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The questions who and what and how and why are no doubt useful and occasionally even noble in their place. But for Wendell Berry, whose spare and elegant prose has long testified to the rural American values of thrift and frugality, four interrogatives must seem a waste, when one will do. Where is the ultimate qualifier, the sine qua non, for both the author and his characters. Place shapes them and defines them; the winding Kentucky River and the gentle curves of the Kentucky hills find an echo in their lilting speech and brusque affections.
Jayber Crow is another story of the Port William membership, the community whose life--and lives--Berry has unfurled over the course of a half dozen novels. Jayber himself is an orphan, lately returned to the town. And his status as barber and bachelor places him simultaneously at its center and on its margins. A born observer, he hears much, watches carefully, and spends 50 years learning its citizens by heart.
They were rememberers, carrying in their living thoughts all the history that such places as Port William ever have. I listened to them with all my ears, and have tried to remember what they said, though from remembering what I remember I know that much is lost. Things went to the grave with them that will never be known again.
Jayber tells the town's stories tenderly. Gently elegiac, the novel charts the tension between an urge to isolation and an impulse to connectivity, writ both small and large. As the 20th century moves inexorably forward, swallowing in great mechanized gulps rural towns governed by agricultural rhythms, Port William turns in upon itself. And as Jayber admits quietly, "Once a fabric is torn, it is apt to keep tearing. It was coming apart. The old integrity had been broken." Integrity, both whole and shattered, is key to the stories of Burley Coulter, Cecelia Overhold, Troy Chatham, and above all, Athey Keith and his daughter Mattie, to whom Jayber pledges his undying and unrequited love.
Berry's prose, so carefully tuned that you never know it is there, carries us into the very heart of the land itself; his exquisitely constructed sentences suggesting the cyclic rhythms of his agrarian world. Jayber Crow resonates with variations played on themes of change, looping transitions from war into peace, winter into spring, browning flood destruction into greening fields, absence into presence, lost into found. --Kelly Flynn
Book Description
Returning once again to the Port William membership, Berry has written his best novel yet, a book certain to confirm his reputation as one of America's finest novelists.
From the simple setting of his own barber shop, Jayber Crow, orphan, seminarian, and native of Port William, recalls his life and the life of his community as it spends itself in the middle of the twentieth century. Surrounded by his friends and neighbors, he is both participant and witness as the community attempts to transcend its own decline. And meanwhile Jayber learns the art of devotion and that a faithful love is its own reward.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read! Couldn't put it down!.......2007-02-07
I'm 45 years old, from Indiana, and a barber's daughter. I'm pretty sure I know some of the people that Jayber talks about. The stories weren't only about what the people were experiencing, but what they were thinking and feeling. My favorite quotes: "I don't get paid to cut hair. I get paid to know when to stop." "He didn't yet know all that he was going to know." AMEN to that!
Possitively Engaging..........2006-06-29
Across the pages of this novel wanders an assortment of remarkably unremarkable people who are somhow winsomely memorable. This is just a beautiful read with a timelessness quality and some simple clues as to how one person made lemonade when life gave him lemons. This is a story of Jayber Crow and a community of people who, together, unceremoniously, weave a life of love and support for each other, just because they are of each other. Wonderful!
Wonderful surprise of a book.......2006-02-19
This is a quiet yet very interesting book. What do I mean by quiet? The stories unfold at a slower pace than a lot of contemporary fiction. But don't misunderstand me -- this is not a boring book. It's really interesting and is filled with suspense and passion. Maybe it's the rural setting that makes me say "quiet." Because several scenes are in the rural outdoors and for me this brings a quietness inside.
The characters are very interesting ... very well defined.
And I like the main character's ongoing commentary about War and Business and their need for each other.
I found it also to be a profoundly sad book -- at least that's how I was affected. My grandparents were farmers and lost their land so I felt very deeply the changes that the Port William farmers went through over the years of this book.
This book has stayed with me. I've thought about it quite a bit since I finished it.
It's the first time I've read anything by Wendell Berry ... just finished it last week. I enjoyed this book so much that I went to the library and got a couple of other Port William novels by him.
A Talisman for the Journey.......2005-12-21
"Jayber Crow" is one of the most unusual and profound novels of this last century. On one level, it is a tale of the unfolding life of Jonah Crow, from his youth into his time of looking back upon the span of his life: it is the story of survival, bravery, acceptance. On this level, Jonah, who becomes Jayber, the barber of his beloved Port William, tells of the people of this town with great tenderness: their strengths and their foolishness (along with his own), and we come to know these townspeople and care for them.
Yet on another level, Jayber Crow is a philosophical reflection on the nature of love, God, time, and eternity. As a religious reflection, Wendell Berry, through Jayber, reaches to the core of our faith when he realizes that the only true prayer is "Thy will be done", a prayer that makes him tremble, but also makes him more of a whole person. Indeed, his reflections on the love of God, and the love that comes forth on this planet, is visionary and has the capacity to enlarge and fortify the heart of the reader. Chapter 23, "The Way of Love," is one of the greatest passages I have read. We see a man aching for love and for God, who some nights "in the midst of this loneliness" swings among "the scattered stars at the end of the thin thread of faith alone." We feel for his struggle and his faith gives us faith.
Concurrent with his longing for God, and his faith, is his love for Mattie. It is the most beautiful and truest portrayl of love I have seen: it is a love that personifies First Corinthians 13. It is a love that wishes only good and finds hope in knowing it has loved: nothing more. It is a love that does not seek for a payback. Again in Chapter 23, Jayber reflects on a true love that breaks the barriers of time, reminiscent of jani johe webster's poem "loving" from "a spider on the wall": "when the skin / on this body / i now call mine / shall become bone / the very bone / shall cry unto your bone / i love you." So it is with Jayber, who writes, "That is why, in marrying one another, we mortals say 'till death.' We must take love to the limit of time, because time cannot limit it. A life cannot limit it. Maybe to have it in your heart all your life in this world, even while it fails here, is to succeed. Maybe that is enough."
Another meaningful comparison between Berry and webster is brought to mind after reading Berry's metaphor of the "the Man in the Well." What happens to a man who, alone for the day in the deep woods, falls into a well? Will he survive? Who is this man in our own lives, and into what wells have we or our loved ones fallen? In webster's prose poem "the weariest river," the narrator's grandmother is locked out of her farm house on a winter's night: again, will she survive, and how? Both metaphors speak to our existential situation, to isolation and to hope.
"Jayber Crow" probes the meaning of life and our relationship to ourseves, to one another, and to God. An amazing comparison is to "Mr. Smith" by Louis Bromfield: the tale of another man, also written in the first person, who struggles with the meaning of life, but with completely different results. Both men recognize the beauty of life and its suffering, and yet the course of each life goes in almost opposite directions.
The image Jayber gives of "the rooms" made by the woods, through sunlight and shadow, is an image that is also a talisman for readers who also seek peace in the midst of life.
Priceless Reading.......2005-12-05
This is a rich and wonderful book about life. This is one book that was so good that I bought multiple copies and gave them to all my children. I have read it again and still have great pleasure in it. Read it and you will see. It made me proud to be a human being.
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Jayber Crow: The Life Story of Jayber Crow, Barber, of the Port William Membership
Wendell Berry
Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
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Jayber Crow
ASIN: 0786232226 |
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Jayber Crow
Wendell Berry
Manufacturer: Counterpoint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VMSYTQ |
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Jayber Crow
Wendell Berry
Manufacturer: Counterpoint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GVK5K8 |
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Jayber Crow
Wendell Berry
Manufacturer: Counterpoint Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QY6GBC |
Customer Reviews:
A decent mystery novel.......2003-05-20
Philip Craig's recurring character, ex-cop J.W. Jackson, is back to solve another Martha's Vineyard mystery. Jackson is engaged to Zee, a nurse who one day discovers an additional hunderd grand in her bank account. Zee's windfall disappears as mysteriously as it came. The bank is getting a new computer system and dismisses it as a glitch. When a college student winds up dead in Jackson's driveway near some bank statements revealing she'd just withdrawn a hundred grand, Jackson smells a rat and begins to investigate. Craig's mysteries are intriguing, but they don't have the rapid pace and high body count of many mysteries. He describes the laid-back lifestyle on Martha's Vineyard and the book moves along at much the same pace. In this book, Jackson's buddy shows up with a world renowed pianist in need of some personal time and Zee's mother visits and meets Jackson for the first time. As in all of Craig's books, much detail is given to the dishes Jackson makes. Die-hard mystery fans may not like Craig's style, but I enjoy being transported to the simple life in Martha's Vineyard for a little while.
Book Description
A toast to the happy couple . . .
with hemlock
Vineyard wedding bells are about to chime for ex-Boston cop-turned-island-fisherman J.W. Jackson and his lady Zee Madieras. And Zee's Automatic Teller tells them rather substantial "present" has been deposited in the bride-to-be's account: one hundred thousand unexplained dollars.
The bank screams, "computer glitch"! And sure enough, two days later, the windfall has flown. But, coincidentally, the college student lying dead in J.W.'s driveway'a young woman done in by a dose of locally grown poison'recently withdrew a hundred grand from her own account. And now, before exchanging vows with his love, J.W. must first match wits with a murderer who may be gearing up to kill again.
Customer Reviews:
murder, poison, herbology.......2004-08-03
there is death in the air in marthas vineyard this mystery is filled with money laundering murder and enough humor and romance to satisfy any reader . One of Craigs best so far I'm reading thie series in order. Good reading took me 3 days to finish it!!!
Best read with Vineyard sand in your shoes.......2003-03-16
OK, the "Vineyard" series does not represent great literature. However, that's not the point about these 'atmospheric' novels is it? You read these kind of books while you're on the Cape or to bring you mentally back to the place. This one has a better plot that the others I have read in the series but the dialogue remains the weak point. Enough with the fishing and the traffic jams too, please. All in all, since we go to the Cape every year, this series is a fun read for me. However, if you want read a good series with excellent dialogue and a strong sense of place, find one of the Dibdin novels. They are set in Italy and they are wonderful.
Like the rest of his books.......2001-04-13
Craig's biggest downfall is the third-rate dialogue he employs. It's often trite and unrealistic, I criticism I noted in another review of one of his books. The storyline is actually better in this book than in others. There's an unexpected twist that throws you at the end, which makes it better reading than Craig's other works. As with his other "Martha's Vineyard Mysteries," the story centers on another adventure with retired Boston cop (and Vineyard resident), J.W. Jackson. He finds a dead girl in his driveway, and goes about solving her murder. There are subplots that don't really add to the story, and as I said above, the dialogue is crap. I'm sure the reason I keep reading Craig's books is that if you are a Vineyarder (as I am), there are few better ways to conjure up images of the island than his books. His descriptions of such things as the traffic jams and night life on the Vineyard are incredibly realistic and offer a respite to someone like me who only gets to spend a week or two per year on the island. Non-Vineyarders would do better to find something else.
Mystery or fishing story.......2001-01-16
This novel seems to be a little bit of mystery added into a story about fishing on Martha's Vineyard with a travelogue of the island. The author puts a little too much emphasis on the fishing. An interesting basis was developed for the crime, i.e., manipulating inter-bank transfers, with intelligent criminals fumbling the implementation, but maybe there are one too many characters/complications/side issues.
Certainly knows the lay of the Island!!.......1999-09-11
Excellent character in JW Jackson. Also Zee, his wife. Having known the author and his wife, I see a lot of both of them in the characters portrayed in all his books. Congratulations on another winner!
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- Wonderfully Insightful.
- AMW
- PLEASE don't waste your money
- Michalson does it again!
