Wendell Who?
It may be bleak and cold outside but it won’t be long until July rolls around and the Circe Conference is upon us.
This year’s Paideia prize winner is author, agrarian and philosopher Wendell Berry. Berry is a prolific writer. An Amazon search for his name yields pages and pages of Berry’s individual titles, including compilations, essays, novels, short stories, poetry and even children’s literature.
In spite of that not every one is familiar with Berry. One of my friends said, “Wendell who?” The problem with approaching Berry’s writings for the first time is where to start. Here are a few suggestions:
Most people would be tempted to start with Berry’s fiction. His fictional book Jayber Crow is probably his best known work, and, in fact, most of Berry’s fiction is connected to the fictional Kentucky town of Port William where Jayber lives.
While I believe that Jayber Crow is a carefully drawn portrait with complex themes and pathos, following in the footsteps of the best Southern literature, it might not be the best place to start reading Wendell Berry.
A quick read through one of his shorter books of essays, such as Home Economics, will alert the reader to the fact that Berry is not a man with one dimensional ideals. He often surprises us.
The Way of Ignorance and Standing by Words: Essays
After you have unwrapped Berry from the box with his essays, you can then move on to his fiction with a much clearer idea of the picture he is painting. I found Jayber Crow to be deeply moving, convicting, and even uncomfortably astute, but for many readers Hannah Coulter is the more accessible book. Women are especially drawn to Hannah.
The above list is plentiful but you may want to give some of Berry’s poetry a try. Here is a taste of what is waiting for you:
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry
And thinking of the wild things, Berry’s children’s story Whitefoot is a delight of beauty and respect. You may even want to start with it.
Who is Wendell Berry? Kimberly K. Smith takes a look at the history of Berry and the agrarian tradition in her fascinating book, Wendell Berry and the Agrarian Tradition: A Common Grace.
You won’t whip through this book but it puts much of Berry’s writing in the context of the times and the philosophies that surround the different facets of the agrarian movement and reminds us once again not to confine Wendell Berry to narrow categories. He deftly avoids becoming an ideologue or contributing to an -ism.
With such a vast bibliography we are bound to have different opinions on where to point newbies. Feel free to contradict my suggestions in the comments.
I have had the “What Wendell Berry book should I start with?” conversation a few times in the last month, and I have found myself recommending Fidelity (a collection of short stories) as a place to start. Fidelity (the short story) is my all-time favorite Wendell Berry piece, and I know several Berry fans who find their favorite in this book.
Do you know if there is a place that lists the Port William Membership stories in chronological order rather in the order that they have been written? I would love to read the story from beginning to end.
~ Diane
Diane. the Table of Contents in the story collection That Distant Land puts all of the stories (and novels) in chronological order. Scroll down to That Distant Land at this link: http://brtom.typepad.com/wberry/port-william-the-stories.html
Tom
My first Wendell Berry book was hannah Coulter, and I was hooked. That said, I have yet to read his essays and short stories (by anyone) seldom hold my interest. I might just try a book of short stories by one of my favorite authors, Mr. Berry, however.
Thanks for posting this. I’m glad to see that the Berry book I picked up at Goodwill the other day is on the list. A good place to start.
I’m willing to bet no one is going to recommend beginning with Nathan Coulter–which is what happened to me. Fortunately, I listened to my trusted friends and explored further. I’ve got some essays on my TBR list for this year….
I think he wrote Nathan Coulter in about 1962. The pleasure is in seeing how much better he becomes. Even there you can see his themes, but he hasn’t yet attained that internal balance that makes his writings so compelling.
This is great! I actually DID start with Jayber Crow, and you are exactly right: it’s not the best place to start. I keep meaning to go back and read more Berry because I know he is amazing. I just wasn’t madly in love with Jayber Crow.
Di’s comment compels me to add my two cents. I think Fidelity is the favorite of every Wendell Berry fan I know personally. It’s part of our family culture.
I often direct people to That Distant Land, a collection of Berry’s short stories. (Fidelity is included in this collection.) While every story may not resonate, the reader gets a fell for Port William and its inhabitants. And the themes of hard work, forgiveness, quotidian beauty, and the land come through strong and clear.
I love Berry’s independence. He’s certain to offend all of us in one way or another. But, oh, does he make us evaluate and crave the beauty of a life well-lived.
Cindy, I am a frequent reader of yours, inspired by your morning time writings. It is exactly the kinds of things we find important in our home education. I enjoyed this post because I have just (just!) started reading Wendell Berry’s fiction.
Personally, I would recommend “The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture” … but that’s probably just my agrarian nature coming out. On the other hand, I have never found myself able to truly enjoy his works of fiction. I love his essays, his poetry, and his longer non-fiction (such as the aforementioned), but… not his fiction. Perhaps I am simply uncultured.
I was introduced to Berry through ‘What Are People For?’ We had to read it for seminary. I’ve read one of his fiction works and am working through some of his other essays.