Customer Reviews

French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"French Lessons" is a warm memoir of the author's year long sojourn in a rural village in Southern France. Unlike the recollections of other foreign visitors who have written of their experiences in France, Goodman gives scant attention to the region's food or wine.

Goodman's tale is primarily spiritual -- the satisfaction he derives from communing with nature as a gardener, and his persistent efforts to gain acceptance and approval from this close knit, closed community of French farmers. The book is reminiscent of Chris Stewart's "Driving Over Lemons" in the latter respect.

Goodman's passion about his gardening experiences does become a bit cloying, and is somewhat saccarine, with almost forced profundity. A passage where he describes getting emotional over cutting bamboo, for example, definitely makes your teeth hurt. Although I derive a considerable amount of satisfaction from gardening myself, I found Goodman's anecdotes somewhat breathless and gushing, particularly his striving to "measure up" in the eyes of a helpful, friendly, apparently very strong 20 year old named Jules.

This is a pleasant book; however, I expected more, in light of the potential. "French Dirt" is mostly a recollection of Goodman's spiritual journey devoting himself to a garden one summer.

... this book is a pleasure for the senses and a gentle adventure for the spirit, chronicling the author's year in Southern France and his dream of raising a garden there. It's part travelogue, part gardener's journal, part pilgrimmage and wholly enjoyable. A feast of a book!

Richard Goodman and his Dutch girlfriend Iggy rent a two hundred year old stone house in the south of France for a year. Located in a small village of about 200 without a cafe, store or any kind of city center, they have a tough time figuring out how to connect with the locals. They do make one set of friends--a Spanish couple also living the expat life there.

But finally Richard decides to trade his labor for some firewood. Through working in the fields he begins to mix with the villagers. He is very much struck by Jules, a handsome 25 year old, and through that relationship eventually secures a small plot of land and determines to grow a vegetable garden.

And that really is the focus of the book. A longtime city dweller, Richard harkens back to the Michigan gardens of his youth and enjoys discovering the adult joys of gardening. Sometimes the writing gets to be a bit much--pretty sappy. And, if the truth be told, Richard isn't really very good at growing his garden. But the rivalries among the other village gardeners, the disparate and conflicting advice he receives and the hours spent in the sun tending his garden make this a light, likable read. And truly any book set in the south of France makes for a relaxing summer read!

This delightful short novel explores the author (an American) and his girlfriend's endeavors to cultivate friends and fruit in the south of France. I found myself walking alongside Richard as he introduced himself to his first real friend, Monsier Vasquez, as he binged on plant buying, as he picked his first vegetable. His description of the prank in which one of the least likely villagers placed perfect red, ripe tomatoes in his garden in early June was hilarious. For anyone wanting to experience living in a small French village this book vividly plants you there!

I borrowed this book from a library a few years ago and haven't seen it since. During the two weeks I had it, I walked around the house repeating Richard Goodman's pungent phrases, causing my roommate to wonder what I was babbling about "crisp, dirty carrots". His imagery brings his garden to life before your eyes. Now that I am a gardener myself, I appreciate his vision and his bright words more than ever. A real jewel for anyone who enjoys gardening or France.

This book is a prime example of a first-person account gone wrong. The main problem is that Goodman is just too self-aware to give us any unfiltered view of his experience.

Goodman agonizes over his gardening decisions, and tries to present himself as a humble student of the people of the village. But beneath a thin layer of humility lies a gargantuan ego that rears its head on every page.

By his own account, Goodman pesters locals for help, advice, and affirmation at every turn. After prevailing on a couple of new friends and acquaintances for a lot of help, he abandons the effort and moves back to America before the season is even completely over. He doesn't even seem to recognize that this might be unfair to the people who have helped him in various ways.

More importantly are the glaring omissions and gaps. Goodman's relationship with girlfriend Iggy is probably the most important thing in his life during the time the story takes place, but we never get a sense of how that relationship progresses from seemingly functional to rocky to over. He's happy and willing to speculate on the gossip surrounding the locals, but he won't share the dirt on himself. Indeed, some passages read like a passive-aggressive appeal to his now-ex, either wooing her back or shifting blame away from himself.

Goodman does do one thing right, and that is to give a very interesting window into the life and people of the tiny French village. But too often, that window is spoiled by the images of Goodman fawning over the locals, practically begging them for affirmation that he is a member of their little community (which, of course, he isn't).

So, I can't really recommend this book. The writing is not honest, the protagonist is not likable, and the garden itself is too transient to accumulate any weight.

I'm sort of a new gardener- I began a little garden about a year ago and now I'm out there about two hours every day tending and pruning and planting and talking to all my plants. So while I'm no expert, I'm certainly aware of how quickly a garden can become an incredible source of joy (and disappointment), and how easy it is to become enchanted by everything that grows within its boundaries.

When I first began reading "French Dirt" I was a tiny bit disappointed and confused because I expected that it was going to be a in-depth memoir about one man's move to France and all the details involved with obtaining his little plot of land, getting it set up, etc. I expected complete and thorough characters and information.

However, a few chapters into the book I fell into its sweet and soothing rhythm- each chapter is sort of a short story about a detail of Richard Goodman's garden, whether it be the process of planting his first few seedlings, how he managed to water his garden, his neighbors in France, snails (and the mysterious woman that shows up to collect them), and the weather.

This isn't a detail oriented book- in fact, when I first started reading I didn't have much urge to pick up the book between chapters because there wasn't much of a narrative thread to hold on to. But when I finally just gave in and sat with the book (compact and brief) for an entire afternoon, I fell madly in love with Goodman's little garden, his devotion to cultivating the things inside it, and all the neighbors who helped along the way. There's no scientific information about the particular varieties of plants Goodman placed in his soil besides the bare minimum (American melons vs. French melons, tomatoes, etc.) and no details about soil chemistry, etc. I'm not deep enough into gardening that I *needed* to have those details, but some who are much more experienced might really find that a negative thing.

However, if you are aware of how enchanting the smallest garden can be, you will love this book. It's a cozy, sweet, and comforting read- a love letter to a small garden which provided Goodman with months of well-being and years of memories.

As May came to Wellsboro, I longed for the smell of fresh air and the feel of my hands in the dirt. Reading Richard Goodman's "French Dirt" satisfied me when my garden efforts were stymied. An account of an American who eventually gets to know his new neighbors in a small village in France, I think "French Dirt" is better than the more well-known books by Peter Mayle.

Editor,"Of A Predatory Heart"

Beautiful writing, and a delight to read. You will go back to it over and over again!

What a lovely visit to France. I enjoyed Goodman's honest appraoch to this book. It was like having a conversation. As a fairly advid gardener myself, I especially enjoyed the discussion of his garden. The people he encounters seem quite genuine and true to nature. Sometimes, it's inspiring to live in a foreign land--- even if for just a handful of hours.