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Still Water: The Deep Life of the Pond
The Times and Irish BEST NATURE BOOKS OF THE YEARGreat nature writing needs to be informative, detailed, accurate, lyrical, and, above all, to instil a sense of gratitude and wonder. John Lewis-Stempel succeeds in all these things triumphantly. From amorous toads to the eye-popping mating habits of water boatmen, a magical celebration of pond life by one of our finest, most evocative nature writers.' Daily Mail small bodies of water, both naturally formed and artificial, home to wondrous, multitudinous life-forms. Ponds define our frogspawn, goldfish, feeding the ducks, but also our village life, our farms, our landscape. And they are multi-layered - from carp circling the bottom to water boatmen, coot, and birds dragonflies overhead. In Still Water, John immerses himself in the murky depths, both literarily and figuratively, to explore the still waters of the British countryside through each month of the year.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 4, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
April 19, 2019
“Ponds. What’s not to like?” Lewis-Stempel publishes way too much; I’d prefer a well-honed, concise yet brimming nature memoir from him every few years rather than a loose, free-association one on a narrow theme once or twice a year. But there’s no denying he’s made a tidy little industry of writing about his Shropshire farm and its surroundings. Here he compares his local pond with one in Argenton, western France, where he’s gone to look into organic agriculture. He describes the pond and its creatures in all seasons through a one-year diary format. A helpful appendix tells you how to create your own garden pond. My favorite incident was rescuing a cow from the pond by creating a ramp of bulrushes and then pulling her out with a tractor.
April 3, 2020
1 Star
DNF
Giving up. Partly this is my fault for not researching enough what type of book this is. Partly the author's fault for writing pretentious overly-lyrical streams of consciousness with no actual underlying content.
This is not a book about ponds. This is the edited day-to-day diary of a navel-gazing farmer who has gone back through it and selected all the days that contain the word 'pond' and sent them off to a publisher. I forced myself quarter the way through it and have learned absolutely nothing about ponds but been subjected to overwrought descriptions a plenty, reams of quoted poetry, and a cow being described (grossly) as 'buxom'.
I am fucking out.
Taking any other books this guy has written off my wishlist. Not entirely sure from this why on earth he's such a big name in nature writing.
DNF
Giving up. Partly this is my fault for not researching enough what type of book this is. Partly the author's fault for writing pretentious overly-lyrical streams of consciousness with no actual underlying content.
This is not a book about ponds. This is the edited day-to-day diary of a navel-gazing farmer who has gone back through it and selected all the days that contain the word 'pond' and sent them off to a publisher. I forced myself quarter the way through it and have learned absolutely nothing about ponds but been subjected to overwrought descriptions a plenty, reams of quoted poetry, and a cow being described (grossly) as 'buxom'.
I am fucking out.
Taking any other books this guy has written off my wishlist. Not entirely sure from this why on earth he's such a big name in nature writing.
September 8, 2019
Every village of any note used to have its church, pub and pond, but it has been a long while since I have seen a pond in a village, and even though some have become clogged with silt, there are still a substantial number left. Even a small pond can support a surprising amount of life. There are the obvious frogs and toads and the other amphibians, but on top of that, there are all the insects and invertebrates, leeches, and all manner of birdlife. Mammals too rely on ponds for water and opportunities to eat some of the other wildlife there.
A pond is Bigger than a puddle and smaller than a lake and John Lewis-Stempel is fortunate to have a pond on his farm in Hereford, and he begins this book from a frogs eye view while swimming in there. This book takes us from the layers of mud and silt at the bottom that protects all manner of creatures in the depths of winter, past the plants and the insects that feed there to the surface and the creatures that stop by for the life-giving water. He slips a small amount of that water onto a slide and sees the world that the first naturalists first saw through a microscope.
This is another very readable book by Lewis-Stempel. He mixes in prose and poetry and I liked the seasonal / diary format of the book and the way he compared the aquatic life in France with the pond on his farm in Hereford. I did feel that this wasn’t quite as good as his previous books, though that said, he has a very high bar to reach each time. Still worth reading though for his beautiful prose and sharp observations.
A pond is Bigger than a puddle and smaller than a lake and John Lewis-Stempel is fortunate to have a pond on his farm in Hereford, and he begins this book from a frogs eye view while swimming in there. This book takes us from the layers of mud and silt at the bottom that protects all manner of creatures in the depths of winter, past the plants and the insects that feed there to the surface and the creatures that stop by for the life-giving water. He slips a small amount of that water onto a slide and sees the world that the first naturalists first saw through a microscope.