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Hecate's Glory (Enemy Glory)
Karen Michalson
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Epic
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Magic & Wizards
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ASIN: 0312890605 |
Book Description
A new fantasy saga in the tradition of George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones began in Enemy Glory, and continues now in Hecate's Glory. Young Llewelyn is a clerical wizard, one whose power derives not from mere arcane knowledge, but from his symbolic role as a pledged consort of the goddess Hecate. And she is a demanding mistress. After disillusionment in love and in politics, Llewelyn is a disaffected student in a monastery where he has taken refuge, a magician impatient to take on the world. He schemes for revenge and creates a disaster that forces him to leave the monastery and venture again into the wide world. Now, fleeing north to escape the enemy he knows, the Emperor Roguehan, he will encounter new foes, not so easily recognized. He will also meet other wizards and a dragon, befriend a half-elf minstrel, and win the right to claim the throne in the strange land of Gondal. The story opens out into new richness and fantastic adventures.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderfully Insightful........2007-07-02
Karen Michalson has the unmatched ability of missing nothing in her plot or characters. The sheer complexity of the nuances begun in "Enemy Glory" and brought to a sharp conclusion in "Hecate's Glory" is award-worthy. To weave such an intricate plot as well as keep the writing stellar throughout is an uncommon talent amongst today's fantasy writers. The attentive reader will be well rewarded with many insights into universal truths, tidbits of occult wisdom, as well as humorous and astoundingly accurate insights into the character flaws of human beings, which Michalson states unabashedly. I have read this series 3 times over and find new insight each time I leaf through the pages.
A flawless read.
AMW.......2006-08-09
I found this as book as well as Enemy Glory fascinating. The intricate plot kept me deeply intrigued throughout. My favorite thing about these two books are the character development and the beautiful poetic writing style of Karen. I eagerly await more from Karen Michalson. Also----check out Lian Hearn
PLEASE don't waste your money.......2005-12-30
unless you own stock in Tylenol. The prose on the first page of this book is enough to make anyone with a modicum of literary awareness just wince. It's like reading the writing of a self-important fourteen year old who has decided he or she is an author. I can't imagine what anyone saw in this in the first place, but this book hit the wall shortly after I opened it as a gift. There is so much better available out there; don't be deceived by the modestly interesting cover. It's the only interesting thing about the book, and it will give you a headache if you read it.
Michalson does it again!.......2003-08-17
Hecate's Glory is stronger than Enemy Glory because Llewelyn completely comes into his own here. He is evil, but his chief attraction is his conflict with his inner goodness, which is more tragic and exciting here than in Enemy Glory because Michalson brings him out of Kursen Monastery and gives him a chance to make his own decisions in the world. He loves beautiful music and poetry so much he risks his own life to save an imprisoned musician (my favorite scene of many). My other favorite scene is when he helps his new companion, Aeren, kill the wizard Zelar, because it brings out a strange sensitivity in Llewelyn even while he is killing an enemy. That is why I love this character. He is not your usual villain. He is ruthless in his assessment of himself and other people - so ruthless I feel pity for him sometimes, even though he always makes me think. But in a way, that's the strength of this book. Michalson provides an intellectually challenging moral tale that asks hard philosophical questions, something you rarely find in a typical fantasy book. I highly recommend this series.
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Enemy Glory
Karen Michalson
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
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| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
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| Asian American
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| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
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Contemporary
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Epic
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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General
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| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Magic & Wizards
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ASIN: 0312890613 |
Book Description
Young Llewelyn is an unhappy child in the southern city of Sunnashiven. Estranged from his parents, he finds solace in the friendship of a local hedge witch who teaches him and gives him hope with her predictions for his future. After the witch dies, Llewelyn wants to continue learning and is allowed to enter school and train to be a religious magician. His education is interrupted when war leads to revolution in Llewelyn's small kingdom. Llewelyn, now a young man, flees to another country and joins a strange little revolutionary cadre led by young Duke Walworth. There he lives an idyllic and idealistic life filled with love and magic. But after a betrayal, he ends up a student in a monastery, in trouble with the law, an angry young magician ready to fight the world. And the war goes on.Filled with memorable characters, abundant lush imagery, and true strangeness, Enemy Glory is the impressive launch of a new fantasy world
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Enemy Glory
Karen Michaelson
Manufacturer: Tor 2001, First Edition
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V64AN6 |
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Enemy Glory
Karen Michalson
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTNU9A |
Average customer rating:
- A great book on a tough subject
- A good overview of experiences from brain tumor patients
- useful and touching
- Excellent.
