When there is silence in the garden


In addition to her place of residence in Amsterdam, the writer Pauline de Bok has also lived on a remote and dilapidated farm in Mecklenburg for many years. In the book »The Silence of the Frogs« (which is reminiscent of the title of the bestselling thriller »The Silence of the Lambs«), she describes her personal experiences in nature there. In the Dutch original, the work is called »De Poel« (The Pool), which describes the content much better. The German translation in the subtitle “Notes from a Biotope in Transition” succeeded. The author had already published a book about her life in nature in Mecklenburg in 2009 and described her hunting experiences in detail in another book in 2018.

Vivid descriptions of nature

This title follows on from this, it repeats many of the observations already described and takes the reader into a world away from civilization, in which animals and plants are the focus. The author not only provides lively descriptions of nature and the environment, but also documents the problems that are currently emerging. Climate change as a result of global warming and the extinction of species are evident in many of de Bok’s observations: plants change their growth, animals disappear from the environment. All of this is worrying.

Over a period of one and a half years, the author observes the changing of the seasons and the birds, insects and amphibians. Raccoons or wild boars are hunted, and the lives of deer, foxes and rabbits are described. In this way, readers gain a clear impression of long-term change. The small pond in the center of the book has temporarily dried up, the bark beetles, which are multiplying unchecked, infest a spruce stand, which therefore has to be cut down.

A lot is also changing for people, because the period described falls at the beginning of the corona pandemic. There are contact restrictions and it is not so easy for foreigners to stay in Mecklenburg. Everyday things like shopping or repairing her car are among the small problems that the author reports on.



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