'Aliya Whiteley has always been in love with the wondrous and bizarre world of fungi - from a childhood taking blurry photographs of strange fungal eruptions on Exmoor to a career as a writer inspired by their surreal and alien beauty. This love for fungi is a love for life, from single-cell spores to the largest living organism on the planet. A love that stretches from Aliya's lawn into orbit and back again via every continent.
'Fungi can appear anywhere, from desert dunes to frozen tundra. They can invade our bodies and thoughts; live between our toes or our floorboards; they are unwelcome intruders or vastly expensive treats; symbols of both death and eternal life. But despite their familiar presence, there's still much to learn about the eruption, growth and decay of their interconnected world.
'In this intoxicating and endlessly surprising journey, Aliya Whiteley shares the secret life of fungi - extraordinary organisms that we have barely begun to understand.'
I'd never really thought about mushrooms and fungi much before reading this book, beyond thinking that they were kind of cool. I'd come to like eating mushrooms in the last few years, I was aware of them being used in fiction such as The Last of Us and Matango, and I'd thrown a Circle of the Spore druid into my Dungeons and Dragons game for my characters to play with; he's a tortle called Agaricus with a shell covered in mushrooms that glow in the dark. I kind of love that grumpy old mushroom lover. But other thank having the passing opinion that fungi are cool I hadn't really given it much attention.
The Secret Life of Fungi feels like the perfect kind of introduction book for learning a bit more about the weird and wonderful world of fungi without having to learn fancy names, or getting into the science behind it all. Aliya Whiteley doesn't seem interested in giving a big scientific dive into fungi, but instead just wants to share a bit of her love for the things.
We get a nice little introduction in which Aliya tells us a story about walking the Devon coast with a camera as a child, taking photos of mushrooms she found along the way (something I myself have been doing this week on my holiday in Wales!). It inspired a fascination with fungi that would go on for years, inspiring her creative writing, and encouraging her to write this book.
From here we get small snapshots of different types of mushrooms and fungi, we learn about the dangers of picking random mushrooms, the locations in which they grow and the things they need to do so, and the sometimes symbiotic relationships they have with other organisms. This is done in small chapters, only a handful of pages, that are written in a very casual, conversational way that makes the information Aliya is giving across feel easy to understand.
And this is one of the best things about this book, that it doesn't really feel like you're reading a book. It felt like I was sitting down having at chat with Aliya, with her excitedly telling me amazing fungi facts and sharing her love for the subject. It wasn't ever like reading a text book, or attending a talk, it felt cosy and personal; and it made much more enjoyable to read.
My only real criticism of the book (and it really isn't one if I'm being fair), is that I found it too short. I enjoyed reading it that much that by the time it came to and end I was sad to see it go. I was having so much fun learning about fungi fro Aliya that I could have read twice as much. And I think that finding a book that you're sad to see go, that you'd happily read more of, and that invigorates you to want to learn more about a subject speaks volumes to the quality of it.
The Secret Life of Fungi was a hugely enjoyable read that took a subject I had a passing curiosity about and made me want to earn more. It made me see the wonder and joy in fungi; an often overlooked and ignored form of life that's truly fascinating. And for that, I love this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment