Ebook: Modern Nature

Controversial British filmmaker Jarman's third published journal more than matches the extraordinary quality of Dancing Ledge ( LJ 5/15/93) and At Your Own Risk ( LJ 12/92). This memoir covers 1989 and 1990. Diagnosed as HIV-positive four year earlier, Jarman tells of how he occupied himself with his garden at a cottage on the coast of Dungeness. Mixed with his descriptions of planting are fascinating bits of plant and flower lore. The author looks back to his childhood and the schools of the 1960s--as they actually were, instead of how the current nostalgia craze paints them. Candid, critical, and moving, Jarman uses words as skillfully as he does images in film, to evoke a scene or make a point. Though the abrupt ending leaves the reader hanging, this is a rare and marvelous book.