The Garden Against Time
In Search of a Common Paradise
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The Garden Against Time
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Narrated by:
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Olivia Laing
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By:
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Olivia Laing
About this listen
The Garden Against Time is the No.1 Sunday Times bestseller from acclaimed writer Olivia Laing; a passionate, epic exploration of the power and possibilities of gardens.
'What a wonderful book this is' – Nigel Slater
When Olivia Laing began to restore a walled garden in Suffolk, an overgrown Eden of unusual plants, the work drew them into an exhilarating investigation of paradise and its long association with gardens.
Moving between the real and the imagined, from Milton’s Paradise Lost to a wartime sanctuary in Italy, to a grotesque aristocratic pleasure ground funded by slavery, Laing interrogates the sometimes shocking cost of making paradise on earth.
But the story of the garden can also be a place of rebel outposts and communal dreams, from the improbable queer utopia conjured by Derek Jarman on the beach at Dungeness to the vision of a common Eden cultivated by William Morris. New modes of living can and have been attempted amidst the flower beds, experiments that could prove vital in the coming era of radical change.
‘This book is what we need right now: paradise, regained’ – Philip Hoare
‘Every generation gets one perfect book about gardens and this is ours’ – Julia Bell
‘Prepare yourself to be enchanted’ – Jilly Cooper
‘The most magical writing’ – Jeremy Lee
‘I felt doubly alive after reading it’ – Celia Paul
‘Quite literally unputdownable’ – Jinny Blom
‘A book for thinking gardeners everywhere’ – Mary Keen
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What listeners say about The Garden Against Time
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 23-07-24
Olivia Laing; cultural weaver
I loved this book for the range & scope of subjects it covers, as with much of Olivia Laing's writing. Garden diary, gardening history, the use of. open land, it's about people's sense of place in & on the land & how that sense of place is expressed: through the creation of a garden, through art, poetry, activism to protect land...it's a wonderful read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MMog
- 23-06-24
absorbing subject matter
fascinating intermingling of garden memoir and historic literary and cultural musings. would definitely recommend. f c
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ReviewingGreene
- 17-07-24
Captivating
Very enjoyable. Slightly too political and incorrect, but, once ignoring those small parts it returned to enjoyment
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- celia burgess-macey
- 21-04-25
Combination of intimate knowledge of subject and emotional commitment to communicating with audience
Loved the description of gardens nature gardening and history of gardens and gardening in England and Europe
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michelle
- 09-05-24
Gardens and so much more.
I’m not sure you have to be a garden fan to enjoy this book. I learned so much. She draws so many ideas together. A life affirming exploration of making and restoring gardens, of paradise and of our obsession with time and control. I like that it is read by the author, what she lacks in professional smoothness, she makes up for with emotional connection and a delicacy of expression that resists turning exploration or conviction into sermon or soapbox. I was well companioned in my hours spent with this book. Entertained, distracted, provoked and transported in equal measure. Highly recommended. I stayed up to the wee hours listening.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- eileen
- 25-05-24
A book that felt like time in a garden
One of Olivia Laing’s previous books - To the River - has stayed with me so I wanted to read more of her work and I’m very pleased I listened to this. Her writing is beautiful. The details of re establishing a lost garden whilst making it to work for her have suggested plants that I might want to try myself - but more than this - the different directions, subjects, history, books, people and stories that sprang from this felt as if the book itself was a garden I was wandering / being led through and as I went it generated different curiosities, moods and ideas - as all good gardens do.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- jay
- 12-10-24
A deep dive into a seed catalogue.
The book was such a disappointment. I felt I was listening to a seed catalogue or the stock list from a garden centre. It’s deeply researched and beautifully written, but it’s not very interesting.
I also found it incredibly depressing, maybe that is because I live in a flat with no outside space, which, to be fair is not the books fault.
It all felt apocalyptic too, and I have no idea where that feeling came from. I didn’t make it to the end of the book, so I can’t say if this feeing was justified.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 27-01-25
A very strange mixture (and I'm not talking about compost)
I read this book because it was recommended by a friend and I assumed that it would be about gardening as that's something we're both keen on. However I can't believe she actually read it because, although there is a bit about gardening in the book, much of it witters on in a very tiresome way about slavery, ultra left wing politics and related non gardening topics. When she does get onto the subject of gardening, it's quite interesting but one's always dreading the moment she is going to veer off into some polemic about one of her favourite hobby horses which has nothing to do with that topic. I really struggled to finish the book as I ground my teeth so frequently whilst reading it. Stay clear unless you're a bit of a masochist.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nomenclature
- 23-08-24
Good book, terrible performance
I knew the book would be a tad pretentious and smug, but that there would be moments of clarity and interest however, the author reading this only highlights the affectation and smug tone. Ruined this for me. Should’ve bought the book and read it myself!
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1 person found this helpful