Writing style
Atmospheric · Lyrical · Spare
A month in the country
Literary fiction
- Print length
- 135 pagesNew York Review Books, 2000
Description
After World War I, young veteran Tom Birkin arrives at a rural church to restore a newly discovered fourteenth-century wall painting. Shell shock has alienated him from ordinary social conventions and made more conventional villagers view him with suspicion. As Birkin carries out the careful work, his time in the village becomes an experience of friendship, regret, and gradual healing. J. L. Carr’s compact novel follows the movement from isolation toward renewed connection, using the restoration of the medieval painting as the center of Birkin’s transformative stay in the countryside.
Reading profile
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Pace
Measured
Tone
Hopeful · Melancholic · Reflective · Wistful
Structure
Framed · Linear
Focus
Atmosphere · Character · Relationships
Emotional intensity
3 / 5
Reading complexity
1–5 · higher means more demanding- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
Themes
Book details
For the print edition listed above.
- Publisher
- New York Review Books
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780940322479
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