HANNAH COULTER by Wendell Berry ~ November '08

Slow Reader has mentioned elsewhere that we had one of our best discussions in November with the novel Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. As I've thought about the factors that made this possible, it seems that perhaps this story of life and relationships and growing old helped us to reflect on what is truly of value in our lives. In that reflection, we shared more of our own histories and our own lives with each other than we have in other discussions. This book made us think. It made us compare our lives to the life described by Hannah Coulter (many of us found it easier to personify this fictional character than to refer to the author's presentation of the story). Some compared her story to their family history if it was linked to a farm, and others found a challenge to live more purposefully in the present and future. At the least, all of us came away with a new appreciation for a piece of America that has all but disappeared.

Wendell Berry's ideals are seamlessly interwoven throughout the narrative. Some of our members thought they came through almost like a sermon, but they made others long for a simple and full life closer to the land, a life that seems so elusive in our fast paced urban and suburban lifestyles. Although none of us are in a place where we can fully embrace those ideals even if we wanted to, they certainly gave us reason to examine some of our assumptions and motives for how we live our lives.

We discussed most of the questions listed in a previous post, but two concepts in particular seemed to shape most of our discussion. First, we spent a good deal of time talking about contentment and ambition as related to this passage:

Compared to nearly everybody else, the Branches have led a sort of futureless life. They have planned and provided as much as they needed to, but they take little thought for the morrow. They aren't going any place, they aren't getting ready to become anything but what they are, and so their lives are not fretful and hankering. And they are all still here, still farming... They survive and go on because they like where they are and what they are doing, they aren't trying to get up in the world, and they produce more than they consume...they trade and contrive and make do, getting by and prospering both at once. It doesn't seem to bother them that while they are making crops and meat and timber, other people are making only money that they sometimes don't even work for (152).

It truly gave us pause to consider that this might be a more genuine application of "taking no thought for the marrow" than the more typical (and overly-simplistic) admonition not to worry. (And how many of us succeed at that anyway?) The members of the Branch family referred to above also had little formal education, yet they were self-educated in many practical skills and areas of knowledge that interested them. While all of us Captive Thoughts ladies value education, it also made us wonder if sometimes our pursuit of education can become chasing after the wind.

The other topic that shaped our discussion was the idea of place and community that figured prominently in the novel. Hannah referred to the network of friends and relatives in Port William, Kentucky, as "the Membership." The Membership was tied to the land and to the others who lived there and loved the same land. They knew each other intimately and thus were able to help each other in time of need. In a multitude of ways, these connections to land and people are lost in our culture today. Yet we can still create a place of refuge, a place for roots and heritage and family and community to grow. It will take time and effort, but it is possible. Several of us look forward to reading this recent release for ideas of how to do just that.

I haven't even begun to cover all the ideas we tossed around at our meeting, so Captive Thoughts ladies, please add to this by posting some more thoughts in the comments. What did you think of the book and/or our discussion? Maybe you can share if something in Hannah Coulter or our discussion brought you to a better understanding or changed the way you thought about life. Personally, I think I'll attempt to raise a garden next year! What about you?

FOR FURTHER READING
More fiction about characters in Port William, KY:
Jayber Crow
That Distant Land: The Collected Stories
The Memory of Old Jack
Nathan Coulter: A Novel
Andy Catlett: Early Travels

Non-fiction by Wendell Berry:
The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry

By Matthew Bonzo and Michael Stevens (Cornerstone University professors):
Wendell Berry and the Cultivation of Life: A Reader's Guide

Recipe for Dried Apple Stack Cake (we enjoyed this traditional Appalachian dessert at our November meeting!)