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radiodarrenfm's review against another edition
4.0
I have no deep, meaningful insights into this, but to say that it’s a wonderful example of humanity and world building.
For such a (reasonably) short book to build such a big world is almost obscene. It carries on in a sense, where Nathan Coulter leaves off, introducing us to more and more of the residents of Port William. And not just the contemporary ones, either. Told partly through remembrances and flashback, Berry guides us through some of the families that will go on to become fixtures of Port William, while digging deep into the particular story of Andy Catlett.
As for the humanity; my overall feeling at the end of this book is that I want to leave my job as a welder in order to join a farming commune in rural Kentucky. I want to be part of that small society, helping my neighbours harvest their produce and milk their cows. I want to hike along rivers, and through forests, hitch up the mules to take sacks of corn to market. I want to know more about those among whom I live. And that’s a wonderful feeling for a simple book to install.
I have a couple of other books on my list to read first, but once I’ve finished those I think I may cue up the rest of the Port William series and read the lot.
For such a (reasonably) short book to build such a big world is almost obscene. It carries on in a sense, where Nathan Coulter leaves off, introducing us to more and more of the residents of Port William. And not just the contemporary ones, either. Told partly through remembrances and flashback, Berry guides us through some of the families that will go on to become fixtures of Port William, while digging deep into the particular story of Andy Catlett.
As for the humanity; my overall feeling at the end of this book is that I want to leave my job as a welder in order to join a farming commune in rural Kentucky. I want to be part of that small society, helping my neighbours harvest their produce and milk their cows. I want to hike along rivers, and through forests, hitch up the mules to take sacks of corn to market. I want to know more about those among whom I live. And that’s a wonderful feeling for a simple book to install.
I have a couple of other books on my list to read first, but once I’ve finished those I think I may cue up the rest of the Port William series and read the lot.
leucocrystal's review against another edition
5.0
"For the foreseeable future, then, no argument would be effective against the blocks of economic power. Farmers were going to fail, taking the advice of Netherbough and his kind. And Netherbough and his kind were going to thrive, giving bad advice. And that was merely what was going to happen until the logical consequences of that course of success became intolerable. And then something else would happen. And who knew what? But that an argument was losing did not mean that it should not be made. It had already been made and it would be made again, not because he would make it, but because it existed, it always had, and he belonged to it."
franschulman9's review against another edition
4.0
The book is about a day in the life of a man who is trying to pull himself together after a horrible accident on his family farm in Kentucky. There is no action, only recollections of his life as he makes a decision on how to move forward. I listened to the audio version, which is a good format for the book.
aliciamae's review against another edition
3.0
I think I've liked this best out of all of Wendell Berry's novels that I've read this far. It's also very melancholic, so perhaps it helps that I'm in more of a "mood."
pagesandstitches's review against another edition
4.0
I was going to give this one three stars...until I read the last chapter. Simply exquisite.
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