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Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
36(36%)
4 stars
34(34%)
3 stars
29(29%)
2 stars
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1 stars
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99 reviews
April 17,2025
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” 2 maggio. Ieri sera dopo cena, mentre eravamo in giardino, dissi: «Voglio restare da sola per l’intera estate, e giungere all’essenza della vita. Voglio impigrirmi quanto più possibile, perché la mia anima abbia il tempo e l’agio di crescere. Non inviterò nessuno, e se qualcuno verrà a trovarmi gli si risponderà che sono fuori, lontana, o indisposta. Trascorrerò i mesi sui prati e nei boschi. Osserverò le cose che accadono in giardino e vedrò se e dove ho sbagliato. Nei giorni di pioggia mi addentrerò nel fitto della pineta, dove gli aghi sempreverdi rimangono asciutti, e nei giorni di sole mi sdraierò sulla brughiera per vedere la ginestra sfolgorante sul fondale di nuvole. Sarò felice, nessuno verrà a disturbarmi. Là fuori, sulla piana, tutto è silenzio e dove c’è silenzio, ho scoperto, c’è la pace».


Scrive così. Elizabeth, sulla prima pagina del suo diario.

Ferma nell’intento di vivere la sua piena libertà.

” Non sarebbe perfetto alzarsi la mattina, giorno dopo giorno per intere settimane, e sentire di appartenere a te stessa e a nessun altro?”

Immergersi nella natura e in un buon libro senza dover ricevere ospiti o rispettare altri impegni se non quello di presentarsi a pranzo con le tre figlie ed il marito altrimenti detto l’Uomo della Rabbia.

Ne “Il giardino di Elizabeth” c’è la scoperta di una passione che cresce giorno dopo giorno.
Lì la solitudine è spezzata dall’arrivo di due ospiti e dalla stagione invernale che impedisce di vivere pienamente all’aria aperta.
Il pensiero però è sempre rivolto al giardino e alle semine su cui vuole aumentare la sua conoscenza.
Qui l’intento di passare le giornate all’aria aperta è quasi un compimento dei frutti della creazione.
Non tutto andrà esattamente come previsto ma:

” Come puoi non essere felice se sei in buona salute e vivi nel luogo in cui desideri?”

Elizabeth Von Armin, anche in questo secondo volume, conferma la vena ironica che riesce a far sorridere quando parla delle sue divertenti bambini o del ridicolo cinismo del marito.
Quasi contagioso lo sguardo d’amore rivolto alla natura che si fa complice di vivaci riflessioni.


” Si tratta di gioie semplici, è vero, e del genere che facilmente provocano la puzza sotto il naso dei più mondani; ma a chi interessano i nasi altrui? Io sono semplicemente me stessa, e non mi stanco mai della benedetta libertà da tutte le costrizioni. Persino un dettaglio in apparenza minore, quale l’essere in grado di uscire all’aperto senza dover indossare cappello, guanti e veletta, reca in sé un fascino sottile del quale non potrò mai stancarmi. È chiaro che sono nata per una placida vita di campagna, e placida lo è certamente, al punto che le giornate sono a volte più simili a un sogno che alla realtà, dedicate interamente alla lettura, al pensiero, all’osservare come cambia la luce del sole o come crescono e appassiscono i fiori; freschi giorni sereni quando la vita trabocca entusiasmo e non riesci a smettere di cantare perché sei troppo felice, e caldi giorni sereni sdraiata sull’erba in un angolo appartato ad ammirare la processione delle nuvole – una posizione, lo ammetto, particolarmente sconveniente, ma pensate al conforto morale!”
April 17,2025
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I'm a huge fan of E Von Arnim, but mostly her gardening/autobiographical books. She had a sharp mind and could be very funny.
April 17,2025
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When I finished "Elizabeth And Her German Garden", the first thought that sprang to my mind was, "I wish there was a sequel!" So, I was glad to find out there was, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one. However, I would give it 3 1/2 stars, because I think she was a little harsh on the village schoolchildren.
April 17,2025
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Even when the books are similar, I still like her style of writing and her Walden like attitude.
April 17,2025
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This is possibly even better than Elizabeth and her German Garden -- hard to tell, for I read the latter a few years ago, and don't remember too much, except liking it a great deal. But The Solitary Summer is so perfect, I assume it must be better.

