A modern pastoral novel.This book has a very lyrical quality--I was not at all surprised to learn that the author is a poet. His writing, in some ways, also reminded me of Faulkner or Walden. Although some of the passages are, by turns, very beautiful or very thought provoking, overall, I really didn't like this book and, after having read this one, I am not likely to read any other novel by Berry. One major problem for me is the structure of the book. It is too long to work well as a freeform poem, yet it has very little of the structure that you would expect in a novel. This book meanders and wanders, the plot is barely there, and the characters are fairly archetypal. I suppose, if the reader sees themselves as a patron to Jayber's small town barbershop then, perhaps this is the way one would experience this story--in fits and starts, sewn together over a course of time from various pieces and dribbles, depending on what day you happened to be getting your haircut.I also did not appreciate how Berry, during the last few chapters of the book, decided to beat the reader over the head with his views of God and the land--as if the reader is too stupid to get this from the unfolding of the narrative itself.I also realized, over the course of the book, that I actually didn't much like Jayber. He lies at inexplicable times and for irrational reasons, he takes the cowardly way out of many of his relationships, and I found his "relationship" with Mattie by turns, creepy, sad, weird, and downright crazy. I think the conversation that he has with himself, after deciding that he will be Mattie's faithful husband because her actual husband is not faithful, epitomizes his obsession with her: "You love her enough to be a faithful husband to her? Think what you're saying now. You're proposing to be the faithful husband of a woman who is already married to an unfaithful husband?...a woman already married who must never know that you are her husband? Think. And Who will never be your wife?"p243. Yeah.Quotes:“Notice: Persons attempting to find a “text” in this book will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a “subtext” in it will be banished; persons attempting to explain, interpret, explicate, analyze, deconstruct, or otherwise “understand” it will be exiled to a desert island in the company of the only other explainers.”“The brief, laughing look that she had given me made me feel extraordinarily seen, as if after that I might be visible in the dark.” p10“The river, the river itself leaves marks but bears none. It is only water flowing in a path that other water has worn.” p19"The surface of the river is like a living soul, which is easy to disturb, is often disturbed, but, growing calm, shows what it was, is, and will be." p20"It was not a situation in which you would enjoy carrying on a serious argument with an idiot." p21"Back there at the beginning, as I see now, my life was all time and almost no memory...And now, nearing the end, I see that my life is almost entirely memory and very little time." p24"Everything bad was laid on the body, and everything good was credited to the soul... I realized that I saw it the other way around. If the soul and body really were divided, then it seemed to me that all the worst sins- hatred and anger and self-righteousness and even greed and lust- came from the soul. But these preachers I'm talking about all thought that the soul could do no wrong... And yet these same people believed in the resurrection of the body." p49"There is a big difference between Jesus' unqualified command, 'Love your enemies,' and Paul the Apostle's 'If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men,' which amounts to permission not to live peaceably with all men. And what about the verse in the same chapter saying that we should do good to our enemy, 'for In doing so thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head?' Where did Jesus ever seen doing good as a form of revenge?" p50"This I thought, Is what is meant by 'thy will be done' in the Lord's Prayer, which I had prayed time and again with out thinking about it. It means that your will and God's will may not be the same. It means there's a good possibility that you won't get what you pray for... And where do you find the strength to pray 'thy will be done' after you see what it means?" p51" 'You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out— perhaps a little at a time.'/ 'And how long is that going to take?' / 'I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps.' / 'That could be a long time.' / 'I will tell you a further mystery,' he said. 'It may take longer.' p54"Cecelia thought that whatever she already had was no good, by virtue of the fact that she already had it." p209"If the Devil don't exist,...how do you explain that some people are a lot worse than they're smart enough to be?" p224"Maybe I had begun my journey drunk and ended it crazy." p243"Love, sooner or later, forces us out of time. It does not accept that limit." p249"What would I do with somebody who reduced the world in order to live in it, somebody who reduced life by living it?" p250"Perhaps all the good that ever has come here has come because people prayed it into the world. How would a person know? How could divine intervention happen, if it happens, without looking like a coincidence or luck? Does the world continue by chance (since it can hardly do so by justice) or by the forgiveness and mercy that some people have continued to pray for?" p253"He was a dreamer. He could not imagine himself as he was or where he was. And so he dreamed of himself as he would never be." p271"After death and grief that (it seems) ought to have stopped the world, the world goes on. More things happen. And some of the things that happen are good." p296"On those weekends, the river is disquieted from morning to night by people resting from their work. This resting involves traveling at great speed, first on the road and then on the river. The people are in an emergency to relax." p331"I think of the old slavery, and of the way The Economy has now improved upon it. The new slavery has improved upon the old by giving the new slaves the illusion that they are free. The Economy does not take people's freedom by force, which would be against its principles, for it is very humane. It buys their freedom, pays for it, and then persuades its money back again with shoddy goods and the promise of freedom. 'Buy a car,' it says, 'and be free. Buy a boat and be free. Buy a beer and be free.' Is this not the raw materials of bad dreams? Or is it maybe the very nightmare itself? p332
