Nathan Coulter: A Novel

By Wendell Berry

Book Overview

'Nathan Coulter' begins Wendell Berry's sequence of novels about the citizens of Port William, Kentucky-a setting that is taking its place alongside Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, and Winesburg, Ohio, as one of our most distinctive and recognizable literary locales.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865471843
• ISBN13: 9780865471849
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.5" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

The beginning of the Port William cycle

This, Berry's first novel and the first to introduce his fictional Kentucky community Port William, displays the skill Berry shows as a poet. Not a word is wasted here; every one of them counts toward the whole. As with good poetry,as much is implied as stated outright here.This is a story of initiation, of a young boy's coming to grips with his family and community and his own place in them. The book's final image, of the boy Nathan carrying his dying grandfather home, serves to sum up this theme perfectly.This is a gentle novel and an auspicious beginning to an important saga of place and people.

Engaging work about people and community

Nathan Coulter is the second best book by Wendell Berry. The best is "A Place on Earth" but you have to read this one as an introduction. This series of fictional works revolves around the Port William community. Wendell Berry is also known for his essays on the decline of community and the resulting cost. I find his fictional works communicate his ideas on community better than his essays. The sense of place is wonderfully communicated and the even the most noble character is kept plausible with imperfections none of us can wholly escape.