"Everybody must love something, and I know of no objects of love that give such substantial and unfailing returns as books and a garden." [Yes, everybody quotes this particular passage!] Oh, kindred spirit. It's just as well fate saw to it that von Armin and I were not to share the same world, or I would have been bound to make an awful nuisance of myself.
April 17,2025
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Gorgeous book - I enjoyed it even more than her first 'Elizabeth and her German Garden'.
Another 14 still to go in my anthology of von Arnim's work, so looking forward to them.

I saved the dandelions and daisies on that occasion, and I like to believe they know it. They certainly look very jolly when I come out, and I rather fancy the dandelions dig each other in their little ribs when they see me, and whisper, “Here comes Elizabeth; she’s a good sort, ain’t she?” — for of course dandelions do not express themselves very elegantly.

...everybody will have what they never yet have had, a certain amount of that priceless boon, leisure — leisure to sit down and look at themselves, and inquire what it is they really mean, and really want, and really intend to do with their lives. And this, I may observe, is a beneficial process wholly impossible on 100 pounds a year divided by eight.
April 17,2025
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Beautifully written and follows on from Elizabeth And Her German Garden.
Books and flowers what more could you want?
I loved it.
April 17,2025
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could have been more solitary; but the perfect way for me to say farewell to summer.
April 17,2025
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It was fun to read a book about summer and gardens and hot weather on the last few days of the year.

"I must be by myself for once a whole summer through," I repeated, looking around at these things with a feeling of hardly being able to bear their beauty, and the beauty of the starry sky, and the beauty of the silence and the scent - "I must be alone, so that I shall not miss one of these wonders, and have leisure really to live."

I just love Elizabeth von Arnim's writing style. It's inspiring as well as funny and there are so many good quotes. There isn't really a plot in this book - it's about her musings while she's in her garden, about books she's read and people she's met, and conversations with her husband the "Man of Wrath" which I find hilarious.

"It is always best to allow a woman to do as she likes if you can, and it saves a good deal of bother. To have what she desired is generally an effective punishment." - The Man of Wrath being cheeky

Some of it is sobering and not as fun, such as accounts of the impoverished people around them in 1899 and the rights of women especially. But that's what makes it great - von Arnim has such a way with words that you can still learn to appreciate the beauty in life, even alongside the suffering.

How can you make a person happy against his will? You can knock a great deal into him ... but if you try for ever you will not knock any happiness into a being who has not got it in him to be happy. The only result probably would be that you knock your own out of yourself. Obviously happiness must come from within, and not from without.

It's also always fun to read a book that has been written by a book-lover. She writes for pages about all of her favourite books and I love it. (And even Jane Austen is listed in her favourite books!)

What a blessing it is to love books. Everybody must love something, and I know of no objects of love that give such substantial and unfailing returns as books and a garden.

All I want is to read quietly the books that I at present prefer.

Then of course some golden nuggets of advice:

The less a person knows, the more certain he is that he is right, and ... no weapons yet invented are of any use in a struggle with stupidity.

Experience has taught me that whenever anything is on the tip of my tongue the best thing to do is to keep it there.

And when talking about her garden:

It has been and will be more and more a place of joys, a place of lessons, a place of health, a place of miracles, and a place of sure and never-changing peace.

It makes one so healthy to live in a garden, so healthy in mind as well as body.
April 17,2025
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Elizabeth Von Arnim is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. Nothing much happens, the novel is all her reflections of a summer spent in her country home with just her husband and children, and of course her garden. The descriptions are magical, she is really witty and I really enjoyed it. I read part of it outside in my own garden (not as big or beautiful as hers, enjoying the sun and listening to the birds. She inspired me to go out for a walk in the country lanes and woodland of my village, the first time I have been out apart from work since self isolation and social distancing began. It was wonderful to see the carpet of bluebells in the woods and take in the beautiful perfume of them. I agree with Elizabeth that nature truly lifts your spirits.
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