Some thoughts provoked by thought-provoking reading.

“As English as apple pie” is one of those expressions you hear from time to time. Wikipedia defines it as meaning “having characteristics considered quintessential to English or British life”. It then points out that there is also the expression “as American as apple pie”, meaning “having characteristics considered quintessential to American life”. So both nations, both made up of a mix of immigrants from all over the place over long periods of time, have the apple pie as a kind of symbol.

Now take a look at this:-

“Given how popular they are, it’s surprising to discover that apples did not originate in the UK; they seem so British, as if they’ve always been here. But no: apple trees originally grew in Khazakstan, and were brought south and west by traders over hundreds of years, through Persia, Greece, and to the Roman Empire. It was the Romans who introduced apples to Britain.”

That must be a bit of a blow, by the way, to all those who don’t want immigrants! And even more so to those who say we should be British to the core! Maybe a question about apples should be included in the test for Britishness, since it seems to include a whole lot of questions the average person is unlikely to be able to answer, such as “In which year did Margaret Thatcher become an MP?” Not PM, please note, but MP!!

That bit of information about apples came in the author’s notes section at the end of Tracy Chevalier’s novel “At the Edge of the Orchard”, a story about people who love trees, among other themes.

Also about trees and the love of trees is Annie Proux’s “Barkskins”, a very long read but worth the trouble.

I have just finished reading “At the Edge of the Orchard”. Characters from history make their appearance, such as Johnny Appleseed, someone American schoolchildren apparently learn about as a cheerful sort of eco-warrior going round planting apple trees. It seems he was in fact more of a businessman making money out of selling apple trees but also distributing odd religious tracts at the same time.

A chap called William Lobb also pops up, a man who travelled the world collecting plants and seeds and sending them back to Britain. Would environmentalists approve or disapprove of his meddling in the distribution of plant species around the world?

“At the Edge of the Orchard” also gives an insight into the hardships undergone by settlers in the USA.

The mix of fiction with real events and real people is one of the things that makes it so interesting. For the same mix, I would recommend Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America”, an alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh. The novel follows the fortunes of the Roth family during the Lindbergh presidency, as antisemitism becomes more accepted in American life and Jewish-American families like the Roths are persecuted on various levels. Quite a relevant read for modern times!

A similar interesting mix occurs in “The Lacuna” by Barbara Kingsolver, which features the artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the assassination of Leon Trotsky, and the havoc wreaked on a writer’s life by the House Un-American Activities. This is another book relevant to modern times with the ongoing discussion of freedom of speech, and what we can and cannot say.

Who says reading novels is a waste of time?