Thank you. This is superb. As a city based academic, I’d never thought much about the land. I was profoundly moved by The Need to be Whole. Your account sharpens its message. I hope both become more widely read.
In my late 20s I bought 38 acres in Green County, Kentucky with the rather naive prospect of becoming a farmer. I was raised in Louisville and Cincinnati, a kid from the suburbs, to be sure, but I had read nearly everything that Berry had written, and I loved to garden. My move to rural Kentucky was my attempt to step towards some sort of wholeness which I felt utterly lacking in my life at the time. The rigors of farming where known to me, but only through abstraction. Now, I was in it and learning the hard way through a litany of ‘failures’ that I will leave to your imagination. In despair, I wrote a letter to Mr. Berry with no expectation of reply.
A few weeks later, I received a phone call. “This is Wendell Berry,” said the voice through the receiver. “Hahaha....Bullshit!,” says I. I figured it was a friend playing a prank on me, but turns out it WAS Wendell Berry. I cannot remember what we talked about, but the upshot was an invitation to come to his house in Port Royal. I accepted and went, of course, and I spent a delightful hour with he and his wife which included a little tour of his farm on the banks of the Kentucky River. “A formative experience” doesn’t come close to describing my visit, something I have carried with me for 23 years. I found Mr. Berry to be gracious and generous, and I am forever grateful to him.
Thank you Renaud for enlightening me and other readers. I am curious if you are familiar with the books and articles written by Gene Dattel. Fyi after reading your article in today's Fair roundup I looked for other reviews. I found a long one in Slate (predictable in my opinion) but could not find one published by NYT.Was there in fact one therein. Take care
I'm amazed, that Americans feel no allegiance too, or share concern for, the citizens of England, Canada and Australia who are being arrested for thought crimes and speech violations. Neither moves by British representative councils to restrict free movement of the citizenry, the introduction of CCP style re-education classes, or tales from Canada about the consequences and expansion of its laws on euthanasia, lifts an eyebrow. Likewise, complete disregard for the open treachery of K.Schwab and his minions bragging about their subversion of American elected political leadership. Of course we've all been beaten emotionally numb by the IMF/WEF/CCP psyop but, silence and the lack of outrage on the part of Americans as we view the dismantling of Western Civilization speaks directly to how disconnected and alienated from human dignity we've become. Not only our own, but that of others as well.
The world political is now completely pathological in the same sense that Hitler's Democratic Socialism crossed the line into the anti-human rationalized sterility of Soul that allowed Auschwitz. The reduction of the human to cyber thingdom is no different. The American Constitution and the Bill of Rights it contains is the only legitimate political frame of reference existent on the North American Continent. All else is window dressing.
If you haven't read, let me recommend as an introduction, Edward F. Edingers' commentary on C.G. Jungs' AION. The primary theme is the consequential insanity created by the split between empirical science and religion but the core is the necessary re-establishment of the meaningful relationship between the human ego and the living universal consciousness informing the fact of human existence. It posits our entry into an entirely new age, the collapse of the transcendent into the human psyche, and attempts to map the formula of action for the individual transcendent necessary to prevent reduction of the planet to a cinder.
Per your suggestion I've acquired Mr. Lasch and will pursue Mr. Berry at the first opportunity. I appreciate your avoidance of the speculative and your attempt to reveal the actual dynamics at play in the world around us. Keep up the good work.
Thank you. This is superb. As a city based academic, I’d never thought much about the land. I was profoundly moved by The Need to be Whole. Your account sharpens its message. I hope both become more widely read.
In my late 20s I bought 38 acres in Green County, Kentucky with the rather naive prospect of becoming a farmer. I was raised in Louisville and Cincinnati, a kid from the suburbs, to be sure, but I had read nearly everything that Berry had written, and I loved to garden. My move to rural Kentucky was my attempt to step towards some sort of wholeness which I felt utterly lacking in my life at the time. The rigors of farming where known to me, but only through abstraction. Now, I was in it and learning the hard way through a litany of ‘failures’ that I will leave to your imagination. In despair, I wrote a letter to Mr. Berry with no expectation of reply.
A few weeks later, I received a phone call. “This is Wendell Berry,” said the voice through the receiver. “Hahaha....Bullshit!,” says I. I figured it was a friend playing a prank on me, but turns out it WAS Wendell Berry. I cannot remember what we talked about, but the upshot was an invitation to come to his house in Port Royal. I accepted and went, of course, and I spent a delightful hour with he and his wife which included a little tour of his farm on the banks of the Kentucky River. “A formative experience” doesn’t come close to describing my visit, something I have carried with me for 23 years. I found Mr. Berry to be gracious and generous, and I am forever grateful to him.
I can only join in thanking you for this remarkable review. Thank you!
Thank you Renaud for enlightening me and other readers. I am curious if you are familiar with the books and articles written by Gene Dattel. Fyi after reading your article in today's Fair roundup I looked for other reviews. I found a long one in Slate (predictable in my opinion) but could not find one published by NYT.Was there in fact one therein. Take care
I'm amazed, that Americans feel no allegiance too, or share concern for, the citizens of England, Canada and Australia who are being arrested for thought crimes and speech violations. Neither moves by British representative councils to restrict free movement of the citizenry, the introduction of CCP style re-education classes, or tales from Canada about the consequences and expansion of its laws on euthanasia, lifts an eyebrow. Likewise, complete disregard for the open treachery of K.Schwab and his minions bragging about their subversion of American elected political leadership. Of course we've all been beaten emotionally numb by the IMF/WEF/CCP psyop but, silence and the lack of outrage on the part of Americans as we view the dismantling of Western Civilization speaks directly to how disconnected and alienated from human dignity we've become. Not only our own, but that of others as well.
The world political is now completely pathological in the same sense that Hitler's Democratic Socialism crossed the line into the anti-human rationalized sterility of Soul that allowed Auschwitz. The reduction of the human to cyber thingdom is no different. The American Constitution and the Bill of Rights it contains is the only legitimate political frame of reference existent on the North American Continent. All else is window dressing.
If you haven't read, let me recommend as an introduction, Edward F. Edingers' commentary on C.G. Jungs' AION. The primary theme is the consequential insanity created by the split between empirical science and religion but the core is the necessary re-establishment of the meaningful relationship between the human ego and the living universal consciousness informing the fact of human existence. It posits our entry into an entirely new age, the collapse of the transcendent into the human psyche, and attempts to map the formula of action for the individual transcendent necessary to prevent reduction of the planet to a cinder.
Per your suggestion I've acquired Mr. Lasch and will pursue Mr. Berry at the first opportunity. I appreciate your avoidance of the speculative and your attempt to reveal the actual dynamics at play in the world around us. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for such a great insight
Wow…inspired to read this book.