The novel and story of Hannah Coulter begins with a quotation from her second husband to their children: "I picked him up in my arms and I carried him home" (Berry 3). The reader soon learns a few pages in that Nathan Coulter's last story of his childhood is at the age of 16, he picked up his grandpa Dave as they were walking home from the fields. Hannah as narrator says, "Nathan though of that, I am pretty certain , as the last day of his boyhood. past that day de told no more stories about himself" (Berry 4).
A question that I have not thought of before and it took a second reading of Wendell Berry's Hannah Coulter and a four hour discussion among friends to even consider it: When did my childhood end?
The novel and story of Hannah Coulter begins with a quotation from her second husband to their children: "I picked him up in my arms and I carried him home" (Berry 3). The reader soon learns a few pages in that Nathan Coulter's last story of his childhood is at the age of 16, he picked up his grandpa Dave as they were walking home from the fields. Hannah as narrator says, "Nathan though of that, I am pretty certain , as the last day of his boyhood. past that day de told no more stories about himself" (Berry 4).
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Impartiality is a notion which we publicly announce that those who follow traditions, or slow to change lack; Fr. James Schall presents the topic in reading books, and beyond: "We have now freely chosen principles of polity that deny elements of goodness in our being. We do not bind ourselves by what is. We withhold praise from any truth that we choose not to live by."
I received a book today via Great Britain, but translated from the Italian. It is a coming an age novel...as a young woman searches to know her parents after her grandmother who raised her passes away... “To keep away despair, the child holds on to anything at all — a hint, an inkling — that he hopes may grow and broaden until it transforms the whole scene. There’s not a detective or a scientist who can match the investigative talent of a child bent on finding valid reasons to admire the people who have brought him into the world” (Listen to my Voice, 103). An excerpt from a post by Stephen Klugewicz at the Imaginative Conservative concerns the education of young men...worth reading the entire post:
"[Robert E.] Lee’s amazing self-restraint reflected the advice he had given to a young mother about raising her infant son: 'Teach him he must deny himself.' The Christian Lee valued self-control as essential to proper behavior and indeed to personal and public liberty. 'I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself,' he said in evaluating his military subordinates. Lee practiced what he preached. He had the rare distinction of being a cadet who did not earn a single demerit at West Point. He expected the same gentlemanly behavior from the young men in his care at Lexington, Virginia’s Washington College, of which he became president after Appomattox. There he reduced the college’s many rules to one simple rule: 'Every student must be a gentleman.'" Read the post in its entirety. "In modernity, that light might have been considered sufficient for societies of old, but was felt to be of no use for new times, for a humanity come of age, proud of its rationality and anxious to explore the future in novel ways. Faith thus appeared to some as an illusory light, preventing mankind from boldly setting out in quest of knowledge" (Lumen Fidei, 2).
"Faith, received from God as a supernatural gift, becomes a light for our way, guiding our journey through time" (Lumen Fidei, 4). Below are a few quotations from the beginning of Wendell Berry's novel Hannah Coulter. The novel begins at the end, takes you to the story's middle, beginning and end all within its first pages...and by then the reader is enthralled. C. John McCloskey is always edgy when it comes to contemporary analysis of our culture. Below is a link to a 2004 post about Friendship-Deficit Syndrome...that really has its focus with men. I say, Love your wives and children, but man is fully alive with friendship that supports his role and life with the family. I nor Fr. McCloskey intentions are for men to stay out late, drinking at the local sports bar while yelling at multiple video screens. Rather men should spend time with each other both one on one and in small groups enjoying each other's company where in these situations conversation can take place without committing video monitors all around. Surprisingly and easily topics such as the depth of fatherhood, and husbandry will come up and the foundation of true friendship may occur...Enjoy the article.
"Whether it is with one's spouse, with God, or with a friend in the ordinary sense, these genuine friendships come about when we make a sincere gift of ourselves" (Groeschel, Genuine Friendships). Friendships will not last unless we act… “If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair” by Samuel Johnson.. "Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow travelers." - C.S. Lewis
Why do friendships and marriages last for just a short time in the 21st century...because most people are not on a journey but trying to make the most out of the "here and now" only for themselves. Friendships will not be very deep and marriages will not last very long if this is how we proceed to live. |