Customer Reviews

The Landscape Diaries: Garden of Obsession

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Got so engrossed that I read it in one sitting while in my own garden.

This book goes fast. It is breezy and full of beautiful pictures of gardens that the author has created. There is enough anecdote about the author's life to make it fun, and it provides a fascinating glimpse of life in the world of estate gardens. Wish there had been more about bonsai.

I read this book in one sitting and have spent many hours on the photo's. Gayatri's story is romantic and inspiring and the photos are beautiful. I have had to replace the copy in my office because it was badly worn by frequent use, so I know many others are enjoying it as well. I am giving it as Christmas gifts this year.

Beautifully illustrated throughout with 115 pages of truly impressive color photography, "The Landscape Diaries: Garden Of Obsession" by Gayatri Carole Rocherolle combines 18 pages of preliminary material with 172 pages of engaging and informative text showcasing a personal memoir of a woman and her husband's twenty-year focus on the development of the Steinhardt Gardens in Bedford, New York --private garden comprising 54-acres of land that includes ponds, bridges, 400 cultivars of lovely Japanese Maples, exotic animals, and more. Through a series of wonderfully written vignettes, "The Landscape Diaries" reveals what it was like for Carole to runaway to Europe at the age of twenty to marry the man who would become her husband, meeting her French relatives for the first time, selling plants from a deli parking lot, starting a business, developing a fascination with bonsai, going through an unintentional quarantined plant scare. "The Landscape Diaries" is a personal autobiography that is especially recommended to the attention of gardeners, landscapers, and anyone who has aspired to create a horticultural wonderland of their own.

From the wonderful photo on the cover, I expected a beautiful photographic exploration of an award winning garden. What I didn't expect was a story I couldn't put down! When was the last time you read a gardening book in two sittings? Nope, I can't think of another either.

This book is more than just a book about a garden. The landscape photos will ensure that this book stays out for guests to enjoy; if they want to read the story, then they'll have to buy their own.

I've been visiting and learning from Shanti Bithi's bonsai collection for many years. Now I know the whole story of the love, passion and a drive for excellence that created the beautiful "Garden of Obsession."

A marvelous book, filled with beautiful pictures! The accompanying text by itself is worth the price - a delightfully written love story. Unique garden design ideas abound, despite the author's keeping the how-to information to an absolute minimum. For the literary-minded, the property that is the subject of the "landscape" part of this wonderful book was once owned by Theodore Dreiser of "Sister Carrie" fame. I have had the pleasure of visiting this estate in the course of my own work, and the photos in the book make me realize that it has been too long, and I must go again soon!

For as long as the concept of beauty has been in our vocabulary, so too has the fascination with trying to define it. While many may be unable to provide a concrete definition, recognizing beauty is easy. The Landscape Diaries: Garden of Obsession illustrates and exemplifies this point. When the book arrived, packed in dreary brown cardboard, I was overwhelmed to open the package and see such a stunning gem inside. The cover itself is just breathtaking. I immediately looked through all the photographs and was so intrigued I read the entire book that night. Along with the beautiful pictures is a profound and inspiring love story including partner, children, nature, work, and pursuit of self.

After I finished reading this book, I kept thinking how many people would enjoy it. When I started deciding whom to recommend it to, I realized that I couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy it.

Instead of going on to read another book, I re-read a favorite poem of mine, "Ode on a Grecian Urn", by John Keats. The last lines of the poem are: " `Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' -- that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." That quote describes this delightful book since much of it reads like insightful, intriguing, provocative and, well, beautiful poetry. Bravo!