This is another very readable book by Lewis-Stempel. He mixes in prose and poetry and I liked the seasonal / diary format of the book and the way he compared the aquatic life in France with the pond on his farm in Hereford. I did feel that this wasn’t quite as good as his previous books, though that said, he has a very high bar to reach each time. Still worth reading though for his beautiful prose and sharp observations.
April 21, 2021
Do you ever read a passage and think that it sounds similar to when you did some creative writing exercise at school? See, with hindsight and reading back your old work, it's often a pained experience. Why? Often, you were using every writing mechanism known to man, every cliché was handed out on the paper, every alliteration ect.
Back to the book, I often felt that he wrote well, and then would ruin it by putting a 'Single Line Observation' that was a little forced, it may just be me, but a bit amateurish?
In short, I think John tried too hard here. Often deviated too much from the subject, and insipid when entering into discourse about ponds. I learnt a fair bit about 'The Pond' but its title should been 'A Vague Story of Assorted ponds, with little to no Substance.'
Maybe I wanted something that this book wasn't offering, and that's my fault.
Anyhow, not for me.
Back to the book, I often felt that he wrote well, and then would ruin it by putting a 'Single Line Observation' that was a little forced, it may just be me, but a bit amateurish?
In short, I think John tried too hard here. Often deviated too much from the subject, and insipid when entering into discourse about ponds. I learnt a fair bit about 'The Pond' but its title should been 'A Vague Story of Assorted ponds, with little to no Substance.'
Maybe I wanted something that this book wasn't offering, and that's my fault.
Anyhow, not for me.
August 12, 2023
This book was an arrogant, classist and anthropocentric description of the british countryside.
May 11, 2021
Part nature book, part memoir, part collection of fiction and poems. But all of this is done in a glancing, shallow way. The book is interesting, and quite prettily written, but lacks detail. The author approaches ponds as an owner of them, as if they are nothing without human involvement.
Having grown up around farms, I found his reports on the life of a farmer quite light. The tips on creating a pond are good, but again lack detail. The pond playlist is a nice touch, but does also highlight how much the author relies on other material throughout, as if he is on a deadline and needing content. Overall, this is a very privileged perspective and the author may discover he has more in common with Thoreau if he was capable of deeper introspection.
Having grown up around farms, I found his reports on the life of a farmer quite light. The tips on creating a pond are good, but again lack detail. The pond playlist is a nice touch, but does also highlight how much the author relies on other material throughout, as if he is on a deadline and needing content. Overall, this is a very privileged perspective and the author may discover he has more in common with Thoreau if he was capable of deeper introspection.
March 30, 2021
The star is because I learned that cormorant is from the Latin for sea raven. This book lacks structure, purpose and any description of the many species of plants, insects and birds referenced. Half of the book is about his life on a farm and nothing to do with ponds. It rambles on and has the feeling of someone who has just published his diary notes without reading or editing them beforehand.
November 17, 2020
Drivel, pure unrestrained drivel.
August 1, 2019
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✱ The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood
✱ The Wild Places
✱ Notes From Walnut Tree Farm
✱ Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers
✱ High Tide in Tucson
✱ Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
✱ Swampwalker's Journal: A Wetlands Year
✱ A Naturalist at Large: The Best Essays of Bernd Heinrich
✱ The Wood for the Trees
✱ Life in the Garden
✱ Down to the River and Up to the Trees
✱ Braiding Sweetgrass
✱ The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood
✱ The Wild Places
✱ Notes From Walnut Tree Farm
✱ Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers
✱ High Tide in Tucson
✱ Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
✱ Swampwalker's Journal: A Wetlands Year
✱ A Naturalist at Large: The Best Essays of Bernd Heinrich
✱ The Wood for the Trees
✱ Life in the Garden
✱ Down to the River and Up to the Trees
June 1, 2024
Some nice nature writing but was a bit all over the place. Also not a fan of when he considers shooting random animals?? I liked every part that had a heron in.
December 2, 2020
A better title for this book would be "Farm Diaries of John Lewis-Stempel".
Based on the blurb and title, you would assume this book is all about the wonders of pond life. However, there is surprisingly little about ponds.
Much of the book is about the day to day care of farm animals and, bizarrely, many pretentious poetry quotes.
