending or judgmental answer, he just asks thought provoking questions.

Since the last few years have produced epic and beautiful DVD collections for large screen televisions, like Planet Earth, does nature seem to be something we order up on the Netflix queue or purchase at Costco? It should be noted that this is not a nature 'journal', nor a guide to trees. There are no photos or etchings to illustrate it, and that's appropriate in that Fowles doesn't feel a photograph can replicate nature satisfactorily. I enjoyed this very much, and wish that Fowles would have spent a bit more time discussing his own experiences, as well as suggested ideas for conservation and preservation.

Special thanks to Rachel Bressler and Michael McKenzie at Ecco Books for the Advance Review Copy. This title is newly released.
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Oct 15, 2008 Guy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: litcrit

You never know quite where you are with John Fowles: either he is opening one plot trapdoor after another beneath your feet (The Magus), or he is messing with your willing suspension of disbelief (The French Lieutenant's Woman), or he is doing something else that throws some other assumption of yours into question. And this little book is no different. He has written a book about nature and art that, without ever quite saying so explicitly, asserts that any review or critical assessment of his b...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Carl Brush rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It would be a violation of The Tree to do much analysis of John Fowles’ wonderful paean to the natural world. The unpruned, unespalliered, untended, natural world. Let the man speak for himself on the subject.

"It [the uncultivated copse] can be known and entered only by each, and in its now; not by you through me, by any you through any me; only by you through yourself, or me through myself. We still have this to learn: the inalienable otherness of each, human and non-human, which may seem the p...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Cleo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-books

"John Fowles (1926–2005) is widely regarded as one of the preeminent English novelists of the twentieth century—his books have sold millions of copies worldwide, been turned into beloved films, and been popularly voted among the 100 greatest novels of the century. To a smaller yet no less passionate audience, Fowles is also known for having written The Tree, one of his few works of nonfiction. First published a generation ago, it is a provocative meditation on the connection between the natural...more "John Fowles (1926–2005) is widely regarded as one of the preeminent English novelists of the twentieth century—his books have sold millions of copies worldwide, been turned into beloved films, and been popularly voted among the 100 greatest novels of the century. To a smaller yet no less passionate audience, Fowles is also known for having written The Tree, one of his few works of nonfiction. First published a generation ago, it is a provocative meditation on the connection between the natural world and human creativity, and a powerful argument against taming the wild. In it, Fowles recounts his own childhood in England and describes how he rebelled against his Edwardian father’s obsession with the “quantifiable yield” of well-pruned fruit trees and came to prize instead the messy, purposeless beauty of nature left to its wildest. The Tree is an inspiring, even life-changing book, like Lewis Hyde’s The Gift, one that reaffirms our connection to nature and reminds us of the pleasure of getting lost, the merits of having no plan, and the wisdom of following one’s nose wherever it may lead—in life as much as in art."

The Tree was an interesting essay, though I'm not very knowledgeable about this sort of thing. Though this book has inspired me to learn about related works. I must admit that I read through The Tree rather quickly; perhaps at a later date, I will read it more in-depth, which it certainly deserves.

I didn't totally understand all of the ideas expressed in the book, but I really liked John Fowles's writing style; it was very British, and I like that sort of thing. Sometimes, he tended to ramble on in a rather incoherent way, but overall, his points made sense, and for the most part, I agreed with him. No, it's not that his language was incoherent; more that it wasn't easily understood. Several times, I had to pause and read over what I had just read again.

As I said, most of the time I agreed with what the author had to say, and he brought up some new things for me to ponder, more specifically when he was talking about the pre-Victorian model of science and how it had its appeal to it. I can certainly see that.

The Tree was an interesting little book or large essay, and I enjoyed reading it. I can't say that I picked it up myself; it was my mom, and I thought it looked worth reading. John Fowles was apparently an accomplished novelist, and perhaps I shall try some of his fiction.

3.5 stars.

