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25th out of 31 books
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21 voters
A Place on Earth
The rhythms of this novel are the rhythms of the land. A Place on Earth resonates with variations played on themes of change; looping transitions from war into peace, winter into spring, browning flood destruction into greening fields, absence into presence, lost into found.This brings the revised 1983 edition back into print, the next book in our program to put all of Wen...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
May 17th 2001
by Counterpoint
(first published November 30th 1966)
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"But I don't believe that when his death is subtracted from his life it leaves nothing. Do you, Mat?" "No" he says. "I do not." "What it leave is his life. How could I turn away from it now any more than when he was a child, and not love it and be glad of it. just because death is in it?" Her words fall on him like water and like light........"And Mat,"she says "we belong to one another. After all these years. Doesn't it mean something?" It is along time before he answers...."I do not know what...more
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This is novel in which, on one level, nothing happens. The beauty of the prose is rooted in the details of everyday life in a rural community during WWII - floors swept, wood planed, cows milked, sheep sheared, penny candy bought, alcohol drunk, meals consumed. That's not to say that events don't overtake the central characters -- tragedy, loss, suicide, and war demand our attention, but it's the response of the characters (floors swept, cows milked, meals consumed) that throw those events into...more
This book ended my journey through the Port William books. It was not written last in the series, we just didn't own it until recently. All nine of these achingly beautiful books have fallen into one of two catergories for me: either it has been "one of the best books I have EVER read" or "Wow. That was gorgeously written, and utterly depressing." This kind of toggled between the two categories. In fact, for the first time in the whole series I caught myself being angry at Wendell Berry for kill...more
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A lovely book. It starts slowly, the first 66 pages are good, but you wonder if there is a story here. I thought it might be like Sarah Orne Jewett's Country of the Pointed Firs, which had no story but lovely prose.....but.... Keep reading because there is a great story here and it picks up 100% after page 66. His stories are so rich, real and interesting.
I learned how it was for families during WWII, the waiting, the not knowing whether their loved ones were even alive. The fear of a father who...more
I learned how it was for families during WWII, the waiting, the not knowing whether their loved ones were even alive. The fear of a father who...more
I doubt that there is any writer who is as good as Wendell Berry in portraying the life of a community. He is a master at showing the joy in and the struggles of relationships among generations of a family, nuclear and extended; friends; co-workers; and community members.
"Old Jack gets the impression that his opinions and approval are not being asked for, and instead of being angered by the young man's independence as he would have expected, he finds that he is delighted. It is a meeting of two...more
"Old Jack gets the impression that his opinions and approval are not being asked for, and instead of being angered by the young man's independence as he would have expected, he finds that he is delighted. It is a meeting of two...more
I picked the audio version of this book off the shelf at the Library, not having heard of the book or the author before. Since I had no expectations I was thrilled and delighted that it was such an enjoyable read. Wendell Berry writes about the people of Port William, Kentucky, a farming community, and sets it during WW2. I found it a slow read; there is no plot as such, and the author introduces the major characters and describes their lives, loves and tragedies.
Wendell Berry is a poet, author...more
Wendell Berry is a poet, author...more
A fine novel, I've only read Berry's poetry before now. Listening to it may have improved it for me since the reader did a good job and the Kentucky speech and small-town life remind me so much of my hometown in East Tennessee. Lovely writing, real-life characters.
Taking place over the better part of the year 1945 in Berry's fictional town of Port William, A Place on Earth leads us through the events of three deaths in the town, caused by war, act of God, and worse. It is a difficult year for Port William, and the themes of bereavement, grief, and survival culminate in a most unexpected episode: more or less a hard-drinking, darkly-humorous, Kentuckian answer to Latin America's cathartic Day of the Dead.
