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Derek Jarman's Garden
by
Derek Jarman created his own garden in the flat, bleak expanse of shingle that faces the nuclear power station in Dungeness, Kent. A passionate gardener from childhood, he combined his painter's eye, his horticultural expertise and his ecological convictions to produce a landscape which mixed the flint, shells and driftwood of Dungeness; sculptures made from stones; the ar
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Hardcover, 144 pages
Published
January 1st 1996
by Overlook Books
(first published June 1st 1995)
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To enter Jarman's garden is to enter Jarman's sensibility: exacting, tough, lyrical, stubbornly in love with beauty. You need know nothing about his work as a filmmaker and painter to enjoy and benefit from this book, his own look at his Prospect Cottage garden, as Howard Sooley's evocative and haunting photos put you there on the shingle beside him.
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Ineffably joyful, Dionysian,wabi sabi, austerely messy glory. How I miss Jarman.
It was no surprise to me to find he was such a good gardener, with an eye for form and the patience to allow wind to prune his plants.
It was no surprise to me to find he was such a good gardener, with an eye for form and the patience to allow wind to prune his plants.
Good read. Knowledgeable about the names of plants, lovely photographs, moving historical document.
May 06, 2018
Jonathan
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
art-and-artists,
film
What a truly beautiful book. The photography by Howard Sooley and the words by Derek Jarman combine perfectly to produce something that is a testament to Jarman's unique approach to life and art. The garden, for any who do not know, was (is) in Dungeness on the south coast of England, a huge pebble area overlooked by Dungeness nuclear power station. There are many fishermen's cottages, with gardens that are in general indistinguishable from the beach itself, one of which belonged to the author d
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A looking at pictures sort of book to remind me of a day trip to Dungeness in the summer. A bleak but beautiful place, I went to the top of the lighthouse with Ciara and Theresa and then we collected lots of 'interesting' stones on the beach. An old friend of Martin's got married there a month later, although we weren't at the ceremony.
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A beautiful book. A memoir and extended poem charting the growth of Jarman's garden on the shingle beach in Dungeness, overlooking the nuclear power station. It also seems to be some of his last work, written whilst he was dying. That such agarden could grow there by the sea seems improbable, and there's something quite post-apocalyptic about it, but the photography is gorgeous. A favourite.
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This was s beautiful book—meditations on gardens, mortality, friendship. Gorgeous photographs. Derek Jarman was an artist in everything he did.
I bought this book thinking I’d read it and then give it to a friend for Christmas. Now I have to decide if I’m willing to give up this copy or if I should get another copy for a gift!
I bought this book thinking I’d read it and then give it to a friend for Christmas. Now I have to decide if I’m willing to give up this copy or if I should get another copy for a gift!
I love this book. The pictures are truly beautiful - and sad, documenting the gradually decline of the film maker Derek Jarman as his garden grows and flowers. Prospect Cottage is a gem of a place set in the unconventional but strange beauty of Dungeoness in East England
Jun 14, 2017
Frederic
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
photography,
non-fiction-general
A very painterly and poetic book on gardening and life. Gorgeous photos of a beautiful place, with Jarman writing on his life there and occasionally elsewhere. I'd love to visit; more love to live there....
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Lovely book with beautiful pictures. A visual treat.
Next year in England. I'll be there. In my mind I am already.
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Moving. Sparse, lyrical text and lovely photos. Visit the garden.
A lovely thing to own. Howard Sooley's images capture the rugged edges of Derek's Jarman's garden perfectly.
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Situated in the vicinity of a power plant in Dungeness is a wooden fisherman's cottage, black with tar and windows painted a vivid yellow. The terrain is desolate and wind-battered, yet Derek Jarman made a home for himself there in his final years and lovingly created a garden of flowers, vegetables, and herbs. Sculptures made from stones, old tools, and various detritus decorate the garden. The progress is documented with beautiful photographs accompanied by Jarman's writings. Jarman's garden t
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I am slowly reading Jarman’s “Modern Nature” (diaries from the end of his life) and the garden features heavily. It was wonderful to see it and to experience more directly some of the views, plants, and art that he describes. I don’t think, however, that without the other book this book would have had the same impact on me.
favourite gardenbook since always
I am left melancholic every time I read Jarman's words. He is the only writer I know who speaks from the afterlife and haunts his readers. Beautiful and inspiring.
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Jul 24, 2014
Jen Bruntlett
marked it as to-read
Via Lily Stockman
A beautiful, unusual book. A combination of photos and stories of his stark garden in the shingle of Dungeness, with thoughts, friends, and poetry about AIDS.
Absolutely stunning! Read it, love it, remember it! Not just plants, but philosophy of life. Desperate to visit Dungeness.
I'm not much for gardening, but this book was in a holiday home in Dungeness, in sight of Prospect Cottage, so I picked it up idly and then couldn't put it down.
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I wondered whether I would have kept working in the field if I had picked and read this book earlier. The answer is definitely “No!” given the fact that undoubtedly I am not that genius at landscaping and whatever. But the thing is I was totally hooked up to the title itself and as an once-was-filmbuff and a landscape major I couldn’t resist getting started.
Numerous names of flowers and tree and a humble cottage at the extensive view in a coastal city, Dungeness in England... What you can get fa ...more
Numerous names of flowers and tree and a humble cottage at the extensive view in a coastal city, Dungeness in England... What you can get fa ...more
What a beautiful experience it was to read this in a house by the sea as I contemplate my own future garden here. The photos are gorgeous but the real star is Jarman’s poetry and prose, which flow together the way his garden seeps into the wild space around it. It’s informative, evocative and poignant. Highly recommended!
It is sometimes in the ‘harsher’ gardens that we can witness the infinite grandeur of nature’s artistry. Jarman’s garden is a poem in flint and flowers. It is in a person’s garden that we can feel the spirit of its maker. This garden is Jarman’s spirit speaking to us beyond the grave. A delight.
What a lovely little piece of poetry this meditation on a landscape is!
Best gardening book ever written. Gardening as art, catharsis, living memoir.
Lily Stockman rec
Bought as a gardening book without realising what a lovely book it would be - photos, poems and fragments of a beautiful man, house and garden in Dungeness.
Maybe too deep for me? Mostly shows off metal sculpture.
So inspiring
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“Lawns, it seems to me, are against nature, barren and often threadbare - the enemy of a good garden. For the same trouble as mowing, you could have a year's vegetables: runner beans, cauliflowers and cabbages, mixed with pinks and peonies, shirley poppies and delphiniums; wouldn't that beautify the land and save us from the garden terrorism that prevails?”
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