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Aug 10, 2012 Robert Strandquist rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: while-in-belgium

Written in 1979, this 90 page essay on the nature of nature related to the nature of humans and how these two interact ranges from ethereal to opaque, from idiosyncratic to universal. For me the most compelling section was the final, more personal one where Fowles relates a re-visit to Wistman's Wood, a unique and haunting section within a larger forest. It reminded me of William Wordsworth's poetic revist to "Tintern Abbey" where he not only recalls seeing the waterfall but after 25 years he re...more

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Sep 05, 2010 Robby added it · review of another edition

I don’t know how to explain this book. It is a simple book, it is not a simple book, and it can speak for itself. I have never read anything else by John Fowles, and I don’t know when I will, but now I have read this. My brain is fried. This book, this tiny little volume, this tiny little essay, was everything I expected and more, and even more after that. It blew my mind.
I saw this book and bought it, though I have 80-something books I need to read. I saw the title and grabbed it, smiled when I...more I don’t know how to explain this book. It is a simple book, it is not a simple book, and it can speak for itself. I have never read anything else by John Fowles, and I don’t know when I will, but now I have read this. My brain is fried. This book, this tiny little volume, this tiny little essay, was everything I expected and more, and even more after that. It blew my mind.
I saw this book and bought it, though I have 80-something books I need to read. I saw the title and grabbed it, smiled when I saw the cover. I read the summary and the first few paragraphs, and tucked it away for the right time. I finally found the right time last week, and I am so glad I did.
This book is about nature, life, the relationship between nature and everything else. This book is about how we’ve come out of contact with nature, how we are too busy on our cell phone or our iPods to see the things that people hundreds of years ago didn’t have a choice but to see.
This is about trees, those massive things that shed their leaves and grow new ones and never move, never die, and how they are one of the most beautiful things in the world.
I can’t do this essay justice. John Fowles’ writing is perfect, flowing and beautiful and so easy to read, so accessible, yet so heavy and dense with all of this special meaning. I was glad for it. I read almost all of this book in a single morning.
I want to write something like this, someday, when I am older. I want to write something this honest, something this beautiful, that in 90 pages can shake someone to their core.
I can use my cell phone less, and my iPod, and stay off the computer as much as possible. I can turn off the television and go read a book, write a song, do my homework. I can go for a walk and look at the trees, and the sun, and I never look at these things anymore. I am just as out of touch as the rest of the world. This is what a good book does to you.
This book and Mary Oliver, for me, now go hand in hand. Mary Oliver’s poetry is so simply sublime and John Fowles’ writing is so flawless and flowing and poetic, yet on a different level than Mary’s but almost the same.
I am looking out my front door as I am writing this and looking at the trees across the park from my house. I am looking at the clouds in the sky, the sun that is covering everything, and I am not looking away. I am not going to forget this book. Things like these stick inside of a person.
I am latching on.(less)

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Apr 06, 2012 Oksanna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Written almost 30 years ago, this essay is so poignant and present about separation of mankind from natural world.

"To see the woods and forest merely scientifically, economically, topographically or aesthetically - not to understand that their greatest utility lies not in the facts derivable from them, or in their timber and fruit, or their landscape charm, or their utility as subject matter for the artist - proves the gathering speed with which we are retreating into outer space from all other...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Stela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophy-and-essay, reviews

"Art and nature are siblings, branches of one tree; and nowhere more than in the continuing inexplicability of many of their processes and above all those of creation and of effect on their respective audiences. Our approach to art, as to nature, has become increasingly scientized (and dreadfully serious) during this last century."

And so on. Art is just as beautiful and unpredictable as nature is, and every try to learn how to do it or to examine it is just as futile as the labels put on species...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A short and lovely little book about the nature of nature, and how we lose something anytime we try to capture it, whether in a photo, a poem or a small garden in our backyard. The original essay came in an illustrated book with color photographs. The library didn't have that copy, but I'd very much like to see it.

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Oct 13, 2011 Erica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: environmental

Wish I had read this when I was writing my thesis on environmental aesthetics. Really fits Emily Brady's notion of environmental aesthetics, but in a more poetic, less fussy way. That is, that science, and even art, can't begin to comprehend the wild, the mystery of nature, nor can it comprehend the wild within us.

