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The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell…
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The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry (edição 2019)

por Wendell Berry (Autor)

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323580,029 (4.28)11
A collection of essays celebrating the cultural heritage of history and home argues that arrogance must be abandoned in favor of respect and care for oneself, one's neighbors, and the land. In a time when our relationship to the natural world is ruled by the violence and greed of unbridled consumerism, Wendell Berry speaks out in these prescient essays, drawn from his fifty-year campaign on behalf of American lands and communities. The writings gathered in [this book] are the unique product of a life spent farming the fields of rural Kentucky with mules and horses, and of the rich, intimate knowledge of the land cultivated by this work. These are essays written in defiance of the false call to progress and in defense of local landscapes, essays that celebrate our cultural heritage, our history, and our home. With grace and conviction, Wendell Berry shows that we simply cannot afford to succumb to the mass-produced madness that drives our global economy--the natural world will not survive it. Yet he also shares with us a vision of consolation and of hope. We may be locked in an uneven struggle, but we can and must begin to treat our land, our neighbors, and ourselves with respect and care. As Berry urges, we must abandon arrogance and stand in awe."--Jacket.… (mais)
Membro:agacioch
Título:The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry
Autores:Wendell Berry (Autor)
Informação:Counterpoint (2019), Edition: Reprint, 368 pages
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The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry por Wendell Berry

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Based on the samples on Audible, I just could not summon the enthusiasm to commit to Berry's novels, even though they are praised by people whose opinions I respect and usually share. Then I saw this collection of essays written by Berry between the mid-60s and 2014, and read by Nick Offerman (who, I knew, is a fan of Berry's).

There are essays in here which I wish everyone could/would read. Berry brings a perspective not often heard in this country anymore. It is one he holds with a grounded (but not rabid) conviction and consistency across multiple decades. And he delivers his well-reasoned thoughts with a precision of language which leaves me in awe. Do yourself a favor: read this book. ( )
  Treebeard_404 | Jan 23, 2024 |
Summary: A collection of the essays, mostly focused on local culture, the care of places, and the hubris of technological solutions.

The works of Wendell Berry span the gamut from poetry to novels and short stories to essays, in addition to many articles contributed to various magazines and journals. I have a number of volumes just with his essays. This recently published work draws from them, and I think, does capture the “essential” Wendell Berry as an essayist.

The collection opens with “A Native Hill” and “The Making of a Marginal Farm.” They capture one essential of Wendell Berry–the loving knowledge of and care for a place, as Berry tramps the ground once farmed by his family, and describes his own farm, its features and how it must be cared for to continue to be useful beyond his life. He describes the slow work of rebuilding topsoil, describing a bucket which has collected leaves, twigs, feathers, droppings, and other degree, which have slowly decayed over decades into a few inches of soil. He comes back again and again to the idea that we should give up looking for big solutions, or solutions for someone else to implement. The question is what does our place require to preserve its soil, its life, and thus to sustain us? What must we do to protect the air, the water, the soil, and feed ourselves.

He decries the global food economy in “The Total Economy” in which production and consumption are separated, where farm work becomes servitude done by unseen workers rather than the hard but noble work of feeding both oneself and others through the care for plants and animals living on the soil. He reminds us in “The Pleasures of Eating” of both the joy and act of self-defense of growing, preparing, and being mindful of the sources of our food.

He writes of his own choices to use simpler but sufficient technologies: a good team of horses and various plows, mowers, and other attachments. He gives his reasons for not buying a computer. Hand-written text, edited and typed up by his wife to be sent to his publisher is enough, and he questions how a computer can make it better. He offers standards for technological innovation that should give pause, including that it should be cheaper, as small in scale, do better work, use less energy, and be repairable by a person of ordinary intelligence with the requisite tools.

The essay following “Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer” addresses the firestorm that resulted when people found out about the work his wife did for him and made all kinds of invidious assumptions. He uses it as an occasion, one of several, to talk about domestic economies–of the home being the center of work for husband, wife, and children. In “Economy and Pleasure” he talks about how we have separated our work and our pleasure, recounting the storytelling among a crew during tobacco harvest time, or time with a grand-daughter, who drove a team for the first time, hauling a load of dirt to spread on a barn floor, and her response at the end, “Wendell, isn’t it fun?”

