There are few writers who write as clearly and thoughtfully about the connection between people and the land than Wendell Berry. In his essays, his poetry, and his fiction, Berry explores how our lives are shaped by our relationship to the land. Berry’s fiction, set in the fictional Kentucky community of Port William and the surrounding area, resonates with loving depictions of the woods, fields, and waterways that make up the landscape in which the characters live. Berry writes lyrically of the change of seasons and the turning of the years. In addition to a strong sense of place, Berry’s writing also focuses on the importance of community in our lives. Without the support of family and neighbors, the small farms of Port William could not survive, and Berry clearly portrays the pain that comes when these relationships are broken. Berry creates believable, complex, and sympathetic characters. There is an elegaic strain through all of Berry’s writing. The twentieth century brought changes to agriculture that threaten to break up the family farms and a way of life that was centered on these close ties to family, community, and the land. Berry makes a passionate case for reexamining our relationships to our own communities. A great starting point for readers new to Wendell Berry is his collection of short stories, Fidelity. The stories here examine love, loyalty, and commitment to family and to the land, and represent Berry’s writing at its best.
[...] have written several posts here about the novels and short fiction of Wendell Berry. While I treasure these stories and go back to them for sustenance, I also have [...]