#J.L. Carr

[writerly-ramblings]

Books Read in May:

1). Charming Billy (Alice McDermott)

2). The Baby on the Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem (Julie Phillips)

3). The Dressmaker (Beryl Bainbridge)

4). The Pleasing Hour (Lily King)

5). Eat, Memory: Great Writers at the Table (ed. Amanda Hesser)

6). The Mirror & the Light (Hilary Mantel)

7). Disappearing Earth (Julia Phillips)

8). A Life of One’s Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again (Joanna Biggs)

9). Kitchen Bliss: Musings on Food and Happiness (Laura Calder)

10). A Month in the Country (J.L. Carr)

11). Dinner in Rome: A History of the World in One Meal (Andreas Viestad)

12). Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader (Anne Fadiman)

#my literary life #booklr #book list #writing an absolutely deranged Substack wrap up because that’s how May went #alice mcdermott #julie phillips #beryl bainbridge #lily king #amanda hesser #hilary mantel #laura calder #julia phillips #joanna biggs #j.l. carr #andreas viestad #anne fadiman #adult booklr

[thehappyscavenger]

It occurred to me that perhaps she was one of those shy people who, given notice, can put on a bold front but, caught off-guard, go to pieces.

J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country

#J.L. Carr #A Month in the Country #quote

[catmint1]

The first breath of autumn was in the air, a prodigal feeling, a feeling of wanting, taking, and keeping before it is too late.

J.L. Carr

#quotes #j.l. carr #autumn #text

[transsexualcoriolanus]

talking to english teachers about my favourite books is mortifying sometimes because the moment i mention that i like maurice by e.m forster they immediately respond with "oh you should read *insert novel here*, it has..... homoerotic undertones". why do all my english teachers know i'm gay

#also one of the recommended novels in question was the picture of dorian gray and uhh #i think those undertones might in fact be overtones sir #WAIT another one was a month in the country by j.l carr which has an explicitly queer character #how do my english teachers not know what the word 'undertones' means #maurice #maurice 1914

[petaltexturedskies]

J.L. Carr, a month in the country

#typography #autumn #end of summer

[luvingsunshine]

on october

j.l. carr “a month in the country”/ barbara crooker “and now it’s october”/ anne sexton/ leif enger “peace like a river”/ friedrich nietzsche

#poetry #poems #words #webweaving #october webweaving #october #fall webweaving #fall #dark academia #dark acadamia aesthetic #fall aesthetic #books #literature #spilled words #spilled poetry

[hairtusk]

[jazzcathaven]

“There was so much time that marvelous summer. Day after day, mist rose from the meadow as the sky lightened and hedges, barns and woods took shape until, at last, the long curving back of the hills lifted away from the Plain. It was a sort of stage-magic.” ― J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country

[mediaevalmusereads]

A Month in the Country. By J.L. Carr. New York Review Books, 1980.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: literary fiction

Series: N/A

Summary: In J. L. Carr's deeply charged poetic novel, Tom Birkin, a veteran of the Great War and a broken marriage, arrives in the remote Yorkshire village of Oxgodby where he is to restore a recently discovered medieval mural in the local church. Living in the bell tower, surrounded by the resplendent countryside of high summer, and laboring each day to uncover an anonymous painter's depiction of the apocalypse, Birkin finds that he himself has been restored to a new, and hopeful, attachment to life. But summer ends, and with the work done, Birkin must leave. Now, long after, as he reflects on the passage of time and the power of art, he finds in his memories some consolation for all that has been lost.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: references to suicide, alcoholism, homophobia, racism

OVERVIEW: This book actually wasn't on my radar until my mom brought it up. It usually would be outside my typical genres, but a story about a medieval mural was too hard to pass up. Overall, I thought this story was charming; it's meant to be idyllic, so there's not a lot of drama, but there is a lot of heart. I loved the way the protagonist interfaces with the mural and the way he contemplates the war, and for me, those things outweighed my criticisms. Therefore, this book gets 4 stars.

WRITING: Carr's writing is fairly easy-going and sounds literary without being overburdened. I liked the flow of the sentences and the distinctive voice of the narrator - like he was delighted by everything around him and was sort of in cahoots with the reader.

The main things I didn't like involve some comparisons that were odd or distasteful. I'm primarily thinking about the way Birkin thinks about women, which wasn't outright offensive, but felt a little gross. These weren't so numerous that they distracted from the narrative, but whenever they did come up, I was yanked out of the story.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Tom Birkin, a veteran of the Great War, who is dispatched to a country church to restore/uncover a medieval mural. Over the course of a month, Birkin gets to know the people of the town and reflects on his own traumas, allowing his work and the idyllic countryside to heal him.

The strongest parts of this book (or perhaps the parts I enjoyed the most) were when Birkin was thinking about the mural. I loved the way he contemplated the colors and the figures, and I loved the kinship he began to feel with the painter. I also loved how he thought about the subject of the mural (the Last Judgment/Apocalypse) and the trenches, and how he feels an anger towards God for allowing such atrocity to happen.

There were also some fun little moments that gave me a laugh. For example, there's an episode where Birkin has to go "substitute preach" for one of the preachers, and he is so bad at it that the organist can't help but laugh. It's silly, but also endearing, and it shows how people can bond.

The weakest part of this book, in my opinion, was the relationship between Birkin and Mrs. Keach. Mrs. Keach is the vicar's wife, and the two bond by sitting together while Birkin works and talking about hell. While I think Mrs. Keach's sad marriage is alluded to just enough, I don't think there was enough emotional intimacy to justify Birkin falling in love with her. It felt very surface-level so by the time the story was over, I didn't feel the emotions I think Carr wanted me to.

CHARACTERS: Birkin, our narrator and protagonist, was sympathetic in that he was traumatized from the war and desperate to find meaning in life. He didn't strike me as dour, but he was in need of something to make him feel alive. I liked that he found that in his work and in the people around him.

Supporting characters were just complex enough to feel real without overshadowing the story. Mr. Keach, the vicar, was sufficiently obstructive but understandable, while his wife seemed lonely. Moon, an archeologist of sorts looking for a specific grave, is a good confidante and I enjoyed watching him work and talk about the war as much as I enjoyed Birkin. I also adored Kathy Ellerbeck, a 14 year old girl who takes a liking to Birkin and practically forces him to socialize.

TL;DR: Despite some writing choices that sit funny with contemporary readers, A Month in the Country is a touching story about art and community, told through the eyes of a WWI vet who seeks comfort in the idyllic countryside.

[shesthewave]

“anyway it will be autumn tomorrow or the next day: i can smell it in the air-summer smoldering.”

-j.l. carr, a month in the country

#j. l. carr

[alextbphotography]

"anyway it will be autumn tomorrow or the next day: I can smell it in the air–summer smoldering." –J.L. Carr 🍂 // all photos are mine 🌙

#photography #my photos #photoset #photographer #aesthetic #autumn aesthetic #autumnal #autumn #autumn cottage #cozy autumn #cozy #cozycore #cozyvibes #cozy aesthetic #cottagecore #cottage aesthetic #nature #naturephotography #gremlincore #gremlin aesthetic #goblin aesthetic #goblincore #dirtcore #adventurecore #fairycore #grandmacore #fall aesthetic #fall vibes #autumn lockscreens #autumn cottagecore

[zemagltd]

Everyday Poetry (simple country life) - There was so much time that marvelous summer. Day after day, mist rose from the meadow as the sky lightened and hedges, barns and woods took shape until, at last, the long curving back of the hills lifted away from the Plain. It was a sort of stage-magic. J.L. Carr

[thehappyscavenger]

Books Read in March 2023

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

I liked but didn’t love this one and am a bit baffled tbh by its stellar reputation which includes a Booker nom and a movie. The book is about a man in his 20s who is a vet of the first world war who heads off to the country to restore a religious mural on the church wall. He meets and bonds with the usual cast of small town characters and finds himself emotionally better off at the end of it.

It was lovely but slight and I found myself wanting more. My favourite parts were the main character’s musings on the work he was uncovering and the artist himself and how they were communicating across time with one another.

The Beach by Alex Garland

I like Garland a lot as a filmmaker but I never read his debut novel. As part of my slow rolling effort to read books I own instead of just mindlessly accumulating them I gave this one a shot and liked it a lot. It’s about a young white British traveller who is obsessed with backpacking around and finding perfectly untouched Edens which (by force of his discovery) will eventually become trampled and gentrified. By chance he is left with a map and discovers the perfect beach but this doesn’t exactly go as planned.

