Tra i posti strani in cui il 2020 mi ha condotto, un saggio di una malese che scrive in norvegese su come una nuova passione per la micologia l’ha aiutata a superare la morte improvvisa del marito.
La passione per i funghi è contagiosa e non dico che Woon mi farà diventare fungaiolo, ma vedere come la classificazione e le percezioni cambino nel tempo e tra Paesi e culture diversi è stato una scoperta.

Upon the sudden and unexpected death of her beloved husband, the author embarks on two new journeys - one without her husband, and a newfound love for wild mushrooming.

What a beautiful book!

Norway

The book looks at the author’s interest in mushroom hunting and her grief following her husbands unexpected death. I feel mildly guilty judging someone else expression of grief, but this was just not a good fit book for me. I felt that the jumping around in topics and time periods was confusing and prevented an in-depth look at any of the mushroom topics. Also, this books really needs footnotes. I have noticed the lack of footnotes to be a problem with popular science books. There is a bibliography but no indication of what information is where and thus, no ability to either learn more or judge the validity of it. I am not sure if I should treat if more as a memoir, in which case it was vague and not very detailed, or a science book, in which case it was also vague and not very detailed. All in all, interesting concept but poor execution. Mushroom pictures were fun on a happy note to end.

3.5 rounded up.

This is primarily a book on mushrooming, with mourning and discussions of bereavement sprinkled throughout. That being said, the parts on death are important and poetic and I know that I’m going to be picking this up when I’m grieving in the future. As a book on mushrooms, it’s interesting comparing Long’s descriptions of mushroom taste and edibility with that of David Arora. I think it’s a fantastic book for people who are curious about mushrooms.