Pomegranate Roads: A Soviet Botanist's Exile From Eden

Pomegranate Roads: A Soviet Botantist's Exile from Eden Dr. Gregory M. Levin lllustrated, 216 pages Floreant Press, 2006, $18

A few months ago, the folks at Floreant Press were form plenty to answer to what was inward hindsight roughly pretty unbecoming hinting on my utilisation in addition to sent me a review re-create of Pomegranate Roads.

Pomegranates (Punica granatum), despite their ancient in addition to distinguished history, are non a fruit many people inward the United States are terribly familiar with, nor is Turkmenistan a province that fifty-fifty enters the demand heed of the average American, except every bit a cry on a map or a cite inward a word story. Gregory Levin spent xl years researching this obscure fruit inward that obscure country, in addition to Pomegranate Roads is the storey non entirely of those 4 decades, simply the residuum of his life every bit well, stretching from his childhood experiences during the High German siege of Leningrad, to his retirement to Israel, where he currently resides.

Perhaps the world's initiative of all ascendancy of pomegranates, Levin was based for many years at the Garrigala Agricultural Research Station inward Turkmenistan, hence 1 of the factor republics of the U.S.S.R. It was here, inward an isolated enclave inward the mountains along the Iranian border, that he assembled a collection of 1,117 pomegranate genotypes, from ancient cultivars to odd mutant strains (some discovered inward the wild in addition to roughly generated himself). The majority describes his xxx years of annual expeditions to collect germplasm, journeys which would receive got him to twenty-seven countries,(Update: Levin's collection covered 27 countries, simply Levin himself never left the U.S.S.R. on his collection trips) through wild province sometimes wracked amongst ethnic in addition to political violence, gathering non entirely wild specimens simply too cultivated types institute inward fields abandoned inward the Soviet force towards collectivization. This unique grouping of pomegranates, amongst its dwarf trees, odd fruit colors, rare flora habits, is perchance Levin's greatest contribution, in addition to it was nearly lost inward 2002 when the authorities of the newly independent Republic of Turkmenistan ordered the devastation of his collection, converting the Garrigala station to vegetable research. Fortunately, Levin had sent cuttings from his collection to both the University of California, Davis, in addition to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev inward Israel, where many of his nigh of import specimens are preserved today. (Over one-half of the U.C. collection was sent from the Garrigala station, although that repository, 1 of the largest inward the world, is even hence barely 10% the size of Levin's quondam collection).

The majority touches on nearly every expression of the pomegranate, from its history, to its genetics, its reproduction in addition to physiology, its role inward fine art in addition to literature, fifty-fifty to its culinary uses in addition to purported medical properties. The history nosotros encounter against a backdrop of the evolution of Soviet agricultural scientific discipline inward the era next the revolution, every bit good every bit the spend upward in addition to autumn amongst the ascent of Lysenko in addition to collectivism.

In roughly ways, the majority is actually 2 books, in addition to the writing sometimes straddles them rather awkwardly. On 1 hand, it is a scientific text, piece on the other it is an autobiography. And left to stand upward on their own, neither factor would locomote every bit compelling. The science, piece extensive, is far from exhaustive, in addition to every bit the form of soul who would happily sit down downward in addition to read a textbook on pomegranates, I occasionally felt frustrated to locomote baited amongst a collection of tidbits on a subject, without beingness provided a amount picture. He rushes from topic to topic, barely pausing anywhere. (Levin has written roughly other book, Pomegranate, which is said to locomote to a greater extent than of a scientific treatise, though I receive got yet to read it). Similarly, the autobiography tin seem a piffling unfocused, sometimes resembling the meandering reminiscences of an elderly grandparent. Yet together they create out to shape a compelling painting exhibit of a lifelong human relationship betwixt a homo in addition to his life's work. His deep honey of his champaign is written clearly across each page, in addition to yesteryear the fourth dimension 1 reaches the end, it is possible to understand a piffling fleck of what it is that makes a homo devote his life to a plant.

Barbara Baer, an editor at Floreant Press, showtime heard of Levin's storey through a 2001 storey on populace radio (The episode of Living on Earth called 'Turkmenistan Treasures' may locomote the 1 she heard--you tin download it or read a transcript here) (Update: Turns out it wasn't...it was The Savvy Traveler on BBC World, simply I can't detect a re-create of that online, hence the other volition receive got to do). She sought him out, eventually tracking him downward amongst the aid of the Israeli Embassy inward Washington, D.C., in addition to encouraged him to commit his tale to writing. We should all locomote grateful she did.

The majority is non perfect—the writing appears to endure somewhat inward translation, in addition to the sometimes wandering narrative tin seem a piffling disjointed in addition to could in all probability receive got used a piffling tighter editing, though I tin understand amongst a reluctance to alter such an springtime of sincere passion, in addition to it may locomote that it retains a certainly genuineness because of it (and really, every bit those who read this site in all probability know, I actually can't criticize when it comes to editing). Still, I discovered that inside entirely a few minutes of reading these little difficulties faded from consciousness in addition to I chop-chop institute myself lost inward the book.

Pomegranate Road is available directly from the publisher, every bit good every bit from Amazon in addition to Barnes & Noble.

Update: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 brace of corrections receive got been made to the inward a higher house article. My apologies. (For the errors, non the corrections.)

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