I recently read Tim Ingold’s book Lines and loved how it takes a relatively prosaic, everyday abstract and follows it to writing, threads, geometry, wayfaring vs. navigation, paths, traces. It’s one of those books that turns the lens slightly on the world to reveal underlying ideas that stay with you.
And since I am greedy for books that make you think like this—David Abram’s Spell of the Sensuous is a classic one, e.g. and I also loved Elvia Wilk’s Death by Landscape which I read last summer—I was hoping to have you all share three or so books that have shifted the lens, opening up new ideas for you.
I’ll share one more I’ve enjoyed recently—Mother Tongue: The surprising history of women’s words, by Jenni Nuttall.
So what books have been shifting the lens and making you think of late?
I’m reading Malcolm X speaks. A reprint of some of his talks/speeches focused on the last year of his life, and the amount of prophecies, historical truths, and relevant commentary to our present day are just stunning. He is one of my teachers and main intellectual/political influences, but even with reading all I’ve read about him, this book adds a new depth to it.
Loved, loved mother tongue! Dr. Nuttall's snark alongside her research is just fabulous. I just started The Patriarchs by Angela Saini and am enjoying it so far, though I'm only a chapter or two in, admittingly. Ricahrd III: A Study of Service by Rosemary Horrox really shook me--a recent finish. It was a long, slow pace, but her attention to detail and explanation of movement in the 1480s is fascinating. She was one of my favorites to study during my plague lit years and she did no disappoint with this one. How lucky are we for books?!
So, so fun to read! I found myself laughing aloud often, while also wanting to toss the book over every new blow. Truly the both/and reading experience.
Thank you for starting this conversation. I’ve gotten a handful of names to add to my TBR!
I have been wanting to read that mother tongue book. Recently someone posted about the secret script Japanese women used to communicate amongst themselves, it might have been you. Memory of whose post has slipped but not the fascination of those communiques. I think a lot about the encrypted and submerged mother-tongue in my own ancestral line (Yid).
I haven't posted in my substack for six weeks. I wondered into the diary and letters of Etty Hillesum and it has put my heart in the Under.
I'm so fascinated by that secret script Japanese women used--I actually have it down as a topic I've been musing about for an essay at some point--it's fascinating how vernacular functioned similarly in Japanese and English vs. Latin, etc. Would love to know if/how similar trends emerged in other languages.
The diary and letters of Etty Hillesum sound heartrending and powerful--a while back I wrote about the diary of Ruth Maier, an artist who was living in Norway and friend/lover of the Norwegian poet Gunvor Hofmo. Maier was deported with many many other Jewish refugees living in Norway during WWII. I wish both her and Hofmo's work was more widely known as well--Maier's diary is in an english translation, but Hofmo's poetry sadly is not, aside from a handful in a few obscure anthologies.
The Grail Legend also sounds intriguing, I'm adding it to my list--thanks so much for mentioning it.
And if I'm thinking way back to grad school and the previous millenium, along with Spell of the Sensuous, the other two books that had the most impact on me were Keith Basso's Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache, and Richard Nelson's Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest. Classics.
I have daringly picked up Susan Sontag’s Regarding the pain of others and I am bracing myself for some wild revelations about apathy and indifference mostly relegated to the dark side of human consciousness..
I love Jay Griffiths’ ‘Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time’ - it’s erudite and mind-bending. Also The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, How Forests Thing by Eduardo Kohn and In The Wake by Christina Sharpe. I could go on :)
Pip Pip sounds exactly like what I'm greedy for--as well as the Mushroom and Forests, fantastic! Thank you! And In the Wake is just so brilliant, I love Sharpe's work. (and please do go on if you'd like ;)
Lovely reading suggestions! I will look them up. I am reading Bruce Pascoe’s latest- Black Duck: A year at Jumburra. It’s a meditation on writing, making, seasons and history.
@Dougald Hine's 'At Work in the Ruins: Finding our place in the time of science, climate change, pandemics, & all the other emergencies.’ It has given me much to think about and follow up. It's down-to-earth, real, rigorous, and quietly hopeful.
Jenny Odell's Saving Time was "that book" for me last summer. You're making me realize I haven't had that sort of "it's about this, but it is really about everything" sort of read in far too long.
Would Mother Tongue be a good listen, do you think, or is it the sort of book you really must hold in your hands?
I loved Jenny Odell's How to do Nothing too--her writing is a great shift of the lens, I agree. Mother Tongue is probably better in print, only because it is so much etymology--but in a way that follows a meandering path thats fun and leads to other threads, so you pick up one thing and then find you're reading about another word...
I was seeking my next listen for my drive today and did download Mother Tongue. It works, so far! I am probably missing some nuance (but do I need to know how to spell the Middle English words? unlikely), and this got it to the top of the TBR pile in ways that a print book just couldn't.
I’m reading Malcolm X speaks. A reprint of some of his talks/speeches focused on the last year of his life, and the amount of prophecies, historical truths, and relevant commentary to our present day are just stunning. He is one of my teachers and main intellectual/political influences, but even with reading all I’ve read about him, this book adds a new depth to it.
I have a book of his speeches I've been meaning to read--thank you for the reminder, in sharing what influences and inspires you Abdulrahman.
