Wendell Berry Criticism
Wendell Berry, a distinguished American poet, novelist, and essayist, has crafted a body of work that centers on the necessity of living in harmony with nature. His literary endeavors have garnered universal appeal, even as some critics view his themes as dated or moralistic. Berry's writing often elicits comparisons to Thoreau due to their shared deep connection to place. His life on a Kentucky farm serves as a testament to nature’s inherent order and healing powers, influencing human life positively. As noted by Robert Collins, Berry underscores the importance of poetry in a technologically advancing world, infusing his work with a sense of timelessness.
Berry’s agrarian ethos is central to his poetic vision, as explained by John T. Hiers, who highlights the unique expressions of love found within Berry’s work. His acceptance of mortality, as emphasized by Jeffery Alan Triggs, remains a cornerstone of his philosophy. Berry’s works often reject consumerism, promoting a value system rooted in community and spirituality, a sentiment echoed by Stephen Whited. An intriguing aspect of Berry's exploration of nature and agriculture is his portrayal of the farmer as a guardian of wilderness, which David E. Gamble describes as paradoxical.
While Berry’s early novels, such as Nathan Coulter and A Place on Earth, received some critical attention, it is his poetry and essays that have solidified his literary reputation. In particular, his Recollected Essays 1965–1980 are celebrated for their compelling expository prose, as noted by Charles Hudson. Berry's verse, while lacking a single standout collection, is consistently praised for its quality, directness, and pastoral style. Recent collections such as A Part and The Wheel maintain these qualities, as highlighted by Peter Dollard and Publishers Weekly, underscoring a clarity and accessibility that resonate with readers.
Berry's commitment to exploring the profound relationship between humanity and the environment is evident throughout his works. He offers a vision of ecological responsibility and a spiritual connection to the land, themes echoed in David Ignatow’s analysis of Clearing and Larry Woiwode's assessment of Berry's essays. In his ecological essays, Berry critiques "agribusiness" and emphasizes the vital role of physical labor in mental well-being. His work remains a compelling call for ecological stewardship, challenging readers to reconsider their relationship with the natural world.
Contents
- Principal Works
- Berry, Wendell (Vol. 8)
- Berry, Wendell (Vol. 4)
- Berry, Wendell (Vol. 6)
-
Berry, Wendell (Erdman)
-
From Maine to Kentucky
(summary)
In the following essay, Roberts W. French critiques Wendell Berry's Farming: A Handbook as a repetitive and didactic exposition on retreating to nature for salvation, arguing that while Berry's pastoral idealization resonates, the collection suffers from being premature and lacking in memorable poetry.
-
The Hidden Wound
(summary)
In the following essay, John W. Hattman argues that Wendell Berry's "The Hidden Wound" offers a profound exploration of the pervasive impact of racism on both oppressors and the oppressed, highlighting the moral imperative for white America to eradicate its racist tendencies to avoid self-destruction.
-
Roots
(summary)
In the following essay, Patrick Callahan discusses Wendell Berry's autobiographical work The Hidden Wound and his poetry collection Farming: A Hand Book, arguing that Berry's exploration of racism and connection to nature through his prose and poetry reflects a profound introspection on personal and cultural history.
-
Wendell Berry: A Fatal Singing
(summary)
In the following essay, Speer Morgan examines Wendell Berry's literary evolution, highlighting his deepening engagement with themes of death, ecological responsibility, and moral integrity, which are expressed through his poetic maturity and philosophical alignment with agrarian life and spiritual acceptance of life's transient nature.
-
Southern Poetry Today
(summary)
In the following essay, D. E. Richardson critiques Wendell Berry's Sayings & Doings, arguing that while the collection attempts to capture the essence of Southern rural speech, it ultimately falls short of the poetic depth achieved by great Southern writers, and risks trivializing the Southern idiom.
-
Peter Stitt
(summary)
In the following essay, Peter Stitt critiques Wendell Berry's Clearing, arguing that while Berry's attempt to restore a piece of Kentucky land is noble, the artistic execution falls short as the poetry lacks depth and vibrancy, resulting in a prose-like quality devoid of narrative richness and poetic cadence.
-
Clearing
(summary)
In the following essay, David Ignatow argues that Wendell Berry's poetry, particularly in Clearing, is distinguished not by its technical prowess but by its profound vision of the sacred relationship between humans and the earth, emphasizing Berry's commitment to farming, ecology, and the spiritual connection to the land.
-
The Death, the Lullaby, the Glory
(summary)
In the following essay, Vernon Young examines Wendell Berry's Clearing as a lyrical narrative that explores the tension between ecological commitment and literary vocation, highlighting Berry's internal conflict between his physical labor on the farm and his poetic aspirations.