Jayber Crow remains my favorite of Berry's fiction (...more
Jayber Crow remains my favorite of Berry's fiction (...more
Mar 27, 2009
Victoria
is currently reading it
"But in the early weeks of the war, after their sons had gone into the service, their friendship changed from casual fact to a necessity. Their talk stayed offhand and easy, but it was conditioned now by the presence of the war, the uncertain nature of their involvement in it, their sense of helplessness before an immeasurable fact. The silences they had always allowed to occur comfortably and simply between them were complicated now by the recognition that there were concerns too grievous for t...more
Wendell Berry writes novels about a time of great interest to me -- the farming community before and during WWII. (I was born into a farm family at the end of the war, six months after the death of my mother's brother, a terrible tragedy for my family.) This book addresses the personal aspects of the war on another farming community in Kentucky as well as the impact the war and the death of a young man had on his family and friends. At times humorous, at times deeply mournful, this book touched...more
Berry revised this lyrical novel after it was first published in the 1960s, and I believe this may be his best, most moving novel about the Port Williams fellowship or community. We see characters that we will meet again in other novels such as Jayber Crow and Old Jack, but it's the place that becomes the main character in a changing time during World War II.
I love in particular the Shakespearean scene where many of the characters imbibe a little too much, while celebrating the end of the war,...more
I love in particular the Shakespearean scene where many of the characters imbibe a little too much, while celebrating the end of the war,...more
A Place on Earth is about the fictional Port William, Kentucky. By following several towns people the author introduces multiple story lines and the reader gets a sense of community and friendship in a small agricultural town in the last few months of World War II. Because it is a small community, everyone knows everyone else and what is happening in their lives.
I felt like the early chapters moved too slowly but a friend encouraged me to be patient and continue. I’m glad I did. Berry writes be...more
I felt like the early chapters moved too slowly but a friend encouraged me to be patient and continue. I’m glad I did. Berry writes be...more
A lovely story of farmers and farm life. The land and place, the back drop of the story, is the thread that holds together the individual dramas (and comedies) of the different families and characters depicted. I was inspired by the inextricable link between the characters and the land they farm and the community they are part of. The land really is another member of the community. I was also inspired by the committment to the work of the land of these characters. I aspire to the lifestyle depic...more
Absolutely wonderful! Wendell Berry is a master at creating characters and places that are so real you just know that you know these folks. These book contains interweaving stories of people who live in Port William, KY during the last year of WWII. There are local dramas and disasters and behind everything is the fact of the war and the absences (temporary or lasting) that it has caused. There is also more than a little laugh out loud humor here and some of the most beautiful prose you will eve...more
A novel set in the south, either North Carolina or Kentucky, it never really says in the book. The time period is 1945 just before the war ends. The story is about the people in a small town. Berry’s descriptions of the people and the place makes you feel like you are there. From the barber and his gathering place to Uncle Jake (not a real uncle to anyone) you learn about them and how they intertwine. I liked the book because it is about caring and helping out ones neighbor, literally. There is...more
I am going to be feeling this one for a long time. This is the first Wendell Berry I have read and my book club (in Murray KY) said everyone should read him if they live in Ky. Well I live in Tennessee so I think that is close enough.
What a beautiful writer. Every sentence is so rich that you just want to lick it up. I can see why people have a hard time classifying him...he is a poet, an essayist and a novelist.
The story is about men in a town in Ky during WWII. There are women there...but re...more
What a beautiful writer. Every sentence is so rich that you just want to lick it up. I can see why people have a hard time classifying him...he is a poet, an essayist and a novelist.
The story is about men in a town in Ky during WWII. There are women there...but re...more
Wendell Berry is a slow, delightful read. I love about anything I've read that he has written. This book is about a few families in a farming community in the 1930's. Some of my friends find his books slow. Admittedly, I am connected to the farm setting and see the characters in the book that I know in Idaho, and so I'm sure that is what draws me in. It is also refreshing to read beautiful writing about decent people.