Starting a Goodreads review with “some books come to you right when you need them” feels a bit like starting a valedictorian speech with “Webster’s dictionary defines success as,” but I’m going to do it anyway. Some books come to you right when you need them, as Jayber Crow did for me. After graduating from college in 2013 I moved back to my hometown, where I spent the year feeling unhappy and unsatisfied with my life. I was 22, had recently gotten my heart broken for the first time, and I was working a shitty call center temp job for a luxury car brand. I could think of nothing that would improve my life except for one thing: getting out. It wasn’t just the job and the heartbreak I hated; it was my tiny rural hometown: devoid of tall buildings, neon lights, millions of people, a subway, and “things to do,” I felt deprived of culture. So I quit my awful job and moved to Japan to teach English, feeling guaranteed before I even knew what city I was to live in that things would improve. Maybe I would stay in Japan forever. So here I am, in Japan, and it’s the first week of April 2015. Although the experience of living in a foreign country has been invaluable, I’ve spent the last seven months combatting loneliness and feelings of incompetence (due to the language barrier) and uselessness (due to the fact that I haven’t taught a single class in 6 weeks, yet was still expected to come to work). I spend most of my entirely free work day contemplating/ worrying about what I’m going to do when I return to the states in four months, how I’m going to make money, how my friendships have changed, where I’m going to live — where I’m going to live! That question weighs on me heavily. I Google grad schools in Montana, California, Maine; I research volunteering programs in Hawaii; I consider hitchhiking to Mexico. Anywhere but my tiny rural hometown. Moving back there is unthinkable. It is at this juncture of my life that I read Jayber Crow. Really, it is more correct to say that it is at this juncture of my life that the Heavens opened up and floated this book down on a cloud straight into my lap. Jayber Crow is a barber and life-long bachelor in the tiny Kentucky town of Port William. That’s just about the entire plot of this book, but it’s impossible to put down. Most of the novel consists of Jayber’s internal monologue, which ranges from thoughts about his neighbors, cutting hair, girls, his friend’s evil wife, cleaning the local church, and hanging out with his buddies drinking whiskey in the forest to nature, death, war, faith, loneliness, love, and religion. Somehow all of these thoughts are equally deeply profound.Such is the genius of Wendell Berry. This book is basically Happiness for Dummies, except that instead of doling out advice like Happiness Tip #32: Make time for YOU, Wendell Berry weaves his instructions for a happy life into this funny, beautiful, and sincere little novel. Of course, Jayber Crow is a novel, but it is also a self-help book. It warns the reader of the evils of consumerism, greed, commodification, and isolation, and gently nudges the reader towards the goods of productivity, friendship, self-reliance, community, and nature. Berry never preaches and he never damns; he merely points out what you already knew would make you happy, but maybe you got too caught up in the world and you forgot. This is a book about taking life as slowly as you can, not only stopping to smell the flowers, but pulling up a chair and watching them grow from fledgling buds to their fullest blooms. From page 322: I have made plans enough, but I see now that I have never lived by any plan. Any more than if I had been a bystander watching me live my life, I don’t feel that I ever have been quite sure what was going on. Nearly everything that has happened to me has happened by surprise. All the important things have happened by surprise. And whatever has been happening usually has happened before I have had time to expect it. The world doesn’t stop because you are in love or in mourning or in need of time to think. And so when I have thought I was in my story or in charge of it, I really have been only on the edge of it, carried along. Is this because we are in an eternal story that is happening partly in time?In a society where the most cut-throat self-starter dog-eat-dog go-getter is the most successful, this is a thoroughly refreshing point of view. Some may argue that this is defeatist or that it speaks of a lack of ambition, but I think it’s the opposite. Jayber is a hard working character with a strong sense of personal agency. But he also realizes that at the end of your life you pretty much have two options: a) Well, that happened, and it was pretty cool, so I’m happy or b) Well, that happened, and it sucked, and I’m not happy. No matter what happens — the death of all his friends, unrequited love, being driven out of the business he’s run for 30 years — Jayber always chooses option A. I am indebted to this book for the simple yet invaluable lessons it has taught me, and of reminding me of the ones I knew and yet forgot. I will move back to my rural hometown this summer, content to settle down near the people I love, content to see where life decides to carry me.
