Preview

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Nathan Coulter

By: Wendell Berry
Narrated by: Paul Michael
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $11.16

Buy for $11.16

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

This, the first title in the Port William series, introduces the rural section of Kentucky with which novelist Wendell Berry has had a lifelong fascination.

When young Nathan loses his grandfather, Berry guides listeners through the process of Nathan's grief, endearing the listener to the simple humanity through which Nathan views the world. Echoing Berry's own strongly held beliefs, Nathan tells us that his grandfather's life "couldn't be divided from the days he'd spent at work in his fields".

Berry has long been compared to Faulkner for his ability to erect entire communities in his fiction, and his heart and soul have always lived in Port William, Kentucky. In this eloquent novel about duty, community, and a sweeping love of the land, Berry gives listeners a classic book that takes them to that storied place.

©2009 Wendell Berry (P)2009 christianaudio.com
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"The Coulter family, like the rest of the people who dwell in this tiny farming community...are caught on the wheel of nature, which is at once blindingly beautiful and unwittingly cruel....The narrative is stunning, the natural scene is beautifully evoked." ( Los Angeles Times)

What listeners say about Nathan Coulter

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    258
  • 4 Stars
    99
  • 3 Stars
    32
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    266
  • 4 Stars
    68
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    209
  • 4 Stars
    94
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A perfect picture

A beautiful, gentle, but uncompromising portrait of a place and a time we won’t see again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story for 200 mile trip

I’m reading Berry’s book, Jayber Crow, which I think I’m going to be so sad to finish; it’s that kind of story.. As I browsed Audible for an audio book for a 200 mile trip, serendipity brought me this one. This too is a lovely story, and just the right length.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hometown memories

Wendell Berry weaves a bittersweet story that takes me back to my own hometown. I know these people as I love them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another beautiful work...

Wonderful slice of life by Mr. Wendell Berry. He's a master at telling the slow story and keeping you hooked the entire time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved the book

A very poetic book about the simple life of yesteryear. A life when your worldly possessions where very few but your life was not about fortune but about working to survive . The purity of purpose is a beautiful thing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I read Jayber Crow first

After having read Jayber Crow, this seemed not as good. If I’d read this first, I’m not sure I would have gotten to Jayber Crow and I’d hate to have missed it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator and Story

Loved the narrator! The story was excellent as well. Wendell Berry is always good, but a good narrator makes all the difference.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

an okay start.

I enjoyed the book. it was a little slow for me but maybe that's the point.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Never loses your interest

Short and sweet, love the way the story flows. It has dips and valleys you wouldn't see coming.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Second rate to Hannah Coulter

I’m disappointed with this book after having read Hannah Coulter. I expected too much from Nathan Coulter, the husband of Hannah for so many years. This book helps the reader know more about Nathan’s early years and his troubled relationship with his father and brother. We learn nothing about his time at war, courtship and marriage to Hannah, or their child rearing.

“We weren't allowing our hopes to become expectations. Expectations are tempting, pleasant, maybe necessary. They are scary too, once you have had some experience. They are not necessarily and not always a bucket of smoke, but they can be and are even likely to be.”

Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful