Monday, June 15, 2009

Ramona Loves: A Quietly Lovely Book by Wendell Berry



Wendell Berry's Whitefoot: A Story from the Center of the World is a little bit of profundity disguised as a picture book.

It appears that it was originally published in Orion Magazine and it contains gems like this:


She lived at the center of the world. This is one of the things every mouse knows. Wherever she was, she was at the center of the world. That one lives at the center of the world is the world’s profoundest thought. So firmly was this thought set in Whitefoot’s mind that she did not need to think it. Like humans, she lived in the little world of what she knew, for there was no other world for her to live in. But she lived at the center of her world always, and of this she had no doubt.

Oooh, this begs discussion, doesn't it?

Or you can skip discussion altogether as I did with Ramona on a recent cool, rainy day. We simply curled up on the couch under a quilt and shared in the life and adventures of Whitefoot for awhile, as she was carried away by flood waters and did her best to survive, one moment at a time:

At the center of the world, on the silted and soiled floor of the woods, among the shadows of the moony night, she went about her still-unfinished task of staying alive.

2 comments:

Danae said...

Ooohh!! We love Wendell Berry but I was not aware of this title. Did you get it at the library? Sounds great!

Karen Edmisten said...

We did get it from the library and I have to thank the librarians for displaying it, otherwise I probably would have missed it! You'll love it.