{"id":152497,"date":"2021-05-11T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T17:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=152497"},"modified":"2021-05-11T13:52:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T17:52:53","slug":"redux-have-no-mercy-gardener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2021\/05\/11\/redux-have-no-mercy-gardener\/","title":{"rendered":"Redux: Have No Mercy, Gardener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, the editors of\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. You can have these unlocked pieces delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday by\u00a0signing up for the Redux newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Penelope Lively.<\/p><\/div>\n

This week at The Paris Review<\/em>, we\u2019re out in the garden. Read on for Penelope Lively\u2019s Art of Fiction interview<\/a>, Diane Williams\u2019s short story \u201cGarden Magic<\/a>,\u201d and Allison Funk\u2019s poem \u201cOn Pruning<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you enjoy these free interviews, stories, and poems, why not\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Paris Review<\/em>? You\u2019ll also get four new issues of the quarterly delivered straight to your door. Or,\u00a0subscribe to our new bundle<\/a>\u00a0and receive\u00a0Poets at Work<\/em>\u00a0for 25% off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Penelope Lively, The Art of Fiction No. 241<\/a>
\nIssue no. 226 (Fall 2018)<\/em><\/p>\n

If I hadn\u2019t got a book on the go, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d be doing. Even during the times I\u2019m not actually writing, I\u2019m going over it in my mind, when I\u2019m gardening or the like, wondering whether I\u2019m getting such-and-such a character right or whether there\u2019s a problem here or there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo: SKsiddhartthan. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Garden Magic<\/a>
\nBy Diane Williams
\nIssue no. 230 (Fall 2019)<\/em><\/p>\n

I am in a room with \u2026 I am in a room where decisions are unlikely to be thought out, where I lack strong enough character and vital drive to take my dark thoughts and plant them at the right time like spring bulbs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

1897 illustrated seed catalogue. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

On Pruning<\/a>
\nBy Allison Funk
\nIssue no. 152 (Fall 1999)<\/em><\/p>\n

Cut it way back.
\nDo not be afraid to pinch the first,
\nthe only blossom. The berry cannot thrive
\nin freedom. Have no mercy,<\/p>\n

gardener. Train the tree to a leader
\ncrowned by the uppermost bud.
\nMake ten o\u2019clock your angle
\nfor the outstretched limbs
\nof the apple. Prune
\nwhen the knife is sharp,
\ntaking care that the scar be neat.
\nTo share the surgeon\u2019s belief in healing,
\nyou must trust what has been taken from you
\nis a blessing \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you enjoyed the above, don\u2019t forget to\u00a0subscribe<\/a>! In addition to four print issues per year, you\u2019ll also receive complete digital access to our sixty-eight years\u2019 worth of archives. Or,\u00a0subscribe to our new bundle<\/a>\u00a0and receive\u00a0<\/em>Poets at Work\u00a0for 25% off.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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