There is no sense to the format of this book, and it isn't what it claims to be on the cover. A total disappointment.
Based on the blurb and title, you would assume this book is all about the wonders of pond life. However, there is surprisingly little about ponds.
Much of the book is about the day to day care of farm animals and, bizarrely, many pretentious poetry quotes.
There is no sense to the format of this book, and it isn't what it claims to be on the cover. A total disappointment.
January 1, 2020
A defence of farming, not a piece of Nature Writing at all.
January 16, 2022
Good read - informative, not heavy and some humour.
It got me checking and researching a few things and references as I read through the book.
Its also got me planning a pond!
It got me checking and researching a few things and references as I read through the book.
Its also got me planning a pond!
September 15, 2024
Het gemijmer van Lewis-Stempel voelt ironisch genoeg oeverloos. Wat een boeiend boek over vijvers en plassen had kunnen zijn verzandt in talloze zijsporen en irrelevante anekdotes. De omslag is een klein kunstwerk op zich, maar ik weet niet of ik iemand aan zou raden om verder te lezen.
April 30, 2020
Lewis-Stempels’ books are really relaxing to read, though I prefer his book “The wood” over this one.
January 31, 2025
Whilst full of interesting facts about pond life I've given this just 3 stars as not as good or enjoyable as other books by John Lewis-Stempel.
July 25, 2025
Sometimes beautiful, often Tory, always completely structure less
Unfortunately bro is not Roger Deakin
Unfortunately bro is not Roger Deakin
Read
June 25, 2024John Lewis-Stempel is undeniably pretty good at the whole writing about nature lark, but all the same I'm not sure I'd have borrowed this if I hadn't been having a bit of a library dry spell*; hell, I literally have Waterlog at home. And from the off this one gives the impression that unlike eg the great Meadowland, a book you can tell demanded to be written, this might be more a case of Lewis-Stempel needing to do another book and casting around for a topic. Perhaps it's unavoidable to some extent when being in a pond is not always so convenient as being in a meadow or wood**, but especially earlier on the ostensible subject of the book often seems pretty peripheral to the diary entries from which it's assembled, which will concern themselves more with the travails of farming sheep, say, or the life of Scott of the Antarctic's son. Who, yes, had his wetland links (even then - a wetland is not quite the same topic), but the main thing I took from the account is that he was married to Elizabeth Jane Howard before she got mixed up with the Amises. Which, yes, interesting, but not terribly pondtastic, is it?
Even when we are on topic, there are big chunks (the difference between frogs and toads; the legal protection of newts) which read a lot like they were copied and pasted by someone with an anxious eye on his wordcount. I'm not asserting that this is the case, to be clear - but if they're not, and they read that way, isn't that arguably worse? At least once, I'm not convinced he's even correct - the claim that moorhens and coots favour different habitats doesn't match my experience of the two often overlapping. And then there's the narrative oxbow in which he makes an aquarium as a purported pond microcosm, includes something he knows full well will attack other denizens, and then a few days later seems to realise the whole enterprise is going to provide precious little enlightenment or content, so anticlimactically returns it all to the wild. Oh, and there are lots of literary clippings, some of which are at least gorgeous, but others of which, inevitably these days, are John bloody Clare. I think there was maybe a good slimmer book here - for decent chunks of it, Lewis-Stempel writes movingly about both the delights of ponds, and their degradation ("Doesn't it make you puke, what we are doing to Britain?"). But too much padding around that core leaves much of the first half feeling like a contract-filler. Mercifully, once the year comes round to summer, the book springs to life too. There are still glitches - the notion of Walden as the first teen angst book falls apart when Young Werther was a lifetime earlier - but we get fewer digressions, more satisfying gimmicks (adult John trying to complete a 1980s I-Spy book), and, fundamentally, more of the characterful, poetic, yet always solid writing about flora and fauna, water and light at which he excels. The autumn chapter is slim; partly because he's already covered November as part of winter, sure, but I suspect also because by that point it was clear that the target word count was in sight. An epilogue provides a guide to making your own pond, talking about the importance of properly balancing its elements; good advice for books about ponds too, really.
*Seriously - eight in two weeks, but this was one of only two items I borrowed. And I suspect the other is going to be worse.
