I finished Nathan Coulter last night. Grandpa finally died in the last 2 paragraphs of the book. It was anti-climatic at best. Though there wasn't really a climax to begin with.
So, let's recap - This book was a book about a farming family in Kentucky. The 118 pages of the book (there's 118 pages, not 114 as noted in my last post) describe Kentucky landscape, farm life, and hick characters that do nothing. The Kentucky landscape is nice, but author Wendell Berry feels the need to remind me of what it looks like every few pages. It's repetitive. Farm life - I'm not really sure 50+ pages need to be devoted to describing how to put in a fence post, pulling vines, harvesting tobacco, and planting seed. Berry wants the reader to feel that the relationship between farmer and land is romantic, despite all the hard work. I get that. But to describe that bond is NOT a PLOT. And then we reach the hick characters. You've got the drunk, the one-eyed guy, the bible-thumper, etc. Nathan looks up to the drunk, his uncle, as a role model. Ridiculous. Am I really supposed to feel something for these characters? If so, it's downright disgust. The "Shooo-eeey" knee-slapping hillbillies are not likable characters because they're one dimensional. And just plain annoying.
I don't know why, but I'm rating this book a 3/10. I'm pretty sure you were expecting a 1/10, but I have to give this book some credit. The fact that it's a book about nothing and yet it still made me interested enough to read it to the end must mean there's something good about this book. It did have some really great descriptions and the the writing was easy to read. It flowed. But due to lack of interest, lack of plot, lack of complicated characters, and some grievous repetition, I have deducted 7 points from the book's score.
Nathan Coulter receives a 3/10.
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