See, in 1986, Derek Jarman was diagnosed with HIV, and so he decided to buy a cottage in Dungeness, on the southwestern coast of England. The Dungeness Nuclear Power Station is within the vicinity, and he decides to make a garden. It's not exactly the most hospitable geography for gardening, yet somehow Jarman makes it work. I haven't really gotten Derek Jarman in my radar before, apparently he's a film maker but I haven't had the chance to watch his movies. But now I am reading his diary written in 1989 and 1990.
In the beginning, his diary entries involved a lot of gardening concepts. He'd be listing plants' names, both folk names and scientific ones, and tell his diary how they would survive, or die. Some plants are more likely to survive the harsh weather of the area than others. But as the time goes by, his diary entries become less about plants and more about his own health, as well as those of his friends. Remember, this was the 1980s, and the AIDS epidemic is in full bloom. Jarman was enumerating plants who died one by one in the beginning, but by the end of this book, he was enumerating the names of his friends who finally succumbed to death, presumably of AIDS, even though the text doesn't always explicitly tell.
As I was reading this diary, I had several times thought how fortunate I am to live several decades later, when even though there's still no cure for HIV, nowadays, it is a very manageable condition, and people who are HIV positive can nevertheless live very normal lives. Unfortunately, Jarman was too early for modern medical advances.
In any case, I definitely enjoyed reading this book. I don't often pick up non-fiction, but I am glad I did so this time. It's a very eye-opening piece, allowing the reader to see how things were in the past. I was just a young child in 1989, but for some people, it was a very tough time. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
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