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460th out of 788 books
—
702 voters
That Distant Land: The Collected Stories
Drawn from three collections of stories and including new work, That Distant Land extends over nearly a century of Berry's Port William community. With 23 stories from the author's Port William membership, this book is arranged in its fictional chronology, and it shines forth as a single sustained work. That Distant Land truly reveals Wendell Berry—award-winning essayist,...more
Paperback, 448 pages
Published
February 24th 2005
by Counterpoint
(first published August 1st 2002)
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This book covers about a century of time in the community of Port William, an imaginary town on the Kentucky River, where it joins the Ohio River on Kentucky's northern border. There are stories starting from the 1860s and carrying up to the 1960s, about the families who lived in the area. There is a great map in the back of the book that shows where these families lived, and a geneology of several families and how they related to one another.
It's poignant and funny, and a view of a land of farm...more
It's poignant and funny, and a view of a land of farm...more
I have long wanted to like Wendell Berry, but I never had any luck with either his essays or his novels---until now. These twenty-some linked stories cover five generations (1880s to 1980s) of people living in the fictitious small town of Port William, Kentucky. I found them riveting: the language, the descriptions of place, and the depth and variety of the characters. He evokes a simpler time when the relationships with the land, family, and neighbors were paramount. In one story a young man is...more
This book is a collection of short stories related to the people in Port William, Kentucky, a community that Berry has been writing about for many years. I loved seeing them again in this format: the stories are arranged chronologically, and the table of contents shows how they fit into the time frame of the other Port William novels. But it was sad to see the passage of time. At the end, it appears that only Danny Branch and Hannah Coulter's grandson are going to maintain the farming tradition...more
This was a wonderful collection of short stories with characters from Port Washington, KY. I'd read several of the stories before, but the great thing about this collection was that they were in chronological order of when they happened (including the year). I liked reading about plowing with horses before the grandson plows with a tractor. It just helped fit everything in the space time-wise. Tol (Ptolomy) Proudfoot is one of my favorite characters. He's a farmer who loves his work and his wife...more
This book dragged me kicking and screaming back through time and space into the more measured pace of an agrarian society. I got distracted from time to time, by my modern obsession with ACTION, but ultimately fell in love with these stories, which allowed me to follow a group of people as they were born, grew up, grew old and died. I actually shed a few tears for these people, which I've rarely done since way back in the day when I read, "Where the Red Fern Grows".
I highly recommend that you r...more
I highly recommend that you r...more
I've been reading this book of short stories about families farming life in Kentucky in the early 1900s with ward book club. The details about emotions, relationships and the experiences of these people is quite enjoyable. You come to quickly appreciate and understand the characters. Some of the story lines are brief and some are carried through multiple stories. Lessons of forgiveness, friendship, companionship, family bonds, neighborly kindness and service are woven into the stories. It's over...more
I read this a few years ago, and just finished a reread. I haven't read anything else by Wendell Berry, but this is fantastic. It's a set of interlinked stories that take place in and around the fictional Kentucky community of Port William, and Berry's love of farming and the community that coalesces around farming is evident everywhere. His writing is elegant in its plainness, and beautiful in its prevailing sense of sadness. Highly recommended.
I love Wendell Berry's writing, and this one has to be my favorite of all his fictional works. If you're looking for an overview of the world of Port William and its characters (all Berry's fiction takes place in, or centered around, the town of Port William, KY), this is the place to start. I've read it several times now, and it feels like an old friend to me. REad it!
Okay, to all my friends who have been promoting Berry to me for years: I'm hooked. I don't think I'm quite as romantically wistful for country life or a bygone era before indoor plumbing and penicillin and Netflix as he (and sometimes they) seems to be. But the writing is truly beautiful. And many of the stories were lots of fun.
Unbelievable. Every single story of this book is breathtaking. Wendell Berry has a way of drawing you into his stories that makes you never want to come back - even if they're sad or uncomfortable. I love the setting - a small town filled with farmland and generations of families that are beautifully intertwined.
