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A review by _marco_
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
I don’t even know where to start. This story left me breathless.
Carr’s masterpiece follows a young veteran in his early 20s as he is commissioned to restore a mural in a countryside church. The year is 1920.
Perhaps it was because I had undergone a very similar experience this summer that I loved this story. The narrator had put into words all those thoughts and feelings I had but couldn’t describe. Carr speaks to the idea of gathering happiness as it blossoms, the decadence of the experiences we are blessed with in our early adulthood, and the almost tragic ephemerality of it all that leaves you bereft when it ends. This story drips with nostalgia and the grief of those bygone summers, but also the gladness in the fact that it happened. I think of Ronsard’s Mignonne allons voir si la rose. (“Gather your youth!”)
This is one of those stories that doesn’t progress very far by way of plot. It’s more of a reflection, a memory. Only minor events took place throughout the story, but these events had left an immense impact on the narrator’s life, and it seems, mine as well.
Carr’s masterpiece follows a young veteran in his early 20s as he is commissioned to restore a mural in a countryside church. The year is 1920.
Perhaps it was because I had undergone a very similar experience this summer that I loved this story. The narrator had put into words all those thoughts and feelings I had but couldn’t describe. Carr speaks to the idea of gathering happiness as it blossoms, the decadence of the experiences we are blessed with in our early adulthood, and the almost tragic ephemerality of it all that leaves you bereft when it ends. This story drips with nostalgia and the grief of those bygone summers, but also the gladness in the fact that it happened. I think of Ronsard’s Mignonne allons voir si la rose. (“Gather your youth!”)
This is one of those stories that doesn’t progress very far by way of plot. It’s more of a reflection, a memory. Only minor events took place throughout the story, but these events had left an immense impact on the narrator’s life, and it seems, mine as well.
“Am I making too much of this? Perhaps. But there are times when man and earth are one, when the pulse of living beats strong, when life is brimming with promise and the future stretches confidently ahead like that road to the hills. Well, I was young…”
Coming from Turgenev’s dreamy prose as my last read, Carr’s language felt quite blunt, especially in describing the countryside in all its beauty. Maybe I would have liked a much more poetic, dreamlike atmosphere in that regard. But Carr curated a few moments of rich literature, especially near the end of the story, and these moments were thus made all the more poignant. I especially loved where the narrator would describe his connection with the unnamed Medieval painter as he restores the covered mural.
Overall, it was a fantastic read. Maybe it’s just because of the timing in my own life, but this is definitely one of the best books I’ve ever had the opportunity to experience. I’m devastated that I have to return it to the library — a weirdly fitting end for such a book.
Content Warnings
Minor: War
Since the narrator is a veteran, there are some brief descriptions of the horrors he experienced in the past.