The Oak Papers

November 1, 2020
A daily journal in the company of an oak tree. Canton, who teaches a masters course in "wild writing" at the University of Essex, is keen to locate the connections among literature, landscape, and the environment. But unlike his countryman Robert Macfarlane, Canton takes a more ethereal approach. In his latest book, he explores the strange sense of attachment he has to an 800-year-old tree known as the Honywood Oak on the Marks Hall Estate in northern Essex, in whose embrace he finds calm and contentment. The author reveres oaks above all, showcasing an appealing but excessively Romantic appreciation for these stately trees and ascribing to them significant powers and cognitive abilities. He gazes at old stumps and mourns felled oaks as if they were divine eminences, lending them a spiritual aura. Canton is highly observant, especially of bird species, and his descriptions are often lovely, but they also sometimes take on a purple hue. Within the umbra of the tree, inside the drip line, he is all giddy fascination, bewitched. While his enchantment is initially contagious, it becomes tiresome. Canton deals with the same tree for 120 consecutive pages, ruminating in a repetitive monologue before finally turning his gaze to another tree. The author is more engaging when he comes down from the canopy to relate the history of humanity's relationship with oaks in shipbuilding and construction as well as literature and myth. When he confines himself to history and custom, the text is absorbing, with echoes of Walden. "Was there a time in some ancient prehistoric world when the creatures did not flee before us?" he asks. "Was there a time when humans did not strike fear and alarm into the natural world around them?" Canton is highly literate though rather at pains to show it. Eventually, even he begins to question his insistence on anthropomorphizing, which he does too often. Canton's enthusiasm is admirable, but his roots tend to tangle.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2020

In a time of spiritual and relational upheaval, Canton (Univ. of Essex; Ancient Wonderings) writes a meditative reflection on the permanence of trees in a transitory world. He particularly seeks solace with a venerable 800-year-old Honywood Oak tree in North Essex. This tree, and a handful of others, beckons to him over a number of years. Getting to know the trees compels him to slow the pace of his life in order to fully understand the true wonder of the trees' existence. As his fascination with the tree grows, Canton seeks out others who are enamored with the tree, ranging from experienced woodsmen to artists and furniture makers. He researches texts, both ancient and new, from Druidic lore to the work of modern scientists whose research into mycelial networks strongly indicate that trees communicate with one another. His study of folklore and historical accounts in order to better understand the close relationship between humans and trees is especially powerful. VERDICT An entirely understated but overwhelmingly thoughtful book that seeks to remind us of the deep history that humankind shares with trees. For all interested in learning more about how we interact with nature, past and present.--Brian Renvall, Mesalands Community Coll., Tucumcari, NM

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2020
In the opening pages, British writer Canton hints at an emotional upheaval that led him to seek solace in nature. On a whim, he sought out the Honywood oak, an 800-year-old tree in north Essex and learned of its singular ecological importance as well as the story of the great forest that once surrounded it. Eventually, Canton sought out more oaks closer to his home while immersing himself in the works of Dante, Homer, Eliot, Woolf, Tolstoy, and other literary giants who wrote about trees. The author finds comfort in their poems and fiction and feels a kinship with those who share his veneration of oaks. As he talks to individuals who study and protect these revered trees, he returns always to the unfathomable degree of peace the oaks provide. Knitting together so many realms touched by the trees, from literature to history to biology, Canton has written a modern rumination that reads like a classic. His message is timeless: in periods of great chaos, the stately oak is a center of strength one can truly hold on to.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.