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Navigating Through a Strange Land: 2nd Edition: A Book for Brain Tumor Patients and Their Families,
Tricia Ann Roloff
Manufacturer: Fairview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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| Health, Mind & Body
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Brain Cancer
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Damn The Statistics, I Have a Life to Live!: Coping with a Brain Tumor My Personal Story
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Brain Tumors: Leaving the Garden of Eden--A Survival Guide to Diagnosis, Learning the Basics, Getting Organized, and Finding Your Medical Team
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Surviving Terminal Cancer: Clinical Trials, Drug Cocktails, and Other Treatments Your Oncologist Won't Tell You About
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I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse?
ASIN: 1577491084 |
Book Description
Includes practical advice along with the moving personal stories of brain tumor patients, their family members, and their professional caregivers.
Customer Reviews:
A great book on a tough subject.......2002-11-21
I purchased this book when I learned that my Dad's brain tumor had grown significantly and he was moving into the final chapter of his life. I found many of the stories to be inspirational and I learned a lot about people's real life experiences. I also read David Kessler's "The Needs of the Dying" and this was an amazing book of comfort and truth. I find knowledge to be comforting. If you do also, these books will be very helpful.
A good overview of experiences from brain tumor patients.......1999-09-14
I ordered this book when my husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October 1998. He was inundated with cancer books from family and friends, and this is one of the few books he actually read cover to cover. We were amazed at some of the stories and given hope by several in particular. The book reinforces that everyone's journey is a different one, and the particular tumor diagnosis is just one part of the story. I'd highly recommend this book, along with Rebecca Libutti's "That's Unacceptable" (if it's a high-grade tumor), to anyone faced with a diagnosis of a brain tumor. (Ms. Libutti's book isn't available through Amazon.com, but you can order it through virtualtrials.com.)
useful and touching.......1998-07-11
There's not much out there for brain tumor sufferers; this book of shared experiences and insights is a good beginning. As the editor puts it: "stories of triumph, stories of death, stories of pain, and stories of gratitude." However, those in the grips of immediate treatment decisions will want more than this light smattering of treatment and hospital information. Will appeal to anyone confronting brain tumor.
Excellent........1997-07-02
Ms. Roloff's book is insightful and beautifully written. She does a very fine job of introducing recently diagnosed brain tumor patients and their loved ones to the new realities that await them. Patients, caregivers, and loved ones have provided their stories to Ms. Roloff, who presents them with commentary. She also provides sources for further information, and the beginnings of a networking framework for anyone needing it. Although aimed at those whose lives are being touched by these diseases, I believe this book makes excellent reading for any thoughtful person
Books:
- Killer Curves
- L'Etranger (Collection Folio, 2)
- La frontera / Borderlands
- Lady Sophia's Lover (Avon Historical Romance)
- Legacies: A Repairman Jack Novel (Repairman Jack)
- Making Big Books With Children (Emc 303)
- Marly's Choice (Men of August, Book 1)
- Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind: A Novel
- Mississippi Bridge
- Mrs. Kimble: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
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- History: Fiction or Science
- A Game of Thrones
- The Day of the Jackal
- The Birthday of the World: And Other Stories
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Hannah Coulter: A Novel
A Place on Earth: A Novel
The Memory of Old Jack
That Distant Land: The Collected Stories
Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Christ's Teachings About Love, Compassion and Forgiveness
