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bookmama1980's review against another edition
5.0
This is a wonderful collection of agrarian essay by Wendell Berry that articulate the need to better understanding the world in which we care for, food economy, industrial destruction, local communities, and a critical view of Christianity's role in the destruction of the planet. I appreciate and am inspired by his vision of a better and more responsible way of protecting that which was left in our care, the earth.
toniapeckover's review against another edition
5.0
Such an important book for us today. Essays on the point of humanity, the place of fidelity, what it means to be a creature in Creation, the mishandling of scripture by modern Christianity and the devastating consequences of that on the world. I'll be reading and rereading this book the rest of my life.
theconorhilton's review against another edition
5.0
I ADORE this book. Wendell offers a prophetic call to action that feels all too relevant today. I love the way that he sits outside of normal ideological boxes and presents a vision of the world and what we can be that is rooted in his own personal experience AND is unafraid to challenge the status quo from a variety of angles.
It's rare to find such a thoughtful writer that I think would anger and thrill both progressive and conservative folks in the US.
I long for and am wary of Wendell's call for a simpler world, stripped of some of the technology and complexity that we have added to it. I am challenged, and invigorated!, by Wendell's commitment to the communal nature of existence, that none of us are independent or autonomous, but that we all depend on others and can only choose whether that dependence is responsible or irresponsible. Loads of food for thought packed into this essay collection--best read in small doses to chew on and savor.
It's rare to find such a thoughtful writer that I think would anger and thrill both progressive and conservative folks in the US.
I long for and am wary of Wendell's call for a simpler world, stripped of some of the technology and complexity that we have added to it. I am challenged, and invigorated!, by Wendell's commitment to the communal nature of existence, that none of us are independent or autonomous, but that we all depend on others and can only choose whether that dependence is responsible or irresponsible. Loads of food for thought packed into this essay collection--best read in small doses to chew on and savor.
livingpalm1's review against another edition
5.0
Read my long-winded review here: http://blog.thissacramentallife.com/2015/10/thoughts-on-art-of-commonplace-by.html
thisgrrlreads's review against another edition
5.0
I rarely say this but I seriously wish I owned this book. Wendell Berry is quoted by absolutely everyone in the local and organic food movement because he is opinionated, eloquent and thoughtful, and has been for much longer than the recent "locavore" movement got started. This is a book of essays, beautifully written essays that take a serious stand. So serious you can't read too many in a row or your head starts to spin. I gave this book back to the library after 3 essays but I'll take it out again or maybe even acquire my own copy.
devind9bde's review against another edition
5.0
Like a cool drink of water after years in the scorching sun, these essays are good food for the dust + breath = soul.
A few quotes:
“We hurry through our meals to go to work and hurry through our work in order to ‘recreate’ ourselves in the evenings and on weekends and vacations. And then we hurry, with the greatest possible speed and noise and violence, through our recreation - for what?”
“To work without pleasure or affection, to make a product that is not both useful and beautiful, is to dishonor God, nature, the thing that is made, and whomever it is made for. This is blasphemy: to make shoddy work of the work of God.”
“...if we are sane, we do not dismiss or abandon our infant children or our aged parents because they are too young or too old to work. For human beings, affection is the ultimate motive, because the force that powers us, as Ruskin also said, is ‘not steam, magnetism or gravitation, but a soul.’”
“...if you are dependent on people who do not know you, who control the value of your necessities, you are not free, and you are not safe.”
“People seriously interested in health will finally have to question our society’s long standing goals of convenience and effortlessness. What is the point of ‘labor saving’ if by making work effortless we make it poor, and if by doing poor work we weaken our bodies and lose conviviality and health?”
“Any life, by working or not working, by working well or poorly, inescapably changes other lives and so changes the world.”
There’s much more depth and breadth to be found in this essential book, but I will stop there. Ultimately, Berry affirms the suspicion that we are living within and as a part of a miraculous and holy world, and that damage to any part damages the whole. He gives human life and work it’s proper, limited importance, and illuminates our sacred duty as stewards of the Creation. What is more necessary than that, when we are bombarded on all sides by people who believe this world is contemptible, our bodies burdens, and life one long pointless misery? How can we do what is right when we have no idea of what is good, and where to start?
A few quotes:
“We hurry through our meals to go to work and hurry through our work in order to ‘recreate’ ourselves in the evenings and on weekends and vacations. And then we hurry, with the greatest possible speed and noise and violence, through our recreation - for what?”
“To work without pleasure or affection, to make a product that is not both useful and beautiful, is to dishonor God, nature, the thing that is made, and whomever it is made for. This is blasphemy: to make shoddy work of the work of God.”
“...if we are sane, we do not dismiss or abandon our infant children or our aged parents because they are too young or too old to work. For human beings, affection is the ultimate motive, because the force that powers us, as Ruskin also said, is ‘not steam, magnetism or gravitation, but a soul.’”
“...if you are dependent on people who do not know you, who control the value of your necessities, you are not free, and you are not safe.”
“People seriously interested in health will finally have to question our society’s long standing goals of convenience and effortlessness. What is the point of ‘labor saving’ if by making work effortless we make it poor, and if by doing poor work we weaken our bodies and lose conviviality and health?”
“Any life, by working or not working, by working well or poorly, inescapably changes other lives and so changes the world.”
There’s much more depth and breadth to be found in this essential book, but I will stop there. Ultimately, Berry affirms the suspicion that we are living within and as a part of a miraculous and holy world, and that damage to any part damages the whole. He gives human life and work it’s proper, limited importance, and illuminates our sacred duty as stewards of the Creation. What is more necessary than that, when we are bombarded on all sides by people who believe this world is contemptible, our bodies burdens, and life one long pointless misery? How can we do what is right when we have no idea of what is good, and where to start?
jamiereadthis's review against another edition
5.0
“The moral argument points to restraint; it is a conclusion that may be in some sense tragic, but there is no escaping it. Much as we long for infinities of power and duration, we have no evidence that these lie within our reach, much less within our responsibility. It is more likely that we will have either to live within our limits, within the human definition, or not live at all. And certainly the knowledge of these limits and of how to live within them is the most comely and graceful knowledge that we have, the most healing and the most whole.”
There would be worse things than this to have as your Bible. I’m keeping this short because I’ll fill up this space as I read this book a dozen more times.
There would be worse things than this to have as your Bible. I’m keeping this short because I’ll fill up this space as I read this book a dozen more times.
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