Status
Checked out
Due 29 May 2023
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Description
Twenty years ago Chelsea Green published the first trade edition of The Man Who Planted Trees, a timeless eco-fable about what one person can do to restore the earth. The hero of the story, Elzéard Bouffier, spent his life planting one hundred acorns a day in a desolate, barren section of Provence in the south of France. The result was a total transformation of the landscape-from one devoid of life, with miserable, contentious inhabitants, to one filled with the scent of flowers, the songs of birds, and fresh, flowing water. Since our first publication, the book has sold over a quarter of a million copies and inspired countless numbers of people around the world to take action and plant trees. On National Arbor Day, April 29, 2005, Chelsea Green released a special twentieth anniversary edition with a new foreword by Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the African Green Belt Movement.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member appaloosaman
This beautifully printed book pays homage to one of the greatest short stories in literature. It is a true "world story" that can speak to any person from any generation. If you don't know it - read it.
LibraryThing member sarah-e
A lovely story of a person who finds his own personal happiness in nature and hard work, not in the noble fruits of his labor. I wish it was longer! I really enjoyed this little book and I think anyone would like reading it.
LibraryThing member juliette07
The Guardian asked authors to name the books they’d most like to pass on to the next generation. The wonderful Michael Morpurgo chose this little volume illustrated with woodcuts claiming it is 'a book for children from 8 to 80'. So I was drawn to read this short book and I was mesmerised. A
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further draw was the setting of the Provemce region in France but this allegorical short story was not reliant upon one place. It is the story of one man dedicated to planting trees, a story of hope as one man makes a difference. The truths therein were universal and of universal appeal - so simple yet so profound I agree wholeheartefly with Michael Morpurgo's choice. Show Less
LibraryThing member goose114
Giono tells the story of a man who was able to change an area – its landscape and inhabitants through the planting of trees. This is a wonderful short story that has a huge impact. One man was able to find happiness and change his surrounding through a simple action and patience is inspiring. My
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edition had an afterward that I would recommend people read. It talks more about the author and how this story came about. Show Less
LibraryThing member Widsith
This slender Provençal parable was – bizarrely – originally composed for a Reader's Digest competition which asked people to write about ‘The most unforgettable character I've met’. Giono's response was to produce this simple, bucolic tale about a lone shepherd who takes it upon himself to
The landscape which, at the start of the story in the 1910s, is desolate and bleak, has become by the end, in the late 1940s, a sort of rural paradise of lush woodland, running streams, and happy red-cheeked villagers. It's a narrative with obvious ecological appeal, as well as carrying a message of humanist hopefulness:
Quand on se souvenait que tout était sorti des mains et de l'âme de cet homme, sans moyens techniques, on comprenait que les hommes pourraient être aussi efficaces que Dieu dans d'autres domaines que la destruction.
The contrast with destruction is important, since the narrative is twice interrupted – significantly, if discreetly – by world wars. Giono himself fought at Verdun, and found naturally enough that the experience had made him a committed pacifist. (He took this position pretty far, famously asking in 1937, ‘What's the worst that could happen if Germany does invade France?’) The simple, easy prose style turns this stance into something that feels timeless, like a fable.
In contrast to the dark ambiguity of the classic pre-modern legends and fairytales, I find that modern myths often have a sort of clunking unsubtlety to them – Paolo Coelho, for example. This is nowhere near that bad, but I must admit I'm a little cautious about a story whose conclusion is that ‘malgré tout, la condition humaine est admirable’, which perhaps risks encouraging a little too much complacency in the reader. Then again, sometimes you need a bit of encouragement, and certainly this short story has a message to deliver and captures the landscape of Haute Provence with great sensitivity.
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plant trees singlehandedly across vast swathes of the Provençal Alps.The landscape which, at the start of the story in the 1910s, is desolate and bleak, has become by the end, in the late 1940s, a sort of rural paradise of lush woodland, running streams, and happy red-cheeked villagers. It's a narrative with obvious ecological appeal, as well as carrying a message of humanist hopefulness:
Quand on se souvenait que tout était sorti des mains et de l'âme de cet homme, sans moyens techniques, on comprenait que les hommes pourraient être aussi efficaces que Dieu dans d'autres domaines que la destruction.
The contrast with destruction is important, since the narrative is twice interrupted – significantly, if discreetly – by world wars. Giono himself fought at Verdun, and found naturally enough that the experience had made him a committed pacifist. (He took this position pretty far, famously asking in 1937, ‘What's the worst that could happen if Germany does invade France?’) The simple, easy prose style turns this stance into something that feels timeless, like a fable.
In contrast to the dark ambiguity of the classic pre-modern legends and fairytales, I find that modern myths often have a sort of clunking unsubtlety to them – Paolo Coelho, for example. This is nowhere near that bad, but I must admit I'm a little cautious about a story whose conclusion is that ‘malgré tout, la condition humaine est admirable’, which perhaps risks encouraging a little too much complacency in the reader. Then again, sometimes you need a bit of encouragement, and certainly this short story has a message to deliver and captures the landscape of Haute Provence with great sensitivity.
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LibraryThing member FCEFYC
Teachers resources for Instructions and Lessons on Partnership to Earth, Specifically on Trees.
LibraryThing member bell7
This short story is almost a fable. The unnamed narrator is traveling little-known mountain villages in France, and comes across a wasteland in 1913. He meets a shepherd, Elzéard Bouffier, who roams around planting trees, and this small act of kindness causes amazing rejuvenation.
I read the
I read the
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anniversary edition with lovely wood engraving illustrations by Michael McCurdy. It's a feel-good sort of story that the author himself hoped would inspire others to plant trees, and my town is reading it as a community read this month. If you enjoy stories about conservation, you may give this a try - and it is very short, so it will not take long - though it was a little preachy for my taste. The added content in this edition with information on planting/growing trees and national (and international) resources will be a bonus for anyone who is inspired to plant. Show Less
LibraryThing member auntmarge64
A parable in the form of a sweet, simple novella, in which a hermit shepherd spends years planting hundreds of thousands of tree seeds, in the process rejuvenating an entire ecosystem.
LibraryThing member JESGalway
An Irish version of :L'homme qui plantait des arbres under a generous man, sheep shepherd such as placing trees and changing a country that was everywhere, bred and without a soul. A story suitable for teenagers, in particular. Pictures from the beginning with Willi Glasauer.
LibraryThing member nancyadair
A lovely fable about how one humble man changed his world by planting trees.
LibraryThing member HippieLunatic
Yes, this is a fantastic story about the impact one man has on the environment, how dedication and simple acts can indeed make a difference.
Beyond that, though, is the lesson that we get from the Narrator himself. Find inspiration. Find awe. Recognize strength where no one else sees it.
Beyond that, though, is the lesson that we get from the Narrator himself. Find inspiration. Find awe. Recognize strength where no one else sees it.