Kruse's Keys: Read "A Place on Earth" to hear a story where the land is main character

Looking for book ideas? Check out our 2025, 2024,  2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 reading lists!

NOTE: A Place on Earth is Wendell Berry’s fifth novel (in narrative chronological order) in the Port Williams collection of stories focused on this fictional town in Kentucky.  There’s a lot of discussion amongst Berry acolytes about the correct way to read this series with an even split between publication order and narrative chronological order.  I goofed up on both ends by not researching this subject thoroughly enough–starting with Nathan Coulter (which I wrote about here) and then moving on to this novel. So I’ll backtrack to Hannah Coulter next as I work my way through the series.  That’s said, if you choose to start with Hannah Coulter, it will spoil some of the tension in A Place on Earth for example since Hannah covers the subject’s entire life and A Place only includes a small portion of her life.  Finally, if you really want to nerd out I’ve also included the narrative chronology for the novels and short stories.  

Berry's writing in A Place On Earth is somehow comforting–I realize that’s a strange thing to say about a novel--it's the rare book that is more observation than narrative. Ostensibly the novel is about a town during World War II.  A town whose youth have gone to fight and who families go on living in the limbo that is war abroad.  But the novel is actually about the land, the environment and seasons, the floods and droughts, the earth and woods–somehow Berry has written a story where the people are the scenery.  

There's a scene in which Mat Feltner, the old farmer, takes his daughter-in-law Hannah on a tour of his farmland. His son Virgil is serving in WWII and is missing in action. The tour becomes a medium for conversation and surprisingly, for intimate reflection as Matt considers his role as a father but ends the conversation without explicitly stating "the point” of it all.  But Hannah has read him deeply: “She studies his face, seeing in it something she has never seen there before, an old man’s sorrow for the imperfection of his life and of his fatherhood.”  Because these characters are placed in the weight of this Kentucky soil and forest, are so intimately connected with it–these conversations carry a depth and gravity that is so rarely observed today.  The only other writer that I’ve seen with such skill is James Salter–Berry describes the land in the same careful, brilliant, and astounding manner that Salter describes women, beauty and relationships.  

As Mat considers his life and its emeshment with the wilderness he has sought to tame and which has been the constant work of generations, he “feels the difference between that restful order and his own constant struggle to maintain and regulate his clearings. Although the meanings of those clearings and his devotion to them remain firm in his mind, he knows without sorrow that they will end, the order he has made and kept in them will be overthrown, the effortless order of wilderness will return."  That all of life is but a vapor, a fleeting cycle of sorrow, and joy and pain is a wisdom these Port Williams men and women have earned and which gives their souls and eternal grounding and perhaps a peace despite the tragedy of war.  

Here Mat considers its scope:

A man gets used to pain, he thinks. He learns it. It gets to be familiar to him, a part of what his life is and feels like. And what good does it do him? It teaches him to make light of the pains that are less, and to respect those that are greater. It teaches him what he can stand. And what good does that do him? He needs to know what he can stand because the chances are he will have to stand as much as he is able. That is what is ahead of him—to suffer and to stand it. And so is there virtue in standing it? Maybe. Surely. But there are limits too, and suffering kills. 

But as with all things, the mens’ conversation turn back to the love to which they have committed.  

For as always it was finally the land that they spoke of, fascinated as they have been all their lives by what has happened to it, their own ties to it, the wife of their race, more lovely and bountiful and kind than they have usually deserved, more demanding than they have often been able to bear.

The Port Williams Family Tree (will make the novels easier to understand)

Port Williams Novels (in narrative chronological order)

1. Hannah Coulter

• Time Period: Starts in the 1920s, extending to 2000.

• Publication: 2004

• Summary: Told in the first person by Hannah Coulter, the novel is a meditation on her life, her two marriages, and the profound importance of home, family, and community.

2. Nathan Coulter

• Time Period: Main narrative is from the late 1920s through the early 1940s.

• Publication: 1960

• Summary: Told from the perspective of Nathan, a young boy growing up in Port William, this is the first novel published in the series and an entry into the world of the "membership."