Loved, loved mother tongue! Dr. Nuttall's snark alongside her research is just fabulous. I just started The Patriarchs by Angela Saini and am enjoying it so far, though I'm only a chapter or two in, admittingly. Ricahrd III: A Study of Service by Rosemary Horrox really shook me--a recent finish. It was a long, slow pace, but her attention to detail and explanation of movement in the 1480s is fascinating. She was one of my favorites to study during my plague lit years and she did no disappoint with this one. How lucky are we for books?!
I love Nuttall's voice too--so fun to read. That Richard III book sounds fascinating--thanks for the recommendation! Yes to books! :)
So, so fun to read! I found myself laughing aloud often, while also wanting to toss the book over every new blow. Truly the both/and reading experience.
Thank you for starting this conversation. I’ve gotten a handful of names to add to my TBR!
I have been wanting to read that mother tongue book. Recently someone posted about the secret script Japanese women used to communicate amongst themselves, it might have been you. Memory of whose post has slipped but not the fascination of those communiques. I think a lot about the encrypted and submerged mother-tongue in my own ancestral line (Yid).
I haven't posted in my substack for six weeks. I wondered into the diary and letters of Etty Hillesum and it has put my heart in the Under.
I also have Emma Jung's The Grail Legend.
I'm so fascinated by that secret script Japanese women used--I actually have it down as a topic I've been musing about for an essay at some point--it's fascinating how vernacular functioned similarly in Japanese and English vs. Latin, etc. Would love to know if/how similar trends emerged in other languages.
The diary and letters of Etty Hillesum sound heartrending and powerful--a while back I wrote about the diary of Ruth Maier, an artist who was living in Norway and friend/lover of the Norwegian poet Gunvor Hofmo. Maier was deported with many many other Jewish refugees living in Norway during WWII. I wish both her and Hofmo's work was more widely known as well--Maier's diary is in an english translation, but Hofmo's poetry sadly is not, aside from a handful in a few obscure anthologies.
The Grail Legend also sounds intriguing, I'm adding it to my list--thanks so much for mentioning it.
This was a fun question! Here are the first four that come to mind, in no particular order.
Cole Arthur Riley, The Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us
Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Living
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Suzanne Simard, Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
Braiding Sweetgrass is a beauty. The others all sound intriguing too--thank you! :)
And if I'm thinking way back to grad school and the previous millenium, along with Spell of the Sensuous, the other two books that had the most impact on me were Keith Basso's Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache, and Richard Nelson's Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest. Classics.
yeah, Make Prayers is a good one.
I have daringly picked up Susan Sontag’s Regarding the pain of others and I am bracing myself for some wild revelations about apathy and indifference mostly relegated to the dark side of human consciousness..
I have that as well and have been meaning to give it more attention--maybe I'll read it alongside you dearest. :)
I love Jay Griffiths’ ‘Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time’ - it’s erudite and mind-bending. Also The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, How Forests Thing by Eduardo Kohn and In The Wake by Christina Sharpe. I could go on :)
Pip Pip sounds exactly like what I'm greedy for--as well as the Mushroom and Forests, fantastic! Thank you! And In the Wake is just so brilliant, I love Sharpe's work. (and please do go on if you'd like ;)
Lovely reading suggestions! I will look them up. I am reading Bruce Pascoe’s latest- Black Duck: A year at Jumburra. It’s a meditation on writing, making, seasons and history.
That sounds like a fantastic read, thank you!
I just picked up Priyanka Kumar’s “Conversations With Birds” and feel like it might be one of those.
Ack that sounds so great, thanks Nia. :)
Loved Spell of the Sensuous!
Have you read Braiding Sweetgrass? A classic by Robin Wall Kimmerer that explores the relationships between humans the nature.
Braiding Sweetgrass is such a beautiful book--it is one of those lens shifters isn't it?
Absolutely. An all time favorite.
@Dougald Hine's 'At Work in the Ruins: Finding our place in the time of science, climate change, pandemics, & all the other emergencies.’ It has given me much to think about and follow up. It's down-to-earth, real, rigorous, and quietly hopeful.
Thanks so much Samantha--it sounds perfect and I'm adding it to my list! :)
Going to Seed by Kate Neville is so good that I read it twice. Also The Wanderers, A History of Women Walking, about UK women writers through time.
I love these, I've been meaning to read The Wanderers for some time, so thanks for the reminder! :)
You're welcome!
Jenny Odell's Saving Time was "that book" for me last summer. You're making me realize I haven't had that sort of "it's about this, but it is really about everything" sort of read in far too long.
Would Mother Tongue be a good listen, do you think, or is it the sort of book you really must hold in your hands?
I loved Jenny Odell's How to do Nothing too--her writing is a great shift of the lens, I agree. Mother Tongue is probably better in print, only because it is so much etymology--but in a way that follows a meandering path thats fun and leads to other threads, so you pick up one thing and then find you're reading about another word...
How to Do Nothing was an absolute gem too, yes.
I was seeking my next listen for my drive today and did download Mother Tongue. It works, so far! I am probably missing some nuance (but do I need to know how to spell the Middle English words? unlikely), and this got it to the top of the TBR pile in ways that a print book just couldn't.
yay! how fun, I'm glad it works!
Thank you again for the recommendation!
Spell takes such fantastic turns of thought, I found it enchanting too. Thanks for the Watts recommendation, been meaning to read some of his work.