What do You think about Jayber Crow (2001)?
What do I think of this book? I absolutely hated parts and other parts totally blew me over, the words were so perfect. The author IS an acclaimed poet. I was never indifferent to this book. Either I was furious or astounded by the quality of the writing. Should I give it one star for all the times I felt like dumping it immediately? I cannot give it two or three stars because they are lukewarm ratings. I was never lukewarm to this book. Yes, I liked it a lot, four stars it is. I will explain what I liked and what I absolutely hated.When Wendell Berry describes nature - a river, a forest, a foggy morning – it is not just beautiful, it is completely accurate. A river is something you hear and see. You feel its presence, and all this is conveyed in his words. Me, I adore walking in the woods or along a beach so I felt very attached to Berry’s words. Humor. There is lots of humor. Tongue in cheek humor and that is my favorite. Great dialogs too.I look at the story as a whole and I feel the message the author wants to convey is perfectly demonstrated by the events, by what happens, particularly its ending. This is a book about a barber (Jayber Crow) in Port William, Kentucky. He tells us about his life living through the events of the 1900s. He speaks of not only his life but all the people of the town, since being the barber he comes to know everyone. This is not a book of historical fiction; you do not read this to learn about either of the wars or the Vietnam War or the Depression, all of which he lives through. He never went to war since his heart disqualified him. He was orphaned twice, but I will not explain that. Read the book instead. He was first educated to become a priest, but he realized it wasn’t his calling. He did have faith. He philosophizes and thinks and questions. All of the things he lived through shape his personality. Berry creates a character that is believable. The author has a pet peeve and he speaks through Jayber. Agriculture has become big business and this is just not good in the long run! Natural resources are being wasted. Small town life, based on sharing and trade where everyone knows each other is always better than big business. Small scale is always better than large scale production. But it is here that I got so annoyed with the book. I agree with the author’s/barber’s point of view. I am not opposed to the message, but it is repeated and said over and over and over to the point where I just wanted him to zip his mouth. Enough! I get it. I agree. I am not an idiot. I don’t need a lecture. Will you shut up! Do you understand how annoyed I got?!There. If you can stand a little too much philosophizing and preaching and religious talk, which I could not quite swallow, you will also be given a good story that holds together, where the characters feel real, with lines that will make you smile or laugh or chuckle and most everyone will agree with the message imparted. The author is a poet ……except in those parts when he is proselytizing through Jayber. P.S. Paul Michael narrated the audiobook I listened to. I liked his southern dialect. I liked the speed, which is rather slow, but I did want him to hurry up when Jayber went on and on and on with his proselytizing soliloquies. The women all sounded the same, and that annoyed me because their personalities were different!
—Chrissie
This is a book to savor. WB is intimately familiar with the landscape and people of small town Kentucky. The details and descriptions make them come alive, and through their peculiarities they become universal. Jayber, orphaned young and sent to an orphanage at 10, tries to study theology, but finds he can't be a preacher because he can't accept the pat answers of his professors and can't keep himself from asking deep questions. He finds his true calling as a barber returning to his home territory of Port William (same place and Nathan Coulter and Hannah Coulter and other WB novels) and there lives into the paradoxes which he cannot find simple answers to. It is rich theology. Exploring love, trying to love the people we don't like; What about when "loving your enemy" ends up "heaping burning coals on their head"? What about loving imperfections? A favorite part is when Jayber focuses on "God so loved the World"; having previously only heard the second part about God sending Jesus to redeem the world. Realizing that God loves the world with all of its imperfections, and we are not to shun the world. The book is full of beauty and love and pain and joy in the midst of hard questions.
