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Jan 17, 2009

Brooke rated it:

Such an insightful book. The sentimental in me really was affected by Hannah's memories and observations of the changing times. It definitely increased my longing to be a part of a community (a "membership", if you will). Anyone want to be a part of my community? We'll all move out to the country and live within walking distance of each other, our kids will grow up together, and we'll experience life's joys and sorrows together. Seriously, when I read books like this, I realize jus More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Mar 21, 2008

James rated it:

My grandmother wanted me to read this and I understood immediately why. Though she grew up in Missouri rather than the Kentucky side of the Ohio River where this novel takes place, the elements are similar to her experiences. This is an episodic novel that doesn't spend so much time telling a story per se but rather sets a scene and places the characters within it. Very readable, marvelous imagery, plain speaking in its descriptions and the characters have a subtle depth. This is my first We More...

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Feb 25, 2009

Callie rated it:

Wow. This book is a gift. I first heard about Wendell Berry in college when we were studying nature writers and I think we read some of his poetry. But I haven't really thought of him since then, yet I am so glad I picked this up. I loved this novel. It's about a small farming community and covers the life of one woman in that community. The way people are in this book and their values feel so familiar to me, and I don't find many books like that. And although there is much about this that feels More...

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Dec 25, 2008

Mark rated it:

I think that this calls to mind a word to describe Mr. Berry's writing. That word is reverence. This is the story of a woman born in Shagbark who then moves to Port William and becomes part of the "membership". It tells the story of her love for a man who died too young and of her subsequent life with a second husband who "went right on". The reverence is for the land and what it can produce when tended with loving hands. It is for the people who through the love they have fo More...

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Apr 29, 2008

Holli rated it:

What can I say? It’s Wendell Berry. I especially liked his image of the room of love, as quoted below and as described in the chapter. Maybe her life didn’t turn out quite as she would have wanted, with her children all so far away and her way of life passing out of existence, but that image of the room of love speaks of hope, reconciliation, and shalom.--HR

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. "This is the story of my life, that while I lived it weighed upon me a More...

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Mar 29, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

I really loved this book. It made me think and it made me feel, which is the mark of a good book. Two things that kept it from getting a five-star rating:

Mr. Berry seemed to go on and on about their property...over and over again, until I grew a little bored in the middle part of the book.

Also I really, REALLY wished he had gone into more detail about Hannah and Nathan's newly married life, but instead, once they were married, he seemed to skip forward too far into the More...

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Feb 26, 2009

Poiema rated it:

Rich life story of a woman who belongs to a tight-knit family farm community. From childhood to old age, the voice of Hannah Coulter reflects on the significant and the minute moments of her life. She draws a haunting portrait of the rural life that was once so typical but was drawing to an end after WWII. Have we as a culture progressed? Or have we lost the wonderful sense of purpose and community that Hannah recounts in her memoir?

quote: "Love is what carries you, for it More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Ann rated it:

This was the first book that I read by Wendell Berry, but it started me on the rest of his books. I love not only the characters but also the sense of place and of history that Berry invokes. Hannah, the protagonist, grows up in and around the town of Port William, Kentucky, the scene of many other of Berry's books. The books are not a straight series, but each book acquaints you with a few of the characters, who then appear, usally as secondary characters, in the other books. The sense of conti More...

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Nov 23, 2010

Timothy rated it:

It's beautiful. Berry reminds us that we are constituted by our loves, and that we find peace as we love, and that to love is to be altogether given--to another, to a place, to a people. But more important, he reminds us that we are to love what is before us: "Nathan said, 'Don't complain about the chance you had,' in the same way exactly that he used to tell the boys, 'Don't cuss the weather.' . . . you mustn't wish for another life. You mustn't want to be somebody else."

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Oct 10, 2010

Trudy rated it:

This was the first of Berry's Port Williams books for me and I enjoyed it. I think it will appeal to people who also like The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency and the Mitford series. Sweet and mellow, a life story told by the subject, with some nuggets of wisdom interjected on the way. It makes WW II out to be the turning point of American society's attitude toward the land on which we live; how we've ceased to be one with it by working it and gleaning from it the way people used to do before More...