This is pretty sly and clever and I liked it a lot. Garland manages to be subtly critical of his characters (who are re-enacting colonialism from a perspective of privilege basically) and shows how dysfunctional this group can be.

A nice snapshot of ‘90s travel culture as well. It simply doesn’t work like this anymore and it’s kind of funny to see how quickly travel has changed in only a quarter century or so.

The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

This was a just okay novella about climate change dystopia. I could pretty much tell where it was going by reading it and it went there but the getting there was kind of fun. I thought it was nice and bold of Mohamed to leave so many unanswered questions but then I found out the book was getting a sequel which seemed kind of lame. Either leave it as a novella or make it one full length book. Breaking it into two just seems odd.

The Trees by Percival Everett

I think maybe Everett just isn’t a writer for me. The beginning of this bowled me over because he’s such a sharp, clever writer and I know juuuuust enough about American history to have been surprised by the twist about who the families at the centre of the mystery were but as the novel went on it sort of lost me. 

The book is a sort of whodunit thriller that gets a bit speculative. IDK there was something that just didn’t gel for me. I felt similar about Everett’s Too Much Blue which I read last year where I was impressed by the writing but not by what he was saying.  

The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz

This book gave me nightmares. Written and set just after kristalnacht it tells the story of a rich German Jewish man who basically finds himself travelling across Germany, unable to leave but unable to stay after the Nazis have mass arrested all Jewish men. The book was published in 1939 and what makes it even worse is that the audience knows what Boschwitz and the main character do not. That death camps and mass genocide are in the near future. 

Very short and simply written which adds to the devastation. The history is doing the heavy weight in this story and it’s heartbreaking. 

Heaven’s Breath by Lyall Watson

I’ve been reading this off and on since September which is yet another indication that non-fiction just maybe isn’t for me. I did like this book which is a natural history on wind. It’s not even very long and Watson is a beautiful writer who is clearly passionate about his subject matter. The problem is that there’s not really a narrative through line just lots of little random factoids. It’s a good book to slow read though and excellent for picking up and putting down. There are also like 300+ books referenced and I definitely want to check out some of those because they sound super interesting. 

#currently reading #A Month in the Country #Heaven’s Breath #Lyall Watson #The Passenger #Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz #The Trees #Percival Everett #The Annual Migration of Clouds #Premee Mohamed #The Beach #Alex Garland #J.L. Carr

[judyconda]

“There was so much time that marvelous summer. Day after day, mist rose from the meadow as the sky lightened and hedges, barns and woods took shape until, at last, the long curving back of the hills lifted away from the Plain. It was a sort of stage-magic.” ~ J.L. Carr, Book author of A Month in the Country Start an another Saturday morning right! Good morning Saturday to everyone & have an awesome and beautifully weekend to all! 💛✨🌞 #saturdaymorning #perfectmorning #mystique #spiritique #saturdaysunrise (at Bgy. 18 - Cabagñan West, Legazpi City) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqMSUMpSKKp/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#saturdaymorning #perfectmorning #mystique #spiritique #saturdaysunrise

[queen-of-thunder]

Air

Earth • Water • Fire

“French Novel” by Richie Hofmann // “Poem for My Love” by June Jordan // “Greetings My Dear Ghost” by Mary Ruefle // Quote by Franz Kafka // A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr // Any Way the Wind Blows from Hadestown // “That Map Of Bone And Opened Valves” by Ilya Kaminsky // The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner // post by @exit152 // “The 7:10 Train” by @imperiallefty

#poetry #lyrics #writing #the elements #air #richie hofmann #june jordan #mary ruefle #franz kafka #hadestown #j.l. carr #ilya kaminsky #william faulkner #word webs #web weaving #my webs

[extractofword]

I often wish that I could have known the end at the beginning, so that each detail could have been savoured as it happened. But then, life isn't a gramophone record on can play again and again till one feels one understands it. It is Now or Never for most of us, and we haven't the time. But we shall tomorrow...

How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup by J.L. Carr, 1975

#how steeple sinderby wanderers won the fa cup #j.l. carr #books #words #comedy books #football