Forestville, California: Floreant Press, 2006, 212 pp, 8
color plates, black-and-white photos, original art and
maps. ISBN-0-9649497-6-8, trade paperback $18 + $3
for shipping. Order at website: www.floreantpress.com
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Flying over the eastern border of Turkmenistan en route to Dubai, I had time to plunge into Pomegranate Roads, Dr. Gregory Levin’s part narrative-part autobiography of his lifelong quest to understand the ubiquitous pomegranate in all its forms. Dr. Levin, now 73 and residing in exile in Israel, is the world’s foremost punicologist; a botanist who devoted 40 years of continuous research and exploration based at the Garrigala Agricultural Research Station in Turkmenistan. Until the demise of the USSR in 1990, Turkmenistan was a part of that empire; it gained its independence in 1991.
Without Levin’s research and contribution to punicology, the world would have been deprived of our rather limited current understanding of pomegranates. More important, without him the majority of the best pomegranate varieties might have been lost forever, destroyed in the physical decimation that the new Turkmenistan government wreaked upon former USSR facilities—at Garrigala the pomegranate trees were uprooted and replaced with vegetables. As Levin laconically observes: human stupidity knows no limitations. Before the implosion and ensuing chaos, Levin had the foresight to donate the best varieties to international germplasm repositories, mainly in Israel and the USA. During his 40 years at Garrigala he had overseen the expansion in the number of pomegranate accessions from 64 to 1,117. For that achievement alone he deserves our thanks.
By the time I landed in Johannesburg, I
had devoured Dr. Levin’s offering and was left
marveling at the brilliance of the man. A self-confessed
fatalist, Levin has faced adversity
all his life and triumphed. Yet, one cannot
help sympathize that in his twilight years he
lives in exile in Israel. “I have found beauty
everywhere,” he says. But today he must
switch on his television to catch a glimpse of
his beloved Caucasus Mountains. Despite all this, the man has no regrets. Small wonder,
because he has accomplished much in his life.
This book reveals why: his rigorous research
and achievements, while modestly stated in
the book, are there for all to behold.
Gregory Levin was born in Leningrad
in 1933 and lived through the siege of that
city, which led to the deaths of his father and
his three uncles. He himself recognizes that
fate saved him whilst all around him was
carnage. Emerging fatherless from Stalingrad
after the war, the “Little Botanist,” as he was
nicknamed at school, decided to pursue his
passions for gardening and scientific research.
After graduating cum laude in 1957, Levin
applied to undertake post-graduate research,
but was declined solely because of the Jewish
quota system that the Soviets had initiated.
This rejection hurt, but with the help of few
friends he did eventually gain acceptance
for post-graduate research and was posted
to his “Eden,” the Turkmen Experimental
Agricultural Station (Garrigala), initially to
study Baabarab apple trees. In this verdant
Eden—the Sumbar Valley—he came into
contact with pomegranates and his mission
for the next 40 years was defined.
Pomegranate Roads enthralls and enlightens.
Turkmenistan is not well known, yet
Dr. Levin weaves a rich tapestry of its geography
and culture, combined with anecdotal
observations and description of his travels
on foot and horseback through mountain
search of the elusive pomegranate dwarf variety or other weird mutations. It could
be dry and heavy going but Levin has such
a commanding grasp of punicology and the
regions of Central Asia that he brings great
vitality and life, so much that even the most
ignorant reader will be entertained as well
as educated. One can only imagine the joy
of being able to savor the places and fruits
that flesh out this story.
Pomegranate Roads is a story of how great adversity can be overcome in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, ultimately leading to achievement of results. Hence the book should appeal both to budding punicologists as well as to those who, like me, have a fascination for the Soviet Union with its attendant bouts of madness. As Dr. Levin repeats in the text: one does not choose one’s times, one just lives in them and dies.
The book consists of less than 200 pages
and can be read in one sitting. It is that fascinating.
It does not purport to be a definitive
exposition of anything; it is rather the life
story, thoughts and philosophy of the principal
founder of punicology and an avid humanist,
Dr. Gregory Levin. In that context,
the book deserves a wide audience. Faults
can be easily found; the book has too many
chapters and could be better organized and
there is some repetition; yet these faults are
forgivable because the sum of its content
greatly outweighs its limitations.
Barbara Baer, who wrote the highly entertaining
introduction, was instrumental
in making Pomegranate Roads happen. She
sought out Dr. Levin and persuaded him to
put pen to paper. Without her exceptional
foresight and tenacity, this book would not
exist and the intriguing story of Dr. Levin,
the Pomegranate Plant Hunter, would not
have been told. Russia’s loss has been the
world’s gain: the man whose quest it was “to
explore the harmony of the world through
science.” Amen.
Note: Serious punicologists should
watch for Dr. Levin’s Pomegranate, anticipated
to be forthcoming in 2007.