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Jan 06, 2010

Carole rated it:

This author belies the claim that men and women are too different to really understand each other. Writing as a woman, in first person, Berry wonderfully expresses a feminine response to war, loss, and, most of all, love. I'm anxious to read his other writings, including those from a male perspective.

Some favorite quotes:

"As I have told it over, the past visible again in the present, the dead living still in their absence, this dream of time seems to come to rest i More...

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Oct 06, 2011

Corinne rated it:

I became interested in this book after hearing a glowing review of it on the Diane Rehm radio show.

A book that contains the reminiscences of a twice widowed woman named Hannah Coulter. Berry has a beautiful writing style, full of imagery, yet as simple as his main character and her life.

A valuable look into life as it was for a farming family from the Depression on. This is not a gripping page turner, but rather a gem to savor and think about.

Really made me think More...

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Sep 18, 2011

Jacob rated it:

I found this to be an interesting tale of changing cultures from the early 1900s to the 2000s. There are several times in the story where the narrator reflects back on decisions made or cultural shifts and asks provocative questions. I thought the idea that "giving children the education they deserved (college)," was bound to push them away from home was very insightful. Why should we expect the educated to come back and live humble lives as farmers? (I am by no means saying that farme More...

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May 21, 2011

Nathan rated it:

Berry captures yet another Port William life in "Hannah Coulter." And he also captures something of an old Americana that is quickly fading, fading, gone. Some quintessential Berry themes show up - the fight of the old way against the new myth-of-progress; life that was once lived in cooperation with the land rather than co-opted against it; and faith, hope, and love that cover over a multitude of clamoring sins. But the book is different - and endearing - in that it tells the story More...

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Mar 20, 2011

Paula rated it:

Written by Kentucky environmental philosopher, poet, essayist, and novelist Wendell Berry, this fictional memoir tells the story of life in rural Kentucky from the 1920's through the early 2000's. Hannah Coulter is one of the series of stories of people from Port William, a fictional town on the the Ohio River, somewhere between Louisville and Cincinnati. Through Hannah's story we learn about family farm life in Kentucky and the details of close relationships developed through the interdependenc More...

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Dec 29, 2011

Bob rated it:

Wendell Berry's novel Hannah Coulter tells the life story of a farmer's wife who was born in 1922 and lived into the 21st century. There are few surprises. Many of the events in her life typify the changes in rural America during the last century. Even events that might otherwise be surprising are foreshadowed. Nevertheless, I found the book enthralling. The prose is simple, at times beautiful, and frequently seasoned with wisdom.

This is a book with a message. Berry loves nature and More...

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Aug 28, 2007

Patrick rated it:

I have such a tenderness toward Berry, for his way of thinking, participating in this world, that this, what I want to do here, is not a review at all, certainly not literary, though he is a fine writer, but a recommendation for living, for thoughtfulness. Chapter 10, if I correctly recall, is the only one I did not cry during.

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Aug 19, 2011

Sara rated it:

I love Wendell Berry. I have never been disappointed by his work, whether fiction or non-fiction, and am continually amazed at the breadth of his ability as a writer. Hannah Coulter is one of the novels in his series about the residents of a fictional farm town called Port William. This is the only one in the series (that I'm aware of) whose main character is a woman, endearing itself to me above the others.

If you're new to Berry I'll tell you that his novels are beautifully writt More...

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Dec 28, 2011

Trevor rated it:

Reread in light of upcoming discussion I'm leading on this novel. So many lines stood out, like a pointer with a sharp end:

"Love in this world doesn't come out of thin air. It is not something thought up. Like ourselves, it grows out of the ground. It has a body and a place."

"Most people now are looking for a 'better place,' which means that a lot of them will end up in a worse one. I think that is what Nathan learned from his time in the army and the More...

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Nov 18, 2011

Melissa rated it:

Hannah Coulter reflects on her life, having lived through the Great Depression as a child, married during WWII, lost a husband, had a child, remarried, had two more children, and outlived her 2nd husband. The book is not so much event-focused as it is reflective, reminiscent, thoughtful, and descriptive, at times too much for my taste. But it was a lovely read and it has caused me to really think about several great topics from a new perspective--the purpose of education, the desire for parents More...

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Jan 13, 2012

Webster rated it:

This is a post that first appeared on my blog, “Witness.” http://http://witness2christ.blogspot.co...

