Moss (1984)

Thanks to NetGalley & Edelweiss for my ARC.

Moss tells the story of an an aging, dying, botanist who is coming to terms with his life. Who in his final days recorded as a journal entry that is the novel he works out his life and his connection to the natural world. Klaus Modick has written a transcendent work of art that develops themes of nature, family, life, dedication to professional interests, and love and all of the aforementioned tenuous relationship to the natural world. The musings on Moss are just beautiful. This is a thoroughly deep beautiful meditation on life and the natural world and life in and dedicated to the natural world and the culture we create around it. I have never heard of Klaus Modick but I am immensely interested in newly traslated work and most things related to nature and literature. Also: Come on that cover is just gorgeous. Also: A very nice ending piece from the translator - It is so great when newly translated works feature words from the translator. I do not read German but I can only guess from the English how achingly beautiful the source material is.

Moss is poetic and literary and nature-transcendent. Shocking in its effect and breadth for such a short novel - Moss is concentrated literature.

Pairs well with:
Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer
The Overstory by Richard Powers
The Hidden life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
The Secret Wisdom of Nature by Peter Wohlleben
The Hidden World of the Fox by Adele Brand
Fen: Stories by Daisy Johnson
Fungi (Anthology) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This World is Full of Monsters by Jeff Vandermeer ( )