A Nature Diary

by Richard Adams, John Lawrence (Illustrator)

First edition hardcover, signed by the author and illustraor, with clipped dust jacket, in very good condition. Light creasing to the jacket edges, a few small marks to the pageblock, and board corners and spine ends are bumped. The pages, plates and text are clear and unmarked throughout. LW

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Natural History, Animals

158 pages, Paperback

First published November 14, 1985

About the author

Adams was born in Newbury, Berkshire. From 1933 until 1938 he was educated at Bradfield College. In 1938 he went up to Worcester College, Oxford to read Modern History. On 3 September 1939 Neville Chamberlain announced that the United Kingdom was at war with Germany. In 1940 Adams joined the British Army, in which he served until 1946. He received a class B discharge enabling him to return to Worcester to continue his studies for a further two years (1946-48). He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and of Master of Arts in 1953.

He was a senior civil servant who worked as an Assistant Secretary for the Department of Agriculture, later part of the Department of the Environment, from 1948 to 1974. Since 1974, following publication of his second novel, Shardik, he has been a full-time author.

He originally began telling the story of Watership Down to his two daughters, Juliet and Rosamund, and they insisted he publish it as a book. It took two years to write and was rejected by thirteen publishers. When Watership Down was finally published, it sold over a million copies in record time in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Watership Down has become a modern classic and won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1972. To date, Adams' best-known work has sold over 50 million copies world-wide, earning him more than all his other books put together.

As of 1982, he was President of the RSPCA.

He also contested the 1983 general election, standing as an Independent Conservative in the Spelthorne constituency on a platform of opposition to fox hunting.

Reviews

[Ronald Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This naturalist's diary sure made me envy the life of a retired successful author spending most of his days on nature walks. Throughout a full calendar year, Adams made short notes of his observations, beginning with what was in bloom on January 1st in his local environs on the Isle of Man. Subsequently his attention was mainly on the birds, trees, and flowers as they went through their usual seasonal changes.

With Wikipedia and Wikimapia open on the laptop at my side, my supplemental research made the author's notes more vivid. It was exciting to become intimately familiar with the Isle of Man, of which I had previously heard passing references but until this book had not even known its exact location. Fortunately Adams took trips to Denmark, the Lakes District of England, and the islands of Wales just when I was getting bored with his little island, and whole new worlds were explored by him and me with my Wiki- companions. Near the end of the book he also made a trip to Australia, but while he was excited by his explorations of a whole new ecosystem, I was getting overloaded and simply skimmed over the biological observations made there.

This book brought into focus a certain naturalist's enthusiasm which I've frequently respected in the British. In hindsight I can see how Adams' appreciation for nature contributed to the wonder of his novel Watership Down. His descriptions of the Manx and English landscapes also provided a sense of how the land contributes to those characteristics attributed to the British.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This charming book with plentiful illustrations is by the author of Watership Down. In reading that classic, I was amazed at how knowledgeable Adams was about the flora and fauna of the English countryside; now, I know it was a personal avocation, an intense curiosity and love cultivated over a lifetime and through the experience of many, many walks over miles of country. This really is a diary and not a journal. There's an entry, short as a few sentences or a paragraph, for each day of the year recounting the author's walks and what he saw. If you walk 3, 5, or 7 miles across the Isle of Mann and read all the right books about what you've seen, you're bound to become wise about the natural world. Reading this little book has a not unpleasant tranquilizing effect: "The aconites are out, and a few snowdrops. One plant of the dwarf cyclamen has a bloom in bud," (5th February); "The uplands of the Island could almost be said to be infested with hares. This is Lepus timidus scoticus, the Scottish or Variable hare. They are pretty creatures, compact and leggy and lollopy than the brown hare of the south," (4th May); "Down by the lake found a pretty, small antirrhinum, purple and pale yellow, with filiform leaves. Cannot trace it in Keble Martin or Fitter and Fitter, so it can only be a garden escape. I think it is Linaria purpurea," (12th October). Turns out you don't have to know about the things Adams is writing about; just reading about them in his loving descriptions is very soothing. How much we miss by driving everywhere and looking at nature through a square of glass! The little book ends this way: 31st December: "It's so cold that the fire is burning very crisp and clear. I can hear the sea; I can hear the wind. I'm not hungry or cold or ill. What more should anyone want?" What more, indeed.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A diary of a year on the Isle of Man, where Richard Adams lived. Lovely descriptions of birds and flora and illustrations on every page. A nice book which makes me want to visit Man.

[Gwynplaine26th · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Non è un catalogo di cose rare o che raramente si vedono, bensì un vero e proprio diario, tenuto di giorno in giorno, durante tutto un anno solare trascorso nell’isola di Man, dove io abito, con qualche capatina in Inghilterra, Galles, Danimarca e Australia”.

Così inizia il viaggio tra la flora e fauna di un luogo magico, con le zone pietrose disseminate di erica e le scogliere suggestive. Un decalogo estremamente piacevole di piante, arbusti, volatili arricchiti dai preziosi schizzi acquerello del talentuoso illustratore John Lawrence, sulle parole di vita quotidiana di Richard Adams uno degli autori inglesi a cui sono più legata (“La collina dei conigli”, “I cani della peste”, “La collina dei ricordi” etc..).

Una piccola perla, un diario che ho trovato assolutamente delizioso, molto meno pretenzioso di opere dal simile intento come “L’anello di re Salomone” di Konrad Lorenz. Se il genere piace e non annoia, lo consiglio accanto all’opera simile “Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life” di Marta McDowell. Le campagne di quei luoghi sono un sogno e tutto sembra riecheggiare delle parole di Wordsworth ..

..I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills..

[Catherine Truslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been more jealous of someone reading about Richard’s daily adventures outdoors. I loved the little jokes and witty comments he threw in. Almost cried reading the closing sentiments. Maybe I’ll start my own nature diary, which I think was part of his intent in publishing this - to inspire others to see the beauty you can find outside of your window if you just slow down and look for it.

[Dianne Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find myself in awe of those of us who seem to have such a rich ability to really live well. Adams accompanies his most charming drawings with details of birds, weather, a multitude of flowers, animals and his frequent hikes on the Isle of Man- with humor. I do wish he had included more of his own thoughts though, it would be most interesting.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’re gonna know right off the bat if you’ll love it or hate it.

[Kieren]

3.75 stars, almost 4 but not quite.

The main reason I did not give this four (or above) stars is, while the illustrations were beautiful, there weren't enough to give me a full picture of what the author was describing most times. He used the latin name for plants often so I had no idea really what he was describing. I suppose I could have looked each item up while reading but that would have taken any joy out of it. I guess I should say I'm not great with plant names, perhaps a gardener would have an easier go of reading it.

A few notable quotes:
When talking about different names for things, "And cockchafers were 'dumbledores' to Thomas Hardy." According to google, a cockchafer is a 'large brown European beetle'. I wonder if this is where J.K. Rowling got the name for the wizard headmaster.
"An excellent walk with him this afternoon...Roy's very fit. 'I hope you didn't mind having to hold back a bit on my account, I said as we reached the car in twilight. 'Not at all,' replied Roy. 'The sight of your backside going up ahead of me on hands and knees was ample compensation.'" I must admit, this made me laugh.
"...you could just see the glimmer of the Great Andromeda nebula, high in the east. Its light takes 2 million years to reach the earth, travelling at 186,000 miles a second. I never know whether this is encouraging or otherwise. On the one hand, nothing matters much. On the other, what's the use of bothering about anything?" Existential thoughts, hm.
"Wild flowers are like pubs. There are generally one or two open somewhere, if only you look hard enough." Sounds like a true Englishman.