For a long time I was restless—never in my marriage, seldom in my work, but most often simply in my location. I wanted to move to Maine, to Ireland, to North Dakota. I hear Katie screaming, “North Dakota?! Have a nice time—by yourself.” I thought that life would be better if I moved: easier, greener, more serene. I was looking for a geographical cure.

But I am married to a wise More...

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Oct 07, 2011

Emily rated it:

Hannah Coulter is a simple story of woman's life on a farm. She lives through many hardships such as loss during World War 2 and illness of loved ones. Hannah also experiences many triumphs in her life. I guess this story is about how to take the good, take the bad, take it all to see that there you have the facts of life. The story is filled with many touching moments whether funny, serious, sad, or strange. One thing that was different about this book was the fact that it wasn't so much t More...

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May 04, 2009

Darby rated it:

i feel a little bruised, finishing this one. it reminds me of a marilynne robinson novel, but told in a simpler voice, and more interested in place than personality. robinson mines her characters' inner lives, berry leaves them some mystery, but both treat the passage of time and the burden of memory gently.

the bruised feeling comes from berry hitting close to home. i'm two generations removed from my farm roots, and my grandparents' work and life (which they think is too plain and More...

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Aug 15, 2011

Adam rated it:

Short review: I really enjoyed this book. I do not read enough novels. But this helps remind me why novels are important. It is a wonderful story of a woman (she recounts her story in first person the entire book) from the time she was a young girl in the depression until the story ends in 2001. She recounts WWII, her marriage and children, living the life of a farmer in changing times, her children and grandchildren's moving away and losing connection to the land. Nostalgia in the best se More...

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Jun 23, 2011

Lisa rated it:

This is the first book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it. I like the author's style of succinctly writing about what the characters feel, things that are difficult to express in words and I could picture every scene unfold. I loved the trip down memory lane with the character Hannah and I couldn't help but reminisce of my own grandparents as I read this story. It also made me think of how much life has changed in a very short period of time since World War II in our country. I More...

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Oct 05, 2009

Michael rated it:

Before beginning the review, I should confess that I have not read the other Port William novels, although I did hear the author read from Jayber Crow before its publication and am a serious student of his essays and poetry. That being said, I loved this book. Not only is the language beautiful in its imagery and rhythms but the female narrator/protagonist is very believable in her speech and perspectives. Berry has done a remarkable job of wedding the passing of the rural America of small famil More...

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Oct 18, 2010

Nettie rated it:

Jim read the book 1st since it was a gift from Jonathan & Mary Beth. We compared notes & realized much of what we've been experiencing is written in this book. Especially with regard to how we work for a place for the family & now they're all moved away. The closest one is an hour away & we are happy about that. We are also very grateful the others make it a priority & take time to visit often - not easy for Jonathan & Mary Beth with 4 children & the business he runs. We are blessed with a famil More...

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May 09, 2011

Tommy rated it:

This was my first Wendell Berry novel, and it may not have been the best one. Berry upholds his small-town ideal through the eyes of a woman who lives her whole life in Berry's fictional Port William; as she ages, her children gradually distance themselves from the family farm so they can enjoy more modern pursuits. I'm sympathetic to the plight of dying farm communities, but the portrayal of such a place is too squeaky-clean here. Was mid-century rural Kentucky really this free from the social More...

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Jun 30, 2010

Adam rated it:

Quite possibly the most maudlin of all Berry's fiction, I doubt I would ever read this one a second time. Also there seemed to be a more than usual amount of overlap here--especially early in the book--with previously-told Port William stories. Yet there are some great passages, and I wonder how I would have felt if this had been one of the first of Berry's novels that I'd read. Now I have only two left to read, and the fact that Hannah's voice is very clearly Berry's own (and little more) wo More...

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Jan 17, 2010

Janet rated it:

This rocketed to the top of my favorite books list, and I think it will stay there, maybe forever. Can't wait to read more of Berry's work.
I sought out one of his novels after reading a short story that was one of the most profound short stories I think I'd ever read. Beyond the story itself, I was taken by the author's artistry. Knowing that some authors can master the short story but don't do as well sustaining a novel, I wanted to see how Berry did with the longer format.
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