Wendell Berry is a Kentucky treasure and a master of American Literature. If you have never read any of his books, you are in for a treat. Berry, from Henry County, has won numerous awards. His prose is elegant, distinctive, and stylish. His poems are succinct, his essays thought provoking. He often hints at the need for man’s congruence with nature.
According to the Poetry Foundation, “Critics and scholars have acknowledged Wendell Berry as a master of many literary genres, but whether he is writing poetry, fiction, or essays, his message is essentially the same: humans must learn to live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the earth or perish.”
For years, Berry has written novels about fictitious Port William, Kentucky. He uses this venue to explore a rich southern culture with all its strengths and weaknesses, its advantages and imperfections, its ebbs and flows.
The Memory of Old Jack, one of my favorites, is a powerful representation of the Port William series.
The premise of the novel is simple.
It is September 1952 and Old Jack, who was born and farmed in Port William, spends a day reflecting on his life.
His nimble mind hits upon meandering memories that are fraught with joy and heartache. He remembers his boyhood back to the days of the Civil War; images of the brothers he barely knew who died in that war and whose deaths ripped the souls from his parents; the tattered memories of a sour marriage to Ruth (a woman who unsuccessfully tried to reshape him); his loving sister Nancy who raised him from boyhood; his building and then losing a farm; and his sister’s husband Ben, Jack’s surrogate father and role model. It is also a story of the people who love and support Old Jack.
In his day of reflection, Jack also dwells of his affair with Rose, a doctor’s widow, who dies tragically. He alights upon his estrangement from his daughter, Clara. He reminisces about a young black man, Will, and the inequity of their relationship— one in which Jack reaped the reward of Will’s hard work. Somehow, that just did not sit right with Jack.
Many more memories float through Old Jack’s mind in this heartfelt novel but by now I think you will have insight into the kind of powerful book Wendell Berry has fashioned. I recommend you read The Memory of Old Jack and the entire Port William collection.
Here’s a sample of Berry’s poignant narrative as Old Jack reflects on his life:
“Oh, he was something to look at then! He admits it now with a candor too impersonal to need modesty. There were days in his early manhood when it seems to him he walked in the air. He stood and moved with a lightness that was almost flight. His hand moved effortless as his eye. He looks back upon himself as he was, exulting in his great strength, indulgent of his eagerness and desire, as he might, had he been so favored, have looked upon a grandson. But he has neither son nor grandson. It is the blessing and the trial of his old age that his mind goes back to inhabit again and again the body of the man he was.”
A passage that is as poignant as it is summative.
I recommend you read The Memory of Old Jack. I can think of no better way to lull away a Sunday afternoon or, for that matter, a cold winter’s night when the wind blows and snow pelts against darkened windowpanes. I believe you will enjoy a visit to Port William and find that Old Jack is good company.
Before relaying how you can find Berry’s books, I want to share one of his poems, The Peace of Wild Things:
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.
Do yourself a favor and explore a book or two by this true Kentucky treasure.
Wendell Berry has graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Kentucky. He lives on a farm in Port Royal, Kentucky, not too far away. His teaching credentials include Stanford University, Georgetown College, New York University, the University of Cincinnati, Bucknell University, and at his alma mater: the University of Kentucky. You can learn more about his varied books and his life at www.wendellberrybooks.com.
His books are also available at popular book stores, websites, and your local public library.
Donald Then, a novelist and experienced editor and journalist, is NKyTribune’s literary editor. He will review books written by local authors or those with a Northern Kentucky setting. Reach him at author@djamesthen.com Visit his website at
www.djamesthen.com