I have thrown Berry's books while reading them. Because they're so beautiful! I can't believe a writer of this caliber is still living and we haven't drawn his blood yet so that we can clone him. That said, this book continues his practice of writing beautifully. Mostly. Some of the stories in here will break. your. heart. Certainly. Quickly. Thankfully.
But some of the stories seem a bit.....nostalgic. As if people in the 'old days' farted anecdotes and spoke in folksy iambic pentameter.
Berry i...more
But some of the stories seem a bit.....nostalgic. As if people in the 'old days' farted anecdotes and spoke in folksy iambic pentameter.
Berry i...more
Well crafted, exquisite language from a master. The stories present a progressive picture of Port William, Kentucky from 1888 to 1986. I found the tone quite similar for each story, which took away any distinctive individual features. Interesting portrait. Very dense.
One of the best fiction works that I have read, and certainly the best one I have read in the last couple of years. It is real, poetic, subtle, charming, and it drew deep into my heart.
Everything good- great characters you get to follow over time, grounded landscape that is a protagonist on its own, passionate philosophy. Can't really argue with WB.
Reading Wendell Berry's short stories makes you long for a way of life that has left us. Each story is like returning home after a long and weary journey.
This is a wonderful collection of short stories, all taking place in or around a fictional place in Kentucky invented by Berry. By the end of the book, you've become familiar with so many of the names and stories that characters reference, you begin to feel like part of this community Berry has created; like you're hearing your grandparent tell you stories about your distant relatives. Really a touching collection of life-affirming stories. These are slices of everyday life -- usually farm life...more
Really great writing, but short stories are hard for me to enjoy. If I like them, then I don't like them to end quite so soon. I like Bildungsroman lit, so I prefer hefty character development. My two favorites were It Wasn't Me and Fidelity. I like very much Berry's concept of the compilation of short stories that span generations of a town and the inhabitants' relationships to one another. The chronology of the layout and maps were a nice touch. Berry writes in such detail, that it sounds more...more
Read most of the short stories - will have to return to them this summer. Fills out some of the Port William community.
Not for the lover of high-speed car chases -- but who other than Wendell Berry can tell a story about a man shooting his best friend to death, and end believably with the killer's daughter as a permanently joyous woman?
I think to really get to know the heart of Wendell Berry, one should read his fiction and not simply his essays.
Talk about rolling on the floor! I love Ptolemy Proudfoot and all of his antics!
Probably not to everyone's taste, but I found it nearly as satisfying as the Bible.
This is a very slow moving book, but very beautiful. It's an elegy to a lost time.
practically anything by mr. berry is good reading.
Story telling Berry at his best!
Beautiful story telling.
Good winter bedside book.
"Much better to talk about than to read"-Leigh Ann Nally
But interesting to think about time and place...I wish I knew who lived in this apartment for the last years...maybe i could find out and write about them...
But interesting to think about time and place...I wish I knew who lived in this apartment for the last years...maybe i could find out and write about them...
A terrific set of stories. Each provides a tale that enriches the tapestry of Port William. Many are more somber than the novels I've read, with several telling the story of the passing of several of the main characters from the novels.
My only quibble was arranging them in chronological order of the time each story purportedly took place. I'd prefer to have had them in the order Berry wrote them, for a further glimpse into the evolution of the families and place in his mind.
My only quibble was arranging them in chronological order of the time each story purportedly took place. I'd prefer to have had them in the order Berry wrote them, for a further glimpse into the evolution of the families and place in his mind.
Berry's agrarian lifestyle echoes life's cycles-
birth/death
plant/harvest
reap/sow
day/night
joy/sorrow
tame/wild
build/decay
Reminiscent of Ecclesiastes
Berry's words flow like the life cycles he describes.
birth/death
plant/harvest
reap/sow
day/night
joy/sorrow
tame/wild
build/decay
Reminiscent of Ecclesiastes
Berry's words flow like the life cycles he describes.
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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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May 15, 2012 06:12am