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Sep 13, 2011 Araminta Matthews rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brilliant take on the connection between nature, our historical domination (or attempts) and thus discrediting of nature, and flaws with the scientific method as evidenced by nature. It reminded me how I always hate landscapes (preferring portraiture), and made me realize I'm a little sad about that. Then again, if Fowles is right, then the reason is because I know no "picture" (or set of words) can ever capture nature. She's too wild, after all.

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Oct 23, 2011 Amari rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though I admire the basic premises of this meditation on nature and creativity, I found it a difficult book to enjoy. Perhaps the threads were a bit too tangled for me. Perhaps there were too many words I didn't know. Though there were moments of great resonance for me, which made me want very much to like the book, somehow I found the author/narrator a bit less than sympathetic. I wish that I were advanced enough to understand his thoughts more deeply, but I yam what I yam.

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Jul 23, 2011 Tom Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a short book but it took me a while to finish it as the reading is intense. The gist of the book is excellent: that nature is of value in an of itself - and by trying to describe nature we loose sight of it. True nature has to be experienced. The writing is great - almost like poetry.

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Aug 06, 2010 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-nonfiction

I recieved an ARC of the 30th anniversary reprinting of this book through Shelf Awareness. I'd never read John Fowles before, and while I can see why he's considered to be a writer of substance, I disagreed with his standpoint on nature vs. science. I'm hoping I can relate better to some of his other books.

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Apr 30, 2013 Jen rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wish this book delivered on the promise of its cover - "delightful and varied," "entertaining," "transforms the abstract into the highly tangible." It does offer an intriguing premise and thoughtful argument, but way too convoluted for my pleasure reading palate.

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Oct 27, 2011 Buckle Button Zip added it · review of another edition

Ninety-one pages of mind-stretching philosophy, some about nature and some about the nature of man. He explores the wildness of nature and man's folly in trying to tame it, name it and own it. This novel and its themes could keep a person occupied for hours or years.

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Sep 07, 2010 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you have any interest in creativity, this book will appeal to you! So much to think about, so many questions raised, and an overall lovely meditation on the wildness of nature vs. the pruned vision of beauty we often pursue.

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Jan 08, 2012 Tom Thompson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Love this book. Just re-read it for the first time since I discovered it on the shelves while working at Ecco in 1993. Full post here: http://tomthompsonnews.blogspot.com/2...

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Dec 19, 2012 Alex Zbarcea rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nice to read, in regards to how far can you go describing the nature, the significance of a tree, how well can you refine your writing skills.

Regarding usefulness ... it didn't impress me.

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Feb 20, 2012 Glenn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a great read if you are at all captivated by the mystery and power of the natural world. Fowles describes the indescribable natural world in beautiful prose, while embracing the paradox of trying to do so with mere words.

I also was handed a better set of tools for understanding areas of immense complexity in my life. As if I stood before the truly perplexing with some sense of resignation, only to find his words layed out on pressed wood pulp and pounded into the door of a heretofore inadm...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Jane rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A lovely musing on the nature of art, science and nature. Ends with a gorgeous description of a Dartmoor wood that was the model for
Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles.

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Sep 14, 2012 Zavate Maria madalina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

De aici stiu ce-i aia bucolic

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Dec 11, 2011 Donald rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Beautiful,poetic,timeless.

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Jun 20, 2011 Barbara rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ummm, okay. It was on sale.

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Nov 02, 2010 Erma Odrach rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This slim book, really an essay that rambles, is not about trees in so much that it's about what nature means to human creativity, especially writing. Quite thought-provoking.

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Sep 26, 2011 Grace Ellen added it

A++++

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Dec 09, 2012 Rory rated it 5 of 5 stars

I will read this again. And again, and again.

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Nov 19, 2009 Craig rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fowles' Naturalist views are vividly articulated in this non-fiction essay about the earth, the environment and the literary metaphor throughout his fiction about the relationship between human beings and their environment.

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May 19, 2013 Elena Firsova marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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About John Fowles

John Robert Fowles was born in Leigh-on-Sea, a small town located about 40 miles from London in the county of Essex, England. He recalls the English suburban culture of the 1930s as oppressively conformist and his family life as intensely conventional. Of his childhood, Fowles says "I have tried to escape ever since."

Fowles attended Bedford School, a large boarding school designed to prepare boys...more

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