Fascinating! It made me see trees and forests from a completely new perspective.

It is my second time reading this book and it was just as beautiful, or even more so, than the first time.

A fundamental rethinking of the trees around me Trees are social! What a concept - it has totally changed the way I view them and their lives. You will never look at a tree the same after this book.

Short and not quite as in depth as I might have liked, but contained some fascinating insights about the trees with which we share our world. As a side note, I’m glad I read it before Richard Powers’ enthralling The Overstory, as that novel seems to draw some themes and information from this book.

This was pretty wonderful. It completely changed the way I see trees and forests. There's quite a lot of talk of plants and their feelings/behaviour which seems like speculation, but I didn't find it intrusive. I can accept that this is Wohlleben's opinion and admit that it does help the writing flow. You can tell that it's a translation but it's not much of a problem. I disagree with him on the unimportance of large animals (esp. predators). His use of the term "behaviour" seemed to me to imply more intent than was necessary, but it's a translated work and honestly I might be misinterpreting. A few of his claims seemed exaggerated, and the work is not well-referenced (there are references in the back, but the organisation and footnotes are lacking). I wouldn't take everything in this book as fact, but as an inspiring personal account of both his experience with forests and his reading of the research. Trees are treated as friends, and this is a series of anecdotes from one who loves them. I'll be recommending it to others, definitely.

i love you trees

This book changed my perspective on trees and forests. I was at first put off by how much the author humanizes tree "behavior", but it was obviously done on purpose, and it worked for me to help change my perspective. I'm also humbled when I think of how little we know about trees and any other organism or process that doesn't obviously change at the same speed as humans.

Before reading this book I’ve always thought of trees as objects, now I see them as living creatures that can feel and communicate. Humans are used to taking so much from nature, bending other creatures’ lives to fulfill our unnecessary needs. Thanks to this book I’m once more reminded of our connection to nature and live more consciously.

Before reading this book I’ve always thought of trees as objects, now I see them as living creatures that can feel and communicate. Humans are used to taking so much from nature, bending other creatures’ lives to fulfill our unnecessary needs. Thanks to this book I’m once more reminded of our connection to nature and live more consciously.

Ağaçların yaşamını değil de bir bilimkurgu okuyorsunuz sanki. Ya da daha doğrusu yeni bir uygarlığın keşfini. Tıpkı insanlar gibi konuşan, koklaşan, sevişen, yardımlaşan, paylaşan, aile olan, savaşan, göç eden bir uygarlık. İnanılmaz bir hikaye var bu kitapta. Ve tamamen gerçek olan bir hikaye.

After reading this you’ll never look at a forest or solo tree the same again. And wonder about initiatives like planting a billion trees to reverse global warming etc. Audio book read in wonderful melodious voice. Apparently a younger reader version currently being translated- I’ve got it on pre-order already.

Always admired nature and forests and O found in this book a few objective reasons to why is it so? I guess that most of all, I admire the way forests and trees are depicted: as alive and dynamic entities in contrast with how historically they were ignored and separated from the fauna to the extent of being considered an object rather than a being. "Science has adopted a term first coined by the journal Nature for Dr. Simard’s discovery of the “wood wide web” pervading our forests. What and how much information is exchanged are subjects we have only just begun to research." I learnt a few things about trees physionomy and the factors that influence its growth: soil, sun, presence of a mother tree, fungi, parasites, beetles... Most of all, the slow yet confirmed trees growth patterns are a real inspiration! Totally recommending it!

An interestingly different book about the life trees lead in front of our eyes, unbeknownst to us. A walk through the woods will certainly not be the same after having read this, just like it reads on the flap of the dust jacket. Plus, it contains a few beautilful vintage-looking illustrations of the trees mentioned. I would definitely recommend it to people looking to learn more about nature as a whole society, because trees are not the only members of it -there are insect and animal species that play crucial roles in the survival of our green friends, and also their own.

If you’re looking for a page turning read about trees I suggest that instead of this you turn to Lab Girl by Hope Jahren or The Overstory by Richard Powers, two five star reads that blew my mind and touched my heart. Two things this book didn’t really do. Here, the author is trying too hard to make trees relatable, at the cost of anthropomorphizing them past the point that even I can tolerate, and I think octopuses should be allowed to run for office!! BUT there is so much fascinating research in this book as well. Read at your own risk I guess.....

I think that, for someone just dipping their toes into pop-science, this book is perfectly fine! I just wanted a more thorough and scientific exploration of something I had a bit of knowledge on and was not only disappointed to learn nothing new, but also found myself frustrated at Wohlleben's anthropomorphic trees. I put the book down on page 6 when he asserted that trees could literally taste insect saliva-- which I considered a terrible way to confuse the subject of trees' chemical reactivity to insect pheromones. The "taste" issue was not the first instance of the author's inaccurate portrayal, either, and I would warn any reader to take his writing with a grain of salt rather than treat it as scientific fact.

Really interesting! I love the narrator in the audio version and although - if I'm honest - I tuned out sometimes, I always had a bundle of interesting factoids after each commute home!

Exceptional little book. Really deeply made me rethink how I see trees and woods. I already loved trees (photographically) but they are far more sophisticated than I previously gave them credit for being. This small book would make the world slightly better if everyone read it and that's not nothing. He gets a bit zealous from time to time but I didn't find it enough to mark against the overall value of the book.

A wonderful book. It offered fascinating insight into how trees grow and live, and are interconnected with each other and the world we live in. Primarily focused on the forests and trees of Central Europe, I’d love to read more about forests in other parts of the world. Made me want to get outside and explore local forests.