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jmercury's review against another edition
4.0
Part biography, part natural history text, part detective novel, all fun. Magdalena is lucky to be living such an incredible life doing great work in service of plants and people. He loses a star for his writing being competent but not thrilling, but this book is worth a read anyway if you're interested in conservation, plants, and survivors on the edges of the world.
maddiehansen's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
The narrative arc felt lacking there wasn’t a real connection between the locations/stories. Seemed torn between a field guide, memoir, and travel log. Was disappointed with the air of colonialism in the “we at Kew know how to do everything better” air especially when talking about Peru and the communities there.
ajayasranna's review against another edition
4.0
Imagine, for a moment, the full import of the word "extinct". An entire species, permanently snuffed out of existence on the only habitable planet in the universe that we know. While we mostly picture exotic animals in our mind's eye when we hear the word 'endangered', there are thousands of species of plants, teetering on the edge, pushed to their limits due to human interference. Enter Carlos Magdalena, promising another kind of human interference in the opposite direction. The book opens with a fascinating account of how Carlos works works on the last cafe' marron plant in Mauritius and brings it back to life from the prospect of extinction. He repeats the feat with the Nymphae Thermarum thanks to his obsessive, creative and brave approach. One understand the travails and difficulties in propagating stubborn species and the ingenuity involved in some of these endeavours. I learnt that there are many plant species that have stopped reproducing in the wild. I also learn about some mavericks of the plant world- like some Nymphae night flowering species which are female on the first day of blooming but soon turn male on the second night. Or the dragon orchid , the Drakea ,which mimics the female of particular wasp, going as far as secreting a pheromone to attract the male wasp, who are tricked into mating what they think is a female wasp but instead end up pollinating the orchid.
This is an important book. We could all do with some inspiration to conserve and preserve before it is too late. A real eye opener.
This is an important book. We could all do with some inspiration to conserve and preserve before it is too late. A real eye opener.
orangecardboard's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable stories, but far too much Latin and the expectance of being able to pronounce and remember plants names. This great detail pulled away from enjoying the stories and lessons that were trying to be taught.
There are some great facts and moments to be remembered and taken away but by the end I couldn't remember the detail in most of them.
The more I progressed the less I bonded.
I couldn't fathom whether this was a biography, an encyclopedia or a set of tales with occasional comedic value. It was all of them, but it needed not to be for it to drive as a compelling read.
I'm happy to have read it, I just wish I took more of it onboard.
There are some great facts and moments to be remembered and taken away but by the end I couldn't remember the detail in most of them.
The more I progressed the less I bonded.
I couldn't fathom whether this was a biography, an encyclopedia or a set of tales with occasional comedic value. It was all of them, but it needed not to be for it to drive as a compelling read.
I'm happy to have read it, I just wish I took more of it onboard.
cmarie2794's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
concertconfetti's review against another edition
The narrator for the audiobook reads in an extremely even monotone and I could not focus on any of the information being read to me.