A misty melancholy hangs over every page of this novel. But Berry's powers as a writer render that heartbroken tone beautiful ... Berry is a master craftsman in all literary genres. No extra word or shabby sentence mars his work. The reader pauses often to admire the crystalline precision of his writing ... Despite its elegiac tone, How it Went is not despairing, and neither, we hope, is Berry ... Let us hope we also can embrace Berry's quiet celebration in this work and others of how people can learn to get along when they share a community. Though he writes almost exclusively of times past, Berry is a powerful writer for our time.
The folks in How It Went, whom Wendell Berry writes about so beautifully, may remind readers of hobbits ... Berry’s book is divided into 13 lovingly written chapters ... Together, they create a tale that gently unwinds and doubles back on itself, not so much like a river but more like a flowering vine ... A book full of such gentleness, wisdom and humility seems preposterous in this day and age. It’s also something of a miracle. We are lucky, in such times, to still have a writer like Wendell Berry.
Simple, lyrical, immersive stories about work, neighbors, and the land ... Berry has [a] gift for entertaining amid serious intent, and the many lighter, very human moments in his elegiac, cautionary, wistful stories keep them from sinking into jeremiad without diminishing his message ... A fine collection by an enduring, endearing master.
Expansive ... Berry’s humanity and clear-eyed intelligence steer the stories away from simple nostalgia and into a thoughtful analysis of how communities inevitably change over time. This accomplished author still has much to offer.
