White Beech: The Rainforest Years
White Beech: The Rainforest Years is a book describing efforts of regeneration of rainforest written by Germaine Greer. It was first published in 2013 by Bloomsbury and reprinted several times.
 Cover of the Paperback edition 2015 | |
| Author | Germaine Greer |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Published | 2013 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| ISBN | 978 1 4088 4673 5 |
| Preceded by | Shakespear's Wife |
Experiment
Germaine Greer was a successful writer by 2001 when she decided to invest all her earnings to purchase 60 hectares of over used land for a price of 268,000 pounds in the midst of a rainforest in Queensland, Australia.[1] It was a part of Gondwana forest which was logged during 19th century and converted to a banana farm during the 20th century. She left the place to itself so that the rainforest would regenerate, and by 2013 her experiment was successful, where a part of the overused land regenerated as rainforest.[2]
Reception
The book is described as "a quasi-religious epic out of a part of her remarkable life when she decided to restore a small, wrecked rainforest in Australia, her homeland. The tone is apocalyptic, themes existential and critical" by The Independent.[1] The author received standing ovation on several occasions during her book introductory tour in Australia.[3] The writer herself declared in the prologue of the book that the story of this book is an extraordinary stroke of luck.[2] The New York Times dubs it as "an untidy and mostly lackluster book, sad to say, one that buries her rhetorical gifts under several inches of mulch" but at the same time lauds it as one of the best love stories in book format.[4] The Australian describes it as an "encyclopedic book - taking in botany, history and humility - it is ultimately a reflection on the only significant question: how we live on earth".[5]
References
- Brown, Yasmin Alibhai (30 January 2014). "White Beech: The Rainforest Years by Germaine Greer; book review". The Independent. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- Greer, Germine (2013). White Beech : the Rainforest Years. Great Britain: Bloomsburry. ISBN 9781408846735. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- Roberts, Yvonne (2 February 2014). "White Beech: The Rainforest Years by Germaine Greer – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- Garner, Dwight (15 July 2014). "A Feminist in the Forest". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- Plunkett, Fecility (2 November 2013). "Germaine Greer goes back to her roots as the forest's fool". theaustralian.com. The Australian. Retrieved 17 June 2016.