John Stewart Collis (1900–1984)

John Stewart Collins is best known for his book, The Worm Forgives the Plough, which is an account of his time spent working as a farm labourer in the Land Army in Sussex and Dorset. Whilst in Tarrant Hinton, Dorset he was asked to clear and thin an ash wood using only an axe and bill hook.

It was while undertaking these simple and repetitive tasks that he considered the wood around him in the context of the natural world and how being outside daily meant that you could sense the imperceptible change of the seasons throughout the year.

This short volume is an extract from The Worm Forgives the Plough with a focus on the woodland work. I really enjoyed this, as he writes in a very gentle way, enjoying the manual labour while bringing the woodland back to some semblance of order, but his perception of what is happening around his is razor-sharp. Must read his other book at some point.… (meer)

During WWII, John Stewart Collis (who was 40 at the time and a WWI veteran) managed a forest in Dorset as his job in the land army. His assignment included thinning the forest and cutting ash trees (an internet search suggests these were used in making airplane wings). This is a short collection of his musings from that time--mostly about the work he did, but also on nature and forests, and also a few on people. Although I enjoyed this in general, I could only read a few pages at a time because there is no narrative whatsoever, and really no characters either. Just a collection of thoughts and observations.

The 108 pages of this book are an excerpt from his book The Worm Forgives the Plough.

Recommended for: most people won't want to read a book so utterly lacking in story. However, if you are a nemophilist (a haunter of woods; one who loves the forest and its beauty and solitude) or are addicted to waldeinsankeit (the feeling of being alone in the woods), you will probably like this book very much indeed. (BTW - I recently learned those two words and jotted them down, and now look--they came in handy!).… (meer)