Annie Dillard
Paperback | Pages: 177 pages Rating: 4.2 | 4637 Users | 401 Reviews
Describe About Books Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters
| Title | : | Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters |
| Author | : | Annie Dillard |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Perennial Library |
| Pages | : | Pages: 177 pages |
| Published | : | 1988 by Harper & Row, Publishers (first published October 13th 1982) |
| Categories | : | Writing. Essays. Nonfiction. Environment. Nature. Autobiography. Memoir. Philosophy. Spirituality |
Rendition Conducive To Books Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters
Every time I read Annie Dillard I become more responsible. In general. Her words are purposeful, she addresses sorrow, beauty and terror with nouns and adjectives that, if you aren't careful, look like every other noun and adjective you have ever read. But this isn't so. There is not a wasted syllable. Read about the Deer at Provenance, a story about a young fawn tied to a tree, resigning to the despair of its own death, and the people that circle around, quietly, and watch. And then read how she balances words like 'slender' with 'violence'. Ah! And then Expedition to the Pole! Never has absurdity and wisdom come together so well in American essay than here. The images and thoughts on church, human folly, polar bears and the unknown spin like a fever dream and burn like postmodern prophecy. Woo!Mention Books Supposing Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters
| Original Title: | Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters |
| ISBN: | 0060915412 (ISBN13: 9780060915414) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating About Books Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters
Ratings: 4.2 From 4637 Users | 401 ReviewsWeigh Up About Books Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters
Not my favorite, though there are wonderful moments here. She seems in "An Expedition to the Pole" to get wrong what she gets so right in For the Time Being. In the latter, she lays her examinations--internal and external--side-by-side and leaves us to connect. They resonate against one another and flare out into unexpected meanings. Here, she smashes her examinations of the lives of arctic explorers together with her impressions of a largely mundane Catholic service in a surreal mish-mash thatI gave up reading after 1/3 of the way through. Too random for me.
2.5 Stars*Disclaimer: I read the majority of the essays in the book, but only the ones required for school*When I remember that books are primarily for our entertainment and edification, I come down hard on this book.It didn't do much of either for me.
Reading Dillard is like watching a figure skater. You don't really understand or appreciate what you've just experienced until you try to walk across an icy sidewalk.
Reading other reviews of Annie Dillard was more enjoyable than reading her book. She never taught that stone to talk. I am still trying to comprehend what either of them were trying to say. I do feel I need to apologize because i too love to write. I enjoy beautiful phrases that evokes human emotion but at some point the reader must leave fulfilled. Ask my husband, and he says the same of my attempts at writing my thoughts. I have stopped letting him read my pieces.
Every time I read Annie Dillard I become more responsible. In general. Her words are purposeful, she addresses sorrow, beauty and terror with nouns and adjectives that, if you aren't careful, look like every other noun and adjective you have ever read. But this isn't so. There is not a wasted syllable. Read about the Deer at Provenance, a story about a young fawn tied to a tree, resigning to the despair of its own death, and the people that circle around, quietly, and watch. And then read how
No comments
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.