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Rating: 
Summary: Nature and Simple Living
Review: "This book announces on every page that the world is good, an article of faith that is here brought to rest upon experience."--from the forward by Wendell Berry. . . What a gift of a book! The introduction, on family and small scale farming, is alone worth the price of the book. These are nature essays in the old tradition: showing nature as an avenue to discovering what it means to be human. Kline practices farming in the Amish tradition, putting him out in the fields many days of the year. There he observes birds passing through, the changes of the seasons, and the various effects of farming practices on other species of living things. The essay In Praise of Fencerows is especially thoughtful and memorable. The title of this book was originally to be the title of Aldo Leopold's classic A Sand County Almanac, and the first chapter title, Winter Visitors, is a chapter title in Henry Thoreau's Walden. Those tributes demonstrate the great precedents on which Kline builds. While he is never as quotable as Thoreau or Leopold, he demonstrates, without sentimentality or preaching, the same depth of heart and understanding. What do we lose as we lose the natural places nearby? Kline shows us that we lose something even more important than species and ecosystems. We lose part of ourselves, a part capable of simple pleasures and joys, a center of decency, strength, and peace.
Rating:
Summary: Not much Wendell Berry, but a great book.
Review: "This book announces on every page that the world is good, an article of faith that is here brought to rest upon experience."--from the forward by Wendell Berry. . . What a gift of a book! The introduction, on family and small scale farming, is alone worth the price of the book. These are nature essays in the old tradition: showing nature as an avenue to discovering what it means to be human. Kline practices farming in the Amish tradition, putting him out in the fields many days of the year. There he observes birds passing through, the changes of the seasons, and the various effects of farming practices on other species of living things. The essay In Praise of Fencerows is especially thoughtful and memorable. The title of this book was originally to be the title of Aldo Leopold's classic A Sand County Almanac, and the first chapter title, Winter Visitors, is a chapter title in Henry Thoreau's Walden. Those tributes demonstrate the great precedents on which Kline builds. While he is never as quotable as Thoreau or Leopold, he demonstrates, without sentimentality or preaching, the same depth of heart and understanding. What do we lose as we lose the natural places nearby? Kline shows us that we lose something even more important than species and ecosystems. We lose part of ourselves, a part capable of simple pleasures and joys, a center of decency, strength, and peace.
Rating:
Summary: Take a walk with a gentle friend, David Kline
Review: I was first attracted to this book because the title seemed to be an oxymoron. I then chose the book for what was inside. I have found Mr. Kline's essays to take me to pleasant places when I was stuck inside. He also helped me to see my world more positively. I don't live very far from the farm that is spoken of in this book, yet I am removed from it by the technology in my life. When I am spiritually encumbered, I take this book in hand to renew myself in short order.I have read and reread this book and have given it as a gift. I will continue to share it with my friends and family. This time it will be a gift to a very special companion.
Rating:
Summary: Not much Wendell Berry, but a great book.
Review: When I originally received this book, I was really unhappy because I was looking for something by Wendell Berry and he only wrote the 2 page introduction. However, this is a wonderful, beautiful book. You feel as though you were walking with Mr. Kline on a lazy afternoon while he explains the world around you.
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