I was a bit disappointed in this book, to be honest. I read Wendell Berry's Hannah Coulter back in February and absolutely loved it; I was expecting more of the same - honest, simple story of hard-working characters who appreciate the land and each other. However, A Place on Earth turned out to be almost unreadably didactic. Berry waxed poetic on the glories of work and the land a few too many times to the exclusion of character development, real plot, or even very useful lessons. It almost felt...more
Read for Kenton Book Club
Ah! After slogging grumpily through last month's selection, this was a breath of fresh air. It was hard to get into at first as I spent a lot of time thinking, "now who is this character again?" But that eventually resolved itself and the characters became known and the writing was just lovely. I hadn't read Wendall Berry before, but I'll seek him out again.
Ah! After slogging grumpily through last month's selection, this was a breath of fresh air. It was hard to get into at first as I spent a lot of time thinking, "now who is this character again?" But that eventually resolved itself and the characters became known and the writing was just lovely. I hadn't read Wendall Berry before, but I'll seek him out again.
This was my first venture into Wendell Berry - and I have to say that I'm surprised at how I was pulled into the intricate interweaving lives of the several men and a woman in 1940's rural Americana. Beautifully done, and a tribute to the idea of place and environment having a positive and deeply felt impact on our lives.
Wendell Berry writes prose, but it reads like poetry. He has such wonderful insight and his fictional town is peopled with fictional characters, but they read like real life. He pulls you into their lives as well as their emotions as they live and die and struggle to make sense of the world, of their faith, and to understand the meaning of life and love and nature. "A Place on Earth" will find a place in your heart as you embrace the journeys of the good people of Port William. Berry builds a se...more
A lovely book. A Place on Earth is a beautiful, sometimes heartbreaking, portrait of a fictional agricultural community in wartime America. It would be hard to describe the plot; each person's and each family's story is inextricable from the stories of the neighbors. Read the revised edition.
Yet another glimpse of life in Port William, Kentucky, as told through Mat, Hannah's first father-in-law. Berry's prose is beautiful, though this story was more melancholy than my favorite, Hannah Coulter and explored some darker sides of WWII's effects on the people in Port William.
I almost quit reading after 20 pages--too desultory and staid. I am glad I staid (pun intended) with it. His descriptions of the inner workings of the heart and mind are exemplary. I was surprised and impressed, not having read much of Berry bfore. I liked it Berry much.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. Wendell's sense of stewardship of the land and connections between people over time is profound. I read this and felt like the folks from Port William were more my hometown folks than the ones I actually grew up with.
I enjoy books without a real "plot" but instead just about real life. This book uses the land a lot and I enjoyed it. It makes me want to farm and live in Kentucky. I also cared about the characters. Not a thriller, just a book to be read at a leisurely pace.
I find that I fall into Berry's world effortlessly. His characters become my friends, and I want to be like many of them. Also, I find his vision of life as it should be compelling and believable. This is another one I will read again and again.
If I give all of Wendell Berry's books five stars, will that lessen the ratings overall influence? I don't care. He's amazing.
After reading this, I think all I want to do is move to somewhere without a Walmart and milk a cow.
After reading this, I think all I want to do is move to somewhere without a Walmart and milk a cow.
What I particularly liked about this book, and Berry in general, is that he portrays the reality of decent people's struggles. He isn't creating caricatures, nor is he showing "the dark side." Both of those things are too dualistic. The struggles that decent people have is intimately related to who they actually are, not some "other."
I keep coming back to Wendell Berry's simple portrayals of community and people - they have a way of lingering in my mind and speaking to my heart. Set in a fictional town of Port William, Kentucky toward the end of the first half of the 1900's, these novels speak of themes that strike a deep, affective cord within me. The often neglected significance of place. The beautiful simplicity of daily life. The sacredness of human relationships. There is a sense of quiet, of nostalgia, of longing for a...more
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Wendell Berry is a conservationist, farmer, essayist, novelist, professor of English and poet. He was born August 5, 1934 in Henry County, Kentucky where he now lives on a farm. The New York Times has called Berry the "prophet of rural America."
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“Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.”
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