One of his repeated themes is that big tech and big government are not going to solve the problems they’ve created, because all of our challenges reduce to local challenges–this stream, this strip mine, this local community, this school system. He not only advocates for local culture but names the prejudice against country people and questions, what is the best way to farm in all of earth’s “fragile localities”

His penultimate essay, “The Future of Agriculture,” is the most recent in the collection, and in a pithy way sums up his essay-writing career. He offers seven things we must do that are straightforward common sense and concludes:

“This is a agenda that may be undertaken by ordinary citizens at any time, on their own initiative. In fact, it describes an effort already undertaken all over the world by many people. It defines also the expectation that citizens who by their gifts are exceptional will not shirk the most humble services” (p.333).

Berry’s words seem prophetic to me. The disruptions of the pandemic to global supply chains has awakened us to things like computer chip shortages. But a recent problem with infant formula brought to our attention how fraught is our system of producing and transporting food essentials. Climate-change induced droughts in food-producing areas as far flung as California and southern France and Spain should be alarm bells. A threatened rail strike as I write could be catastrophic.

So where do I begin? Perhaps it is to look at converting some of the lawn I mow to gardens. I recall a 15 by 15 garden at our former home and how much food we got out of it, how good it was, and how much fun we had ordering seeds and starting plants under lights. How did I get away from that? We’re coming up on the time to replace a roof as well as some electrical upgrades. Perhaps it is time for solar. Not sure it will pay back in our lives or change things in a big way. But that’s Mr. Berry’s point. It’s the small, local acts of care that extend even beyond our lives that are our “humble service.” Now, if only I can get off this computer… ( )
  BobonBooks | Sep 14, 2022 |
Plenty to agree and disagree with here. I nod along with the broad contours of Berry's critique of modern life, and the need to live closer to our food sources, the land that produces them, and the processes that create both foods and communities of mindful consumers. Likewise, I agree with Berry's anti-capitalistic impulses and his considered pacifism. At the same time, much of his writing steps too far into Luddism and tastes too freshly of privilege (of upbringing, of health, of temperament, of familial and economic resources) for me to believe that his life can reasonably serve as a model but for a select few disciples. ( )
  jscape2000 | Aug 12, 2022 |
I don't generally read essays for entertainment. But after this introduction to the essays of Wendell Berry, I may change my habits. I'm a fan.

I had heard of Berry for years, but this anthology of his work was an excellent introduction. Berry is disturbed and angry about the effects our wasteful, self-centered society has on the planet. He began his call for change in the 1960s while writing about his one-family farm in Kentucky.

After reading his book, I am regretful of my personal choices but hopeful that it's not too late to come to peace with my life. He's helped me see the world in a completely new way, and I am excited to raise a small garden and be more appreciative of what I have. ( )
  Library_Lin | Jan 3, 2022 |
I won an ARC in a GOODREADS giveaway! The essays were very interesting. Some were a bit dry but all gave me insight into his hopes for our future . #GoodreadsGiveaway ( )
  tenamouse67 | Jul 22, 2018 |
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A collection of essays celebrating the cultural heritage of history and home argues that arrogance must be abandoned in favor of respect and care for oneself, one's neighbors, and the land. In a time when our relationship to the natural world is ruled by the violence and greed of unbridled consumerism, Wendell Berry speaks out in these prescient essays, drawn from his fifty-year campaign on behalf of American lands and communities. The writings gathered in [this book] are the unique product of a life spent farming the fields of rural Kentucky with mules and horses, and of the rich, intimate knowledge of the land cultivated by this work. These are essays written in defiance of the false call to progress and in defense of local landscapes, essays that celebrate our cultural heritage, our history, and our home. With grace and conviction, Wendell Berry shows that we simply cannot afford to succumb to the mass-produced madness that drives our global economy--the natural world will not survive it. Yet he also shares with us a vision of consolation and of hope. We may be locked in an uneven struggle, but we can and must begin to treat our land, our neighbors, and ourselves with respect and care. As Berry urges, we must abandon arrogance and stand in awe."--Jacket.

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