**He does get in when he can, but this also means the obligatory comment - on the very first page! - about how "In modern argot I am "wildswimming"; as a child in the 1970s, our gang's trips to the River Lugg at Mordiford were merely 'swimming'. Everything that was once ordinary has to be übered." First, I've never seen it as one word before. But mainly, I can trump him, because I remember when people just went swimming, or wild swimming, without so many of them feeling the need for that not very exciting observation about the mild variation in terminology every sodding time.
Even when we are on topic, there are big chunks (the difference between frogs and toads; the legal protection of newts) which read a lot like they were copied and pasted by someone with an anxious eye on his wordcount. I'm not asserting that this is the case, to be clear - but if they're not, and they read that way, isn't that arguably worse? At least once, I'm not convinced he's even correct - the claim that moorhens and coots favour different habitats doesn't match my experience of the two often overlapping. And then there's the narrative oxbow in which he makes an aquarium as a purported pond microcosm, includes something he knows full well will attack other denizens, and then a few days later seems to realise the whole enterprise is going to provide precious little enlightenment or content, so anticlimactically returns it all to the wild. Oh, and there are lots of literary clippings, some of which are at least gorgeous, but others of which, inevitably these days, are John bloody Clare. I think there was maybe a good slimmer book here - for decent chunks of it, Lewis-Stempel writes movingly about both the delights of ponds, and their degradation ("Doesn't it make you puke, what we are doing to Britain?"). But too much padding around that core leaves much of the first half feeling like a contract-filler. Mercifully, once the year comes round to summer, the book springs to life too. There are still glitches - the notion of Walden as the first teen angst book falls apart when Young Werther was a lifetime earlier - but we get fewer digressions, more satisfying gimmicks (adult John trying to complete a 1980s I-Spy book), and, fundamentally, more of the characterful, poetic, yet always solid writing about flora and fauna, water and light at which he excels. The autumn chapter is slim; partly because he's already covered November as part of winter, sure, but I suspect also because by that point it was clear that the target word count was in sight. An epilogue provides a guide to making your own pond, talking about the importance of properly balancing its elements; good advice for books about ponds too, really.
*Seriously - eight in two weeks, but this was one of only two items I borrowed. And I suspect the other is going to be worse.
**He does get in when he can, but this also means the obligatory comment - on the very first page! - about how "In modern argot I am "wildswimming"; as a child in the 1970s, our gang's trips to the River Lugg at Mordiford were merely 'swimming'. Everything that was once ordinary has to be übered." First, I've never seen it as one word before. But mainly, I can trump him, because I remember when people just went swimming, or wild swimming, without so many of them feeling the need for that not very exciting observation about the mild variation in terminology every sodding time.
June 1, 2025
Much of this book is reproduced in his book England a Natural History
September 18, 2021
It’s not quite four stars, but I have to round up. I read this because I’d enjoyed The Secret Life of the Owl by the same author. That’s a short book, but this full length book follows the same format - a mixture of facts, history and quotes from literature about a given topic. In this case, ponds.
It’s really a miscellany of thoughts and information about ponds, drawing on the author’s own knowledge, experiences and a wide range of other sources. I like this style, but I felt the mentions of the pond in France didn’t quite fit in with the Englishness of the rest of the book and could have been left out. Some parts grabbed my attention more than others, but as we never spent long on any one thing, we were soon on to something else I did find more interesting. It was a little bit ‘hit and miss’ for me, but enough hits to keep me reading.
It’s really a miscellany of thoughts and information about ponds, drawing on the author’s own knowledge, experiences and a wide range of other sources. I like this style, but I felt the mentions of the pond in France didn’t quite fit in with the Englishness of the rest of the book and could have been left out. Some parts grabbed my attention more than others, but as we never spent long on any one thing, we were soon on to something else I did find more interesting. It was a little bit ‘hit and miss’ for me, but enough hits to keep me reading.
August 24, 2021
As other reviewers have commented, the title is a bit of a misnomer on this one. It could equally be called 'life on the farm' or 'farming with nature'. Ponds and ponding take up a relatively small part of the book with a few facts and figures thrown in. Mostly it's a nature diary from the point of view of a rich farmer, so there's a fair bit of hunting which may be offputting to some environmentalists. The book is also noticeably padded out with no end of poetry and writing from others, some of which is nice - I'm always happy to encounter John Clare - while other bits which are totally irrelevant. An easy book to read, but if you're like me you'll be looking for more substance than this.
November 16, 2021
I have read a lot a of VERY harsh reviews on this one...