-
Substantial Poetry
(summary)
In the following essay, Michael Hamburger argues that Wendell Berry's poetry in Clearing is rooted in a profound ethical and aesthetic vision, integrating themes of dedication to land and ecological consciousness, while balancing didacticism and lyricism, demonstrating a commitment to the themes Berry cherishes and the vitality of his artistic message.
-
Wendell Berry: Culture and Fidelity
(summary)
In the following essay, Steven Weiland explores Wendell Berry's critique of industrial agriculture and modern culture in "The Unsettling of America," emphasizing Berry's advocacy for "fidelity" in personal and cultural life as a remedy for societal and ecological disintegration.
-
A Part
(summary)
In the following essay, Peter Dollard praises Wendell Berry's collection "A Part" for its clarity, intelligence, and accessibility, contrasting it with the often obscure nature of contemporary poetry, while highlighting the collection's focus on nature and its inclusion of skillful translations.
-
Wendell Berry: Cultivating the Essay
(summary)
In the following essay, Larry Woiwode examines Wendell Berry's works, highlighting their emphasis on the intrinsic value of land, the interconnection of humanity with agriculture, and the profound impact of Berry's thoughtful, poetic prose in promoting a deeper understanding and appreciation of the natural world.
-
Charles Hudson
(summary)
In the following essay, Charles Hudson examines Wendell Berry's "Recollected Essays, 1965–1980," arguing that Berry's work and lifestyle echo Thoreau's principles by critiquing modern society and celebrating simplicity, while highlighting Berry's unique commitment to living an exemplary life as both a writer and small farmer.
-
On the Prose of Wendell Berry
(summary)
In the following essay, Richard Pevear critiques Wendell Berry's writings, arguing that Berry's ecological vision, while compelling, is ultimately inconsistent and self-contradictory, as it romanticizes nature's power and disregards the spiritual dimensions of human existence found in the Judaeo-Christian and Greek traditions.
-
The Wheel
(summary)
The critic examines Wendell Berry's poetry collection "The Wheel," highlighting its exploration of the cycle of life and the poet's pursuit of wisdom, rooted in his Kentucky farming background and reflecting both intelligent sentiment and an undercurrent of doubt akin to the mature works of Eliot and Yeats.
-
From Maine to Kentucky
(summary)
-
Berry, Wendell
-
A More Mingled Music: Wendell Berry's Ambivalent View of Language
(summary)
In the following essay, Collins asserts that Berry's poetry and prose stresses the importance of poetry in a technological world.
-
Wendell Berry: Love Poet
(summary)
In the following essay, Hiers asserts that Berry “both inherits and creates an agrarian ethos which sustains poetic visions of love unique among contemporary poets” and compares his poetry with that of Theodore Roethke and Anne Sexton.
-
Moving the Dark to Wholeness: The Elegies of Wendell Berry
(summary)
In the following essay, Triggs underscores the importance of Berry's elegiac verse, highlighting how Berry has come to terms with death and made its acceptance central to his philosophy of affirmation, which allows for human love, fidelity, and the perpetuation of the community.
-
Wendell Berry: The Mad Farmer and Wilderness
(summary)
In the following essay, Gamble explores the relationship between wilderness and agriculture in Berry's poetry. Wendell Berry envisions a moral agriculture that transforms the farmer from the enemy of wilderness to its most devoted guardian. This is one of Berry's most paradoxical themes, for traditionally the farmer's role has always been to destroy the wilderness; he clears away the forest with its vegetable and animal life to plant the crops and produce the agricultural abundance that makes civilization possible. Further, anyone with a rural background knows that farmers traditionally seem stubbornly blind to the virtues of the wild. On a farm, wildlife is most often seen as a pest, and nature in general as an obstacle to be removed. Yet in both his poetry and his prose, Berry argues that all enlightened farmers must find room on their farms for wild areas, and that these pockets of wilderness must be tended as carefully in their own way as any cultivated field.
-
Tangible Mystery in the Poetry of Wendell Berry
(summary)
In the following essay, Johnson contends that Berry's poetry affirms the sacred in the land, creature, and community, offering the reader “an ecology centered in spirit.”
-
On Devotion to the ‘Communal Order’: Wendell Berry's record of Fidelity, Interdependence, and Love
(summary)
In the following essay, Whited views Berry's work as a repudiation of consumer culture in favor of an appreciation and understanding of a value system based on spiritual, communal, and familial concerns.
-
Into the Woods with Wendell Berry
(summary)
In the following essay, Knot examines the role of wilderness in Berry's work.
-
A More Mingled Music: Wendell Berry's Ambivalent View of Language
(summary)
- Further Reading