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A review by slow_spines
The Abundance by Geoff Dyer, Annie Dillard
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
5.0
This is a collection of pieces taken from 8 previous works, and was my first encounter with Dillard. Wow!
There are pieces that range from a page long, to a 20 minute read. There are pieces concerned about our place in nature, pieces about how to understand ourselves. Pieces that read like natural history, pieces more like poetry, some like memoir - most are all of the above. Dillard describes metaphysical hinterlands: mundane, sublime, fictive, real - all swirled together in a poetic collage. These are a collection of thoughts, often spurred by the natural world in all it's red-toothed splendour. To call her unflinching would be inaccurate - she is positively embracing. She embraces it all.
There are occasions where the imagery is difficult. Paganism is the clearest example (though it is the case for most of the pieces here), but even when its not clear exactly what she wants to say, you know what she is trying to say. And I think it is the manner of her trying which is the real message. Dillard is a mystic, she uses her words beautifully, knowing full well that they are woefully blunt tools. Her excited child-like wonder, her poetry, her invocations of philosophers, theologists, scientists, her focus on the transcendent, her humour - it is all brought together in an invigorating bewilderment.
"Wake up!", she implores. "Look!", as she dangles Life before you, twirling its multifaceted brilliance before your eyes. She reminds you: _this_ is what life is - deeply mysterious, brutal, beautiful, funny, fleeting.
The style might not be to the taste of those who prefer their musings more sober, but it could be argued that transcendental and ecstatic moments, if communicated at all, should be communicated excitedly. And it is such a contagious excitement.
You should read this book. Read it outside amongst the bugs and birds.
There are pieces that range from a page long, to a 20 minute read. There are pieces concerned about our place in nature, pieces about how to understand ourselves. Pieces that read like natural history, pieces more like poetry, some like memoir - most are all of the above. Dillard describes metaphysical hinterlands: mundane, sublime, fictive, real - all swirled together in a poetic collage. These are a collection of thoughts, often spurred by the natural world in all it's red-toothed splendour. To call her unflinching would be inaccurate - she is positively embracing. She embraces it all.
There are occasions where the imagery is difficult. Paganism is the clearest example (though it is the case for most of the pieces here), but even when its not clear exactly what she wants to say, you know what she is trying to say. And I think it is the manner of her trying which is the real message. Dillard is a mystic, she uses her words beautifully, knowing full well that they are woefully blunt tools. Her excited child-like wonder, her poetry, her invocations of philosophers, theologists, scientists, her focus on the transcendent, her humour - it is all brought together in an invigorating bewilderment.
"Wake up!", she implores. "Look!", as she dangles Life before you, twirling its multifaceted brilliance before your eyes. She reminds you: _this_ is what life is - deeply mysterious, brutal, beautiful, funny, fleeting.
The style might not be to the taste of those who prefer their musings more sober, but it could be argued that transcendental and ecstatic moments, if communicated at all, should be communicated excitedly. And it is such a contagious excitement.
You should read this book. Read it outside amongst the bugs and birds.