A review by anneliehyatt
For the Time Being by Annie Dillard
5.0
This book reminds me about what deep reading is all about: not the acquisition of facts, but a journey in complex thought that challenges us to ruminate about mortality, existential meaning, and God as we witness alongside Dillard these stunning, mundane moments of beauty. Perhaps a part of For the Time Being is the boredom and aimlessness one feels in reading it, to realize that perhaps we'll always be searching for meaning and answers in a world that is simply about the pursuit of discovery, not the discovery in itself.
Stylistically, this book is consistently stunning. I enjoyed her use of other people's words, for it combined a multitude of perspectives (including hers) to craft an argument about existence that wouldn't be possible to achieve through the eyes of a single person.
Stylistically, this book is consistently stunning. I enjoyed her use of other people's words, for it combined a multitude of perspectives (including hers) to craft an argument about existence that wouldn't be possible to achieve through the eyes of a single person.