A Month in the Country in Retro Chapter Chicks

Jul 19, 2017 Brina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novella, man-booker

I am a seasonal reader, often craving books with sizzling settings in the summer months and snowy locales in the winter. Last week I saw a review for J. L. Carr's Man Booker winning A Month in the Country and was intrigued enough by the title to read it for myself. Using stunning prose combined with well developed characters, Carr's novella is perfect for a leisurely summer morning.

Tom Birkin had survived the Great War yet returned alienated from civilian life. While in present times his feelin I am a seasonal reader, often craving books with sizzling settings in the summer months and snowy locales in the winter. Last week I saw a review for J. L. Carr's Man Booker winning A Month in the Country and was intrigued enough by the title to read it for myself. Using stunning prose combined with well developed characters, Carr's novella is perfect for a leisurely summer morning.

Tom Birkin had survived the Great War yet returned alienated from civilian life. While in present times his feelings can be ascribed to survivor's guilt or post traumatic stress disorder, in 1920 Birkin did not have an outlet for his feelings. His wife Vinny had left him for another man, leaving the door open for his return. Disillusioned with life as a temporarily single man in London, Birkin accepts a job in a small northern hamlet of Oxgodby to unearth a painting and artist from the 1340s. Even though this out of the way life is not what Birkin had envisioned for himself, he welcomes the opportunity to get out of his situation and avoid the present mess of his marriage.

While in Oxgodby, Birkin encounters a quaint cast of characters. Fellow excavator Michael Moon has come north for the same reasons as Birkin. The two share war stories and their views on life in general as they attempt to meet their deadlines in unearthing medieval men. As the two outsiders enjoy a cordial relationship, Birkin also interacts with locals. Kathy Ellenbeck is a precocious fourteen year old who seems to know everything about everyone. I found her exchanges to be humorous. Meanwhile, Birkin is smitten with the vicar's wife, Alice Keach. A young woman of no more than twenty, Alice is both intuitive and beautiful, yet off limits. It is through his and Alice's non relationship that allows Birkin to assess his own life situation.

In his novella, Carr employs descriptive prose that has me longing for a countryside. Warm summer days are perfect for picnics, budding romances, and staying up late contemplating one's role in life. Carr develops characters in Birkin and Moon who are non believers yet are employed by a church. Most of the action occurs within the belfry where Birkin works and sleeps, even the contrast as he fights an inner impulse to strike up relations with Alice. For a male author, I enjoyed Carr's development of his female characters and was glad that they were simply platonic.

All good things come to an end. Birkin narrates this story while looking back 58 years later having never returned to Oxgodby. The story moved by quickly and Birkin finished his work, the church goers almost relieved when he returned to London. Carr's story is indeed appropriate for a lazy summer morning. A Month in the Country is a relaxing novella with strong characters for a summer day, and, like Birkin, when I was finished reading it, it was time to get on with my everyday life. 4 solid stars. ...more

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Jul 25, 2023 Candi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, historical-fiction, book-i-own, art

“Ah, those days… for many years afterwards their happiness haunted me. Sometimes, listening to music, I drift back and nothing has changed. The long end of summer. Day after day of warm weather, voices calling as night came on and lighted windows pricked the darkness and, at day-break, the murmur of corn and the warm smell of fields ripe for harvest. And being young.”

If you’re reading this review and can say that no such thoughts ever caused your heart to swell or perhaps made a tear prick the c “Ah, those days… for many years afterwards their happiness haunted me. Sometimes, listening to music, I drift back and nothing has changed. The long end of summer. Day after day of warm weather, voices calling as night came on and lighted windows pricked the darkness and, at day-break, the murmur of corn and the warm smell of fields ripe for harvest. And being young.”

If you’re reading this review and can say that no such thoughts ever caused your heart to swell or perhaps made a tear prick the corner of your eye, then I’d say give it a few more years. Although, no matter what age, we always have some fond memory of a time in our early childhood or our young adulthood that will give us pause. I may have wished for this story of a young man’s healing after the horrors of World War I and Passchendaele to go on for another hundred pages or more, but I’ve come to terms with the fact J.L. Carr said all he needed to in this slim novel. It’s one that sneaks up on you, feeling relatively simple at first. The sting from it might catch you off guard. Like the slow, deep burn after a big gulp of a good bourbon. I’m wondering how long before the bittersweet pang lessens and I can move on.

“… I was drawn into the changing picture of Oxgodby itself. But, oddly, what happened outside was like a dream. It was inside the still church, before its reappearing picture, that was real. I drifted across the rest. As I have said – like a dream. For a time.”

Tom Birkin is commissioned to restore a medieval painting in a rural Yorkshire village church. He’s left behind a shattered marriage in addition to the scars left by war. This is a very ordinary story, really. But the people that come into his life during this short time leave an extraordinary mark and a long-lasting effect. We know this as he is telling us this tale years after it has occurred. The impact is palpable. Art’s power to mend souls and reveal truth is a big theme here. But there’s a whole lot more packed into a mere 135 pages. As we, along with Birkin, encounter the inhabitants of this idyllic little town, we experience a search for identity, various forms of friendship, and love. I wanted to say forbidden love. But what is “forbidden” love, really? If one loves, whether or not it is reciprocated or socially acceptable, it is still love, isn’t it? Missed opportunities, however… Well, we all know about those.

“… the first breath of autumn was in the air, a prodigal feeling, a feeling of wanting, taking, and keeping before it is too late.”

Before I’ve wrongly convinced you that this is a somber tale, let me say it’s not at all! Wistful and nostalgic? Yes. Hopeful? Most definitely. Will you be thinking about your own life stories, the chances offered and perhaps passed by? Of course. But it will also reveal to you how those little moments in the past have shaped you into the person you are right now. There are still moments there to grab. You’re not done yet.

"You’ll find that, once you’ve dragged yourself off round the corner, there’ll be another view; it may even be a better one.”
...more

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