How to speak of a novel that: is well-written to the place of perfection, reads like a meditation on the spirituality of living as a loving being, is a piece of Historical Fiction of a time (1914 – 1985+/-) and place (the hills of Kentucky) where people mattered and was so engaging that finishing it is akin to saying goodbye to a close friend as one moves from home to an unknown location? How to describe a character like Jayber Crow – Everyman, Shaman, Wanderer, Explorer, Speaker-of-Truth – who defies being confined to such mundane monikers? One cannot contain the breadth and depth of such a book as this by using words, one must experience Jayber Crow as he lives his life in Port William, Kentucky.
Jonah Crow was orphaned before his fourth birthday, raised by an aunt and uncle, who had wanted children but were never “so blest,” until he was, “. . . a little past ten years old and I was the survivor already of two stories completely ended.” (p.28). He was then placed in The Good Shepherd Orphanage where he became “J. Crow” by the motion of the superintendent’s will. Soon thereafter, “J.” was “Jaybird” then became “Jayber” about the time he considered that he “was called to preach.” As a result of this “call,” he was granted a scholarship to Pigeonville Bible College. While there, his true calling caught up to him – he not only had doubts, but found those questions to be the root of his (deeply held) faith.
“You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out – perhaps a little at the time.”
“And how long is that going to take?”
“I don’t know. As long as you live, perhaps.”
“That could take a long time.”
“I will tell you a further mystery,” he said. “It may take longer.” (p. 54)
Upon leaving Pigeonville, he explores the “wider world” for a few years, by barbering in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1937, at the beginning of a historic flood, he “knew” he had to return to Port William. There, for the rest of his life (at least the amount he could chronicle) he watched, listened, learned to love and became a part of the community that gave him life as it taught him how to live it. He lived “into” some of the possible answers to the questions he had while at Pigeonville.
There are so many points worthy of thoughtful reflection found in this book that it could easily be a meditation aid, regardless of one’s focus of faith or Spiritual basis. (“I felt the presence of memories I could not remember” p. 132; “I am as mystified as anybody by the transformation known as death, and the resurrection is more real to me than most things I have not yet seen.” p. 157; “I sat in my chair and let the cold, slow daylight come around me.” p. 243, etc.) What is not a moment of potential awakening in the book is a moment of visiting relatives in any small southern town in years gone by. Reading many of Jayber’s recollections took me back to so many places in of my youth, with such clarity, that I felt the winds of my childhood blowing around me.
I am nearly ashamed that I have lived in Kentucky for most of my life, had heard of Wendell Berry frequently, but had managed to not read any of his work until a friend mentioned the impact this novel was having in her life. To not read the writing of such an author as Mr. Berry is to deny the power of reading, clear thinking and to willingly choose to be illiterate. This is the sixth (of eight) “Port William” novels penned by this Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame member, which is but a fraction of his writing. It is a comfort to know I have so much wonder to discover by reading it – ALL!
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A Portrait of America That Doesn’t Exist Now (If It Ever Did)
Wendell Berry rambles, pontificates, and muses for a dull 400 pages. By the end, you will wonder what the point was other than to present the American farmer as heroic, virtuous in a small town kind of way. Spoiler Alert: small town america is not like this at all. The farmers of yesteryear are now an angry, resentful group who feel as though they have been passed over by the world. Wendell Berry is at-best an overly wordy Garrison Keillor with just a little more edge to satisfy an Gen X audience. Don’t waste your time with this book.
Top reviews from other countries
Wendell
A classic novel illustrating Wendell Berry's philosophy
Reviewed in Canada on March 7, 2024
A. McKenzie
Singleness done well, after some slip ups
Reviewed in Australia on August 15, 2019Wyenotgo
It will make you laugh long and hard and it will break your heart.
Reviewed in Canada on December 7, 2018