La Matière des arbres

Countless trees mark landscapes — some spring up on their own and others are planted — in the country as well as the city. They surround us, yet we do not always manage to distinguish between them. Yet there is much to be learned from their varieties and their nuances. They teach us that there is no limit to what we can see if we take the time to watch a root become a trunk made of branches and shoots.Eryck de Rubercy knows them well. He has almost always lived right next to them while working as the owner and preservationist of a landscaped park. This familiarity with the Matter of Trees has enabled him to speak of them in a style reminiscent of great writers. As a sensitive witness to the lives of trees, the author introduces readers to what — through the changing seasons and according to their species — accounts for their botanical singularity: “this muffled and mysterious force that runs through them and keeps them standing.”His intimate love of trees also makes him an outstanding describer of the landscaped park in which he strolls among them every day: to him, the best part about knowing trees is the opportunity to live near them.Essayist, literary critic, and German translator (2004 Nelly-Sachs Prize), Eryck de Rubercy is the notable author of Des poètes et des arbres (2005), and the editor, with Klincksieck Éditions, of Aperçus sur l’art du jardin paysager by Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (which won the 2015 Pierre-Joseph Redouté Prize).