Negative Positive
Title: The beginning of the Port William cycle
Review: This, Berry's first novel and the first to introduce his fictional Kentucky community Port William, displays the skill Berry shows as a poet. Not a word is wasted here; every one of them counts toward the whole. As with good poetry,as much is implied as stated outright here.This is a story of initiation, of a young boy's coming to grips with his family and community and his own place in them. The book's final image, of the boy Nathan carrying his dying grandfather home, serves to sum up this theme perfectly.This is a gentle novel and an auspicious beginning to an important saga of place and people.
Is the review positive or negative? 