3. Andy Catlett: Early Travels

• Time Period: 1943

• Publication: 2006

• Summary: This novel follows a young Andy Catlett on a journey to a nearby town, offering a view of the world outside of Port William and the values that keep him rooted.

4. A World Lost

• Time Period: 1944

• Publication: 1996

• Summary: A reflective novel narrated by Andy Catlett, recalling his childhood during World War II, a time when the community was shaken by the loss of a young soldier.

5. A Place on Earth

• Time Period: 1945

• Publication: 1967

• Summary: While the main events of this novel occur on a single day, it is a frame for a larger story, exploring the community's grief over the soldiers lost in the war and their deep connection to the land and each other through memories and reflections.

6. The Memory of Old Jack

• Time Period: Main narrative is set in 1952, with flashbacks spanning his life.

• Publication: 1974

• Summary: On the last day of his life, an elderly Jack Beechum relives his memories of the land, his wife, and the community that shaped him.

7. Jayber Crow

• Time Period: Main narrative is set in 1969, with flashbacks spanning his entire life.

• Publication: 2000

• Summary: Told by Jayber Crow, the local barber, this is a beautiful and poignant reflection on his life, his unrequited love for a married woman, and the changes he has witnessed in Port William.

8. Remembering

• Time Period: 1976

• Publication: 1988

• Summary: This novel follows Andy Catlett as he grapples with the loss of his hand and the sense of disconnection from his land and community, before finding a new kind of belonging.

1. "The Girl in the Window"

1. Time Period: 1864

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story set just after the Civil War, where a young woman named Rebecca Dawe, left to live alone after her family's death, sees a reflection of herself that makes her feel connected to her past and future.

2. "A Parting"

1. Time Period: c. 1882

2. Publication: Fidelity (1992)

3. Summary: A quiet story that sets the tone for the Port William community, focusing on the loyalty and deep-seated bonds between people and the land.

3. "The Hurt Man"

1. Time Period: 1888

2. Publication: That Distant Land (2002)

3. Summary: Narrated by Burley Coulter's father, this story describes a moment of shared humanity when a man is injured and the community rallies to help.

4. "Don't Send a Boy to Do a Man's Work"

1. Time Period: 1891

2. Publication: Jayber Crow (2000) & That Distant Land (2002)

3. Summary: A humorous tale about a young man named Burley Coulter, who is sent to do a simple chore but gets distracted, showing his youthful, carefree spirit.

5. "Fly Away, Breath"

1. Time Period: 1907

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: An old woman reflects on her life and the deep memories of the place she has always lived, contrasting the past with the present.

6. "A Consent"

1. Time Period: 1908

2. Publication: Watch with Me (1994)

3. Summary: Describes the early courtship of Tol and Minnie Proudfoot, with a cake auction playing a central role in their journey toward marriage.

7. "Pray Without Ceasing"

1. Time Period: 1912

2. Publication: Fidelity (1992)

3. Summary: A tragic event involving violence is followed by a powerful act of forgiveness, demonstrating the community's capacity for grace and reconciliation.

8. "Watch With Me"

1. Time Period: 1916

2. Publication: Watch with Me (1994)

3. Summary: A novella about Tol Proudfoot and his community following a man named Thacker "Nightlife" Hample, who has had a "spell" and is walking away with a loaded shotgun. It's a testament to loyalty and care for a troubled neighbor.

9. "A Half-Pint of Old Darling"

1. Time Period: 1920

2. Publication: Watch with Me (1994)

3. Summary: A lighthearted story about Minnie Proudfoot, a leader in the local temperance movement, who accidentally gets drunk on whiskey meant for a calf, much to her husband's amusement.

10. Hannah Coulter (novel)

1. Time Period: Starts in the 1920s, with flashbacks to the late 19th century and extending to 2000.

2. Publication: 2004

3. Summary: Told in the first person by Hannah Coulter, the novel is a meditation on her life, her two marriages, and the profound importance of home, family, and community.

11. "The Lost Bet"

1. Time Period: 1929

2. Publication: Watch with Me (1994)

3. Summary: A comical story about Tol Proudfoot, who uses his wits to get the better of a store owner after a long-standing bet over a new Model A car.

12. Nathan Coulter (novel)

1. Time Period: Main narrative is from the late 1920s through the early 1940s.

2. Publication: 1960

3. Summary: Told from the perspective of Nathan, a young boy growing up in Port William, this is the first novel published in the series and an entry into the world of the "membership."

13. "Down in the Valley Where the Green Grass Grows"

1. Time Period: 1930

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A brief look at the lives of two young boys, Nathan Coulter and Wheeler Catlett, as they face the challenges of growing up on the land.

14. "Thicker than Liquor"

1. Time Period: 1930

2. Publication: The Wild Birds (1986)

3. Summary: A story that explores the complex relationship between two young men from different families, showing how their bond is "thicker than liquor."

15. "The Branch Way of Doing"

1. Time Period: 1932

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: A story that describes the meticulous, patient, and methodical "Branch way" of doing work on the land, a philosophy passed down through generations.

16. "Nearly to the Fair"

1. Time Period: 1932

2. Publication: Watch with Me (1994)

3. Summary: Narrated by Andy Catlett, this story recounts an event from his childhood where a simple trip to the fair becomes a moment of learning about work and community.

17. "Burley Coulter's Fortunate Fall"

1. Time Period: 1934

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A tale about a young Burley Coulter who has a minor accident that leads to a fortunate outcome for a family in need.

18. "The Solemn Boy"

1. Time Period: 1934

2. Publication: Watch with Me (1994)

3. Summary: A story about a young boy named Andy Catlett, who is unusually serious and thoughtful, and his observations of the adult world.

19. "The Great Interruption"

1. Time Period: 1935-1978

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: A humorous story about a boy falling from a tree while spying on a couple. The event becomes a celebrated, often retold tale within the community, part of its "self-knowledge."

20. "A Desirable Woman"

1. Time Period: 1938-1941

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story that captures the unrequited crush of a young farmhand on a pastor's wife before he leaves for the war.

21. "A Jonquil for Mary Penn"

1. Time Period: 1940

2. Publication: Fidelity (1992)

3. Summary: A tender story about a young farm couple, Andy and Mary Penn, and how the community rallies to support them during a difficult time.

22. "Turn Back the Bed"

1. Time Period: 1941

2. Publication: Watch with Me (1994)

3. Summary: A poignant story about a dying farmer who, with the help of his son, makes a final wish to see his land before he dies.

23. "Misery"

1. Time Period: 1943

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story about a young boy's journey with a mule named Misery, showing the lessons learned through hardship and companionship.

24. "Andy Catlett: Early Education"

1. Time Period: 1943

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story about a young Andy Catlett's early experiences that shape his understanding of the world and his place in it.

25. Andy Catlett: Early Travels (novel)

1. Time Period: 1943

2. Publication: 2006

3. Summary: A novel that follows a young Andy Catlett on a journey to a nearby town, offering a view of the world outside of Port William and the values that keep him rooted.

26. "Drouth"

1. Time Period: 1944

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: Set during a drought, this story is about the community's reliance on each other and their deep connection to the land during a time of scarcity.

27. "A Time and Times and the Dividing of Time"

1. Time Period: 1944-2019

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: An expansive story that explores the meaning of good work and a life well-lived, spanning from Andy Catlett's youth to his old age.

28. A World Lost (novel)

1. Time Period: 1944

2. Publication: 1996

3. Summary: A reflective novel narrated by Andy Catlett, recalling his childhood during World War II, a time when the community was shaken by the loss of a young soldier.

29. "The Divide"

1. Time Period: 1945

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: A story that explores the tension between old ways and new as a community member contemplates leaving the farm for the city after the war.

30. "Making It Home"

1. Time Period: 1945

2. Publication: Fidelity (1992)

3. Summary: A young soldier returns from the war and finds that his journey home is not just physical but also a process of reconnecting with his land and his identity.

31. "Not a Tear"

1. Time Period: 1945

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story about an old woman who endures hardship and loss without shedding a tear, showing her resilience and strength.

32. A Place on Earth (novel)

1. Time Period: 1945

2. Publication: 1967

3. Summary: Set entirely on a single day, this novel follows the community as they grieve for their young men lost in the war and find comfort in their shared life and labor.

33. "A Rainbow"

1. Time Period: 1945-1975-2021

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: A story that connects three different moments in time through the recurring image of a rainbow, a symbol of hope and continuity.

34. "A Clearing"

1. Time Period: 1945-2014

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: A story that spans many years, as a clearing in the woods serves as a place of memory and change for several generations.

35. "One Nearly Perfect Day"

1. Time Period: 1946

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: A tender story about a day of work that feels perfect, highlighting the satisfaction and peace found in honest labor.

36. "Where Did They Go?"

1. Time Period: 1947

2. Publication: The Wild Birds (1986)

3. Summary: Wheeler Catlett, a lawyer, reflects on the changing community and the people who have left, wondering about the future of Port William.

37. "Time Out of Time"

1. Time Period: 1947-2015

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: A story that explores the idea of time slowing down when you are engaged in meaningful work, a "time out of time."

38. "The Dark Country"

1. Time Period: 1948

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A mysterious and somber story that hints at the darker elements of the rural landscape and the human experience.

39. "A New Day"

1. Time Period: 1949

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A hopeful story that celebrates the beginning of a new day and the renewal that comes with the seasons and the cycle of life.

40. "The Bringer of Water"

1. Time Period: 1949

2. Publication: Farming: A Hand Book (1970)

3. Summary: A verse drama that beautifully portrays the essential, life-giving work of bringing water to the farm.

41. "One of Us"

1. Time Period: 1950

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: A story about the community's quiet acceptance and integration of a new person, showing what it means to be considered "one of us."

42. "Mike"

1. Time Period: 1939-1950

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story from the perspective of a dog named Mike, showing the loyalty and companionship between a man and his animal.

43. The Memory of Old Jack (novel)

1. Time Period: Main narrative is set in 1952, but it's filled with flashbacks spanning his life.

2. Publication: 1974

3. Summary: On the last day of his life, an elderly Jack Beechum relives his memories of the land, his wife, and the community that shaped him.

44. "It Wasn't Me"

1. Time Period: 1953

2. Publication: The Wild Birds (1986)

3. Summary: A story about a man who avoids responsibility for an action, and the community's subtle way of holding him accountable.

45. "The Boundary"

1. Time Period: 1965

2. Publication: The Wild Birds (1986)

3. Summary: A story about the complexities of a property line and the tensions it can create between neighbors, contrasting the legal boundary with the human one.

46. "That Distant Land"

1. Time Period: 1965

2. Publication: The Wild Birds (1986)

3. Summary: A story that explores the idea of a "distant land" not as a physical place, but as a state of being, a nostalgic longing for a simpler time.

47. "Who Dreamt This Dream?"

1. Time Period: 1966

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story that blurs the lines between reality and memory, questioning what is real and what is a cherished dream.

48. "A Friend of Mine"

1. Time Period: 1967

2. Publication: The Wild Birds (1986)

3. Summary: A lawyer, Wheeler Catlett, is a friend to a man who is in trouble with the law, demonstrating the deep-rooted loyalty of the Port William "membership."

49. "The Wild Birds"

1. Time Period: 1967

2. Publication: The Wild Birds (1986)

3. Summary: A contemplative story about the elderly farmer Burley Coulter and the young Andy Catlett, as they discuss the future of the community and the fleeting nature of life.

50. Jayber Crow (novel)

1. Time Period: Main narrative is set in 1969, with flashbacks spanning his entire life.

2. Publication: 2000

3. Summary: Told by Jayber Crow, the local barber, this is a beautiful and poignant reflection on his life, his unrequited love for a married woman, and the changes he has witnessed in Port William.

51. "The Requirement"

1. Time Period: 1970

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story about the simple "requirement" of doing one's part for the community and the moral weight of that responsibility.

52. "Are You All Right?"

1. Time Period: 1973

2. Publication: Fidelity (1992)

3. Summary: A story that shows the community's solidarity and care for one another during a flood, with the simple question, "Are you all right?" becoming a powerful symbol of their bond.

53. "An Empty Jacket"

1. Time Period: 1974

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A story that reflects on the passing of time and the absence of a loved one, symbolized by an empty jacket.

54. "Dismemberment"

1. Time Period: 1974-2008

2. Publication: How It Went (2022)

3. Summary: An extended story that explores the physical and emotional "dismemberment" of the community as farms are sold and the population disperses.

55. Remembering (novel)

1. Time Period: 1976

2. Publication: 1988

3. Summary: A novel that follows Andy Catlett as he grapples with the loss of his hand and the sense of disconnection from his land and community, before finding a new kind of belonging.

56. "Fidelity"

1. Time Period: 1977

2. Publication: Fidelity (1992)

3. Summary: A powerful story about a son's loyalty to his dying father, as he removes him from the hospital to allow him to die at home.

57. "At Home"

1. Time Period: 1981

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: A contemplative story about the feeling of being "at home" not just in a house, but in a way of life, in the quiet rhythms of the farm.

58. "The Inheritors"

1. Time Period: 1986

2. Publication: The Wild Birds (1986)

3. Summary: A story that looks at the next generation of the Port William "membership" and their decision to stay and work the land, becoming the "inheritors" of a way of life.

59. "Sold"

1. Time Period: 1991

2. Publication: A Place in Time (2012)

3. Summary: An elderly woman attends the auction of her home and belongings, reflecting on a lifetime of memories as her physical possessions are "sold."

60. "The Art of Loading Brush"

1. Time Period: 2015

2. Publication: The Art of Loading Brush (2017)

3. Summary: An aging Andy Catlett hires a contractor to fix a fence, and the shoddy work leads him to reflect on the lost art of good, careful labor.

61. "The Order of Loving Care"

1. Time Period: 2017

2. Publication: The Art of Loading Brush (2017)

Summary: A final, beautiful meditation on the small, quiet acts of care that hold a community together, and the "order" that comes from loving your place and your people.

Key Quotes: 

 | Page: 30

Over the years, wringing every possible penny out of his business, spending nothing more than is necessary to keep him and his old mother alive, he has made what the town confidently believes to be a solid fortune, which he puts to no use. Nothing interests him unless it can be made to add up.

 | Page: 63

He was vastly more inclined to learn than to be taught; that made him the natural enemy of his teachers, and he suffered for it.

 | Page: 69

With the exception of Brother Preston and two or three helplessly well-intentioned female members of the church, it has been ten years since anybody asked Uncle Stanley how he feels.

 | Page: 71

Listening to him, Jayber sometimes thinks that the words don’t come out of his mouth, but disappear into it. That mouth is an abyss that the whole world and the planets and stars might be sucked into and vanish forever.

 | Page: 98

At the beginning Mat only half listens. He sits, staring out the window, like a boy in church.

 | Page: 100

“Surely,” he thinks, “the people is grass.”

 | Page: 104

The last words ought to say what it is that has died. The last words for Tom ain’t in the letter from the government, and they won’t be said by the preacher. They’ll be said by you and me and the rest of us when we talk about our old times and laugh about the good happenings. They won’t all be said as long as we live. I say that a man has got to deserve to speak of the life of another man and of the death of him.

 | Page: 104

There’s the preacher who has what I reckon you would call a knack for the Hereafter. He’s not much mixed with this world. As far as he’s concerned there is no difference, or not much, between Tom Coulter and Virgil Feltner. Their names fit into the riddle he thinks he knows the answer to. I wouldn’t try to say he ain’t right. I do say that some people’s knack is for the Here. Anyhow, that’s the talent I’m stuck with. For us it’s important to keep in mind who Tom was. And for Mat and them I judge it’s important to know who is meant when they speak of Virgil. We don’t forget them after somebody who never knew them has said “Dead in the service of his country” and “Rest in peace.” That’s not the way these accounts are kept. We don’t rest in peace. The life of a good man who has died belongs to the people who cared about him, and ought to, and maybe itself is as much comfort as ought to be asked or offered. And surely the talk of a reunion in Heaven is thin comfort to people who need each other here as much as we do. I ain’t saying I don’t believe there’s a Heaven. I surely do hope there is. That surely would pay off a lot of mortgages. But I do say it ain’t easy to believe. And even while I hope for it, I’ve got to admit I’d rather go to Port William. As Jayber says, when we seen Brother Piston go in up at Mat’s, the worst thing about preachers is they think they’ve got to say something whether anything can be said or not.

 | Page: 151

She is wearing her grey dress that so becomes her—a pretty woman. He takes that in. He comes into her presence as he would come into the pleasing shadow of a tree—drawn to her, comforted by her as he has been, usually, all his life. And in spite of all that he has to do, he pulls a chair out from the table and sits down.

 | Page: 154

This new work must be done for the sake of the land itself—and for the sake of no one he can foresee, someone who will come later, who will depend then on what is done now.

 | Page: 155

After him, there will be no sign that the Merchants ever existed, except for a diminishment of the earth and of human possibility.

 | Page: 168

And again she looks at him, this time with such immediate and open candor, such accepting of him as he is, that he feels himself made natural, made as if whole, by her look. It is as though she has reached into him with her hand.

 | Page: 171

For a moment he can see Virgil, paint bucket in one hand, brush in the other, sitting on the comb of the roof, looking down at him and grinning with a boy’s perfect confidence in the superiority of youth to anything.

 | Page: 181

She studies his face, seeing in it something she has never seen there before, an old man’s sorrow for the imperfection of his life and of his fatherhood.

 | Page: 181

I’ve lived my life the way a hungry man eats.”

 | Page: 208

These people are not the kind who will be running to the grocery store to buy all they eat. That means a great deal, to Old Jack’s way of thinking.

 | Page: 229

Though in his joy he spoke of Virgil to himself, he did not speak of him to Margaret or to Hannah. He does not dare to risk the possibility that Virgil is alive, because he does not dare admit the possibility that he is dead. There is a shame in that, and it has killed his joy.

 | Page: 239

Hannah’s pregnancy was like a long lovemaking, a long continuance of Virgil’s body in her own. And then, with the birth, they were divided. Now she feels her body going to waste. Her mourning over Virgil is also a mourning over herself—is the same. She feels his absence within herself, a vacancy, as though some vital part of her own body was removed in her sleep.

 | Page: 262

“But I don’t believe that when his death is subtracted from his life it leaves nothing. Do you, Mat?” “No,” he says. “I don’t.” “What it leaves is his life. How could I turn away from it now any more than I could when he was a little child, and not love it and be glad of it, just because death is in it?” Her words fall on him like water and like light.

 | Page: 301

A man gets used to pain, he thinks. He learns it. It gets to be familiar to him, a part of what his life is and feels like. And what good does it do him? It teaches him to make light of the pains that are less, and to respect those that are greater. It teaches him what he can stand. And what good does that do him? He needs to know what he can stand because the chances are he will have to stand as much as he is able. That is what is ahead of him—to suffer and to stand it. And so is there virtue in standing it? Maybe. Surely. But there are limits too, and suffering kills. For as always it was finally the land that they spoke of, fascinated as they have been all their lives by what has happened to it, their own ties to it, the wife of their race, more lovely and bountiful and kind than they have usually deserved, more demanding than they have often been able to bear.

 | Page: 321

And Mat feels the difference between that restful order and his own constant struggle to maintain and regulate his clearings. Although the meanings of those clearings and his devotion to them remain firm in his mind, he knows without sorrow that they will end, the order he has made and kept in them will be overthrown, the effortless order of wilderness will return.