This week's synchroblog topic is 'A book that changed my life,' and seeing as I chose the topic, I'm making a brief foray out of hibernation to respond.
There are some books, like the Bible, or Thomas Merton's New Seeds of Contemplation, or Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, that change one's life in ways and to degrees that defy simple explanations. But the phenomena of elusive explication is not limited to 'profound' sorts of books; books of any shape or sort or size may change us in ways we scarcely realize, . But whatever the case, the point remains that books change us, and pondering this week's topic makes me wonder whether one couldn't dedicate an entire blog to the matter.
But in a situation such as this, where one is wont to choose, I'll settle with a collection of essays by Wendell Berry entitled The Gift of Good Land. The book is peopled with non-fictional stories of farmers from Peru, Kentucky, and Berry's own farm. Its essays hold together around themes of land use, community, economics, and craft. For those wanting to learn more about the woes of factory farming and agribusiness, Berry's clear analysis of our agricultural system and subsequent offer of local alternatives make this collection essential reading.
As suggested above, I likely don't realize the extent of this book's influence in my life, but I'll try to name what I know. First, Berry's writing style challenged me (and challenges me still) to be a more self-conscious writer. Second, this book brought me to a new level of awareness about how I think about work. For example, I'm trying more and more to take pleasure in domestic handwork, rather than viewing it as drudgery. And thirdly, The Gift of Good Land taught me the value of good tools, good land, and the importance of participating in small, local economies. This last point represents a more general sort of influence I've encountered over the past few years, but Berry distills (what I'll call) 'agrarian wisdom' in such a way that I feel it necessary to give him credit.
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This post is part of a synchroblog I participate in the with Creative Collective. Follow this link to read other members' blog posts on the same topic: A book that changed my life.
