Friday, September 19, 2008

Hannah Coulter


Jill and Holly urged me to read Wendell Berry's book, Hannah Coulter. I said I would, then forgot about it and read other books. But both of them gently (and separately, since neither knows the other) reminded me that I should read it. Because Jill and Holly are two good reading friends who read a lot and often recommend books I enjoy, I finally sat down and read Mr. Berry's book. It's a very peaceful story of a place and a time as seen and experienced by one woman, Hannah Coulter.

And I liked it. A lot. Enough to read it through without stopping until I finished it. I don't intend to summarize it - Valerie Sayers wrote a very good review of it for The Washington Post and it's on Amazon's page - but I will tell what books it was like.

As I read the story I was reminded of Bess Streeter Aldrich's books, especially A Lantern in Her Hand. I also thought of the novels by Agnes Sligh Turnbull, particularly The Richlands.

Now I'm hoping someone will recommend another Wendell Berry book that is a "must-read."

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi! I came here from Semicolon. I must recommend Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry to you. It's simply a beautiful book. You can read my review on my blog, or Semicolon has a nice review about it, too. I want to read Hannah Coulter; I just haven't been able to find it locally yet.

4:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm dropping by from Semicolon, too. I would recommend That Distant Land: Collected Stories by Wendell Berry - it was one of my favorite reads last year. It contains the short stories written about the Port William township and characters.

9:25 AM  
Blogger Sherry said...

Yes, Jayber Crow:
http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=2582

5:26 PM  

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