"unrestrained drivel" was even used to describe it...
Well I disagree: this book is good. Not excellent, but good.
It is not for binge reading, but a piece here, another there, slowly.
Then it does give you the slow perception of time flowing along the year as seasons change...
It is obviously not for everyone, and it is certainly NOT a pond owner/builder manual.
And I enjoyed it a lot.
"unrestrained drivel" was even used to describe it...
Well I disagree: this book is good. Not excellent, but good.
It is not for binge reading, but a piece here, another there, slowly.
Then it does give you the slow perception of time flowing along the year as seasons change...
It is obviously not for everyone, and it is certainly NOT a pond owner/builder manual.
And I enjoyed it a lot.
January 4, 2022
I initially didn't enjoy this and almost stopped reading it but then I started reading some of the entries from the middle of the book and really started to like it - I think the sections near the beginning about winter just didn't really gel with me. Then I read the whole book but in a bit of a disjointed manner, I liked how it was written (although I didn't read most of the poems). It was also interesting to learn how much ponds have declined in the UK.
March 6, 2020
Another thoroughly enjoyable book by this author.
Written almost in the form of journal notes but interspersed with poems, it was educational without being dry or preachy.
Beautifully evocative in creating the sights, sounds and smells of ponds through the seasons.
As with his other books that I have read, it really made me want to go out and start visiting ponds!
Written almost in the form of journal notes but interspersed with poems, it was educational without being dry or preachy.
Beautifully evocative in creating the sights, sounds and smells of ponds through the seasons.
As with his other books that I have read, it really made me want to go out and start visiting ponds!
April 20, 2022
I was expecting more from this book and my enjoyment of its reading didn't match my expectation.
I think the diary entry style of writing fell flat for me, and the random musings in the entries felt a bit thin.
Disappointing and pretty forgettable.
I think the diary entry style of writing fell flat for me, and the random musings in the entries felt a bit thin.
Disappointing and pretty forgettable.
September 3, 2022
Yeah it’s beautifully written but it’s still mostly drivel.
April 2, 2024
Het boek geeft je zin om naast een poel te gaan zitten en te genieten. Luchtig geschreven, wijs dat er gedichten geciteerd worden. Topper
June 13, 2023
It's a moderately interesting book, but since reading this and the one about meadows (a better read), I've discovered the author has also been writing absolute drivel about topics including beaver re-introductions in the UK, wolves in France, non-dairy milk, and so on: https://unherd.com/author/john-lewis-...
Worse, it gets picked up by the Daily Mail and the like as scientific 'fact' because he is a farmer and 'expert' in these matters, apparently. He makes out he's a friend and custodian of nature, yet spends a large amount of time denigrating nature restoration efforts (which he doesn't seem to fully understand), and extolling the virtues of a bucolic but wildly unrealistic version of modern farming.
I'm not going to burn or throw out his books (which I bought secondhand anyway), but I'm certainly not going to buy anything else by him in the future.
Worse, it gets picked up by the Daily Mail and the like as scientific 'fact' because he is a farmer and 'expert' in these matters, apparently. He makes out he's a friend and custodian of nature, yet spends a large amount of time denigrating nature restoration efforts (which he doesn't seem to fully understand), and extolling the virtues of a bucolic but wildly unrealistic version of modern farming.
I'm not going to burn or throw out his books (which I bought secondhand anyway), but I'm certainly not going to buy anything else by him in the future.
August 26, 2021
I've really been enjoying nature writing this year, and the concept of the pond was exactly along the line of what I've been finding compelling. At times a bit too esoteric (I'm not as familiar with British locations as the author's primary readership), but it still didn't put me off from enjoying the interaction between the described flora and fauna near the ponds the author discusses.
4 stars. A mix of informative nature writing, personal memoir, literary references, people and place names, it's the kind of writing that creates a distinct aura surrounding its topic. Inspirational.
4 stars. A mix of informative nature writing, personal memoir, literary references, people and place names, it's the kind of writing that creates a distinct aura surrounding its topic. Inspirational.
October 1, 2021
I have now read several of Lewis-Stempel’s books, and each one of them has been an absolute joy! The wide array of creatures and plants in their various guises throughout the year, the ever present hope of growth and regeneration even in the bleakest of circumstances, accompanied by poetry and numerous literary references makes uplifting reading in a world that is so often full of doom and gloom. Reading one of his books is sure to lighten, and brighten, your day.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews