Josef Capek – illustratör

From the internationally acclaimed Czech writer Karel Capek comes this beautifully written and marvelously apt account of the trials and tribulations of the gardener’s life. First published in Prague in 1929, The Gardener’s Year combines a richly comic portrait of life in the garden, narrated month by month, with a series of delightful illustrations by the author’s older brother and collaborator, Josef. Capek’s gardeners—all too human, despite their lofty aspirations—often look the fool, whether they be found sopping wet, victims of the cobralike water hose, or hunched over, hands immersed in the soil, “presenting their rumps to the splendid azure sky.” In their repeated folly, Capek gives us not only cause for laughter but also, in the end, “testimony of the imperishable and miraculous optimism of the human race.” This Modern Library edition is published with a new Introduction by Verlyn Klinkenborg, a New York Times editorialist and the author of Making Hay and The Last Fine Time.

"This very entertaining volume with its delightfully humorous pictures should be read by all gardeners." — Nature. An internationally renowned Czech author presents a richly comic portrait of a year in the life of an amateur horticulturist. Rather than a how-to book, Karel Capek's volume offers a lighthearted mock-treatise on the pains and rewards of tending a small and resistant garden plot that will amuse readers with and without green thumbs.

Karel Capek, author of the acclaimed War with the Newts, is one of the great Czechoslovak writers of the twentieth century. These fairy tales bear Capek's combination of the fantastic and the satirical, offering fairies, elves, and talking animals alongside references to detectives, secret police agents, luxury automobiles, and Hollywood starlets. Filled with the delight of language, dazzling wordplay, a sense of absurdity about the so-called adult world, and a deeply humane vision, these witty stories will appeal to readers of all ages.

It is seldom that a practical guide to gardening attains the level of a literary masterpiece, still more seldom that a book on gardening can amuse and instruct even those who have no garden to plant, nor the faintest interest in acquiring one The Gardener's Year is a characteristic product of Karel Capek's genius: amusing, informative, and full of a quizzical interest in people, animals and plants. In this new version Geoffrey Newsome - the highly acclaimed translator of Capek's witty Letters from England - has captured the grace and irony of the original Czech, to produce a volume that will be treasured equally by those who love gardening as a relaxation, by those who loathe it as a chore, and by those who have no interest in it whatsoever. This edition includes the original illustrations by the painter Josef Capek, the author's brother, who collaborated with Karel on many artistic projects.

The Gardener’s Year is a charming and light-hearted insight into the life of an amateur gardener. Structured loosely around what to plant, grow or cultivate each month, Karel Capek takes us on a rollicking journey through a year in his own small garden.Complete and unabridged. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features lively black and white illustrations by Czech artist Josef Capek and is translated by M. and R. Weatherall.From making puddles with an untamable hose to sowing luxuriant weeds instead of grass, Capek reveals how a gardener grows into his surroundings ‘spurred on by each new failure’. Subverting the tradition of a ‘how to’ gardening book, he teaches his readers about the magic of seeds, the perils of planting vegetables and the thrilling surprises of a rock garden. As the year progresses and frail buds turn from flowering stems to drooping bulbs and falling leaves, Capek’s small garden buzzes with life, wisdom and humour.