—Carol
Jayber Crow is a beautifully written novel that has heart, soul, and spirit. I appreciated it most for the still center that was bound up in its narrator, Jayber Crow, a man given to solitude. The novel had a quiet appeal like the river that flowed through the fictional town of Port William in Kentucky where the story was set. It traced the life story of Jayber Crow and his relationship with the people in Port William. It was easy to be drawn into young Jayber’s storm-tossed life but it soon became obvious that Wendell Berry had deep thoughts to share about freedom, independence, love, faith, faithfulness, loneliness, grace and forgiveness. The novel also celebrated the beauty, comfort and solace that abounded in nature and it offered many opportunities for lovely detours into the woods. When a book serves up a protagonist I can respect, food for thought, the call of the wild, it is immensely satisfying to me.Jayber Crow was orphaned at age 4, briefly adopted by a loving paternal grand aunt (Aunt Cordie) and her husband (Uncle Othy) until their death, before he ended up in The Good Shepherd Orphanage at age 10. The chapter on The Good Shepherd was gently heartbreaking. I felt for the young Jayber feeling homesick, lonely and displaced. But I was also impressed by his ability to find pleasure and strength in little touches of beauty that surrounded him or to find congenial company in a good book in the orphanage library. Like in other novels (Anthony Doerr’s “All The Light We Could Not See”, Jeanette Winterson’s “Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal”), the library opened up a world of knowledge and the power of words for the powerless individual. The adult Jayber signed up for literature courses at the university. His love for reading endeared him to me as did his love for solitude and quietness.It is interesting to contemplate Jayber’s calling or vocation. Fresh out of high school, he felt he was called to be a preacher. However, he struggled with theological questions for which he had no answers. Old Grit, his professor, told him "You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out - perhaps a little at a time." And Jayber did and in a way that caught him by surprise. At age 22, Jayber became the barber of Port William. The barbershop was a gathering place for the men of the town. Behind the barber's chair, Jayber had access to privileged communication, in his case as an unofficial counselor of sorts. "Talk..draws to a barber as water draws to low ground." He became an astute observer of life and despite his aloofness and preference to be a bystander, Jayber became more closely knit to the town folks than he ever thought possible or wanted to. His friendship with a small circle of men (such as Athey Keith, Burley Coulter) was precious. Jayber struck me as a young man with an ancient soul. He had a leaning toward aloneness, owing perhaps to his early life experiences. He was constantly given to unrelenting feelings of loss and memories of old times past. His grief had a complexity that was peculiar and hard to fathom: "This grief had something in it of generosity, some nearness to joy. In a strange way it added to me what I had lost." In the same way, Jayber had a strange, unspoken love for that one special woman (Mattie Chatham) that I found perplexing. He was a man inclined toward inaction. The Christmas party at which he realized he was in love with Mattie read almost like a conversion experience of the “I felt my heart strangely warmed” variant. But his response was typical of his normal responses to everything else: "I had been utterly changed, and had not stirred." "There was nothing to do but submit to the trial of it." The submission took the form of a quiet vow of marriage to Mattie who never had any inkling of his feelings for her. In later years, the unplanned times he and Mattie met by the river to which they had separately gone to seek comfort and solace were, he thought, “a hope seen from afar, that must be with patience waited for.” The Bible has a word for this – faith. How does a person love so deeply and faithfully when he loves so hopelessly? It is sad but beautiful.My favorite part of this novel is Part III, which expressed issues surrounding love that were powerful and profound. They begged re-reading, which was what I did after the last page was turned. One of the loveliest chapters in Part III described Jayber's new life in a new house by the river. I could picture it and wish I lived there. It was written in an unpretentious manner that elicited gladness and a desire to linger a little longer over the repose nature afforded. I believe Jayber Crow is not a book for everyone. The events unfolded in Jayber Crow’s realm of thought and contemplation. It is a book to be read slowly perhaps by the banks of a calming river.
—Laysee
