This is having a succes d'estime in England. I question a popular reception here. Perhaps we are too literal. For this is a modern fable, allegory if you like, set in rural England, with the central figures the members of the staff of a county estate. Among these people and against this setting, the young head gardener, living through his thoughts and emotions, achieves new heights when he hears his first symphony concert and later sees and speaks with God in his garden. Poetic style, philosophy in fiction form, an occasional tone of mocking humor, frequently a plane of pure emotion. Not a book for a wide public, unless chance gave it a start and people began talking about it as a ""deep book which everyone is talking about."" Then watch it go!