It is crucial to read a book or any piece of work until the very end. Recommending or criticizing something without fully experiencing it can lead to misunderstandings and regrets. Even if the majority of a book aligns with one's values, the ending might contain a conflicting message. This was evident when an author the speaker admired took a stance that made them uncomfortable in the final pages of a book. Additionally, as seen from a personal experience, it is disrespectful to interview someone without completing their work, as important details or messages may come at the end.
Kerri ní Dochartaigh’s writing rings with a sense of connection between this world and the otherworld, and nowhere is it expressed more clearly than in her latest book, Cacophony of Bone. Here are pages full of subtle signs that are legible only to those who are in the practice of seeking them. It’s a work of plain mysticism, a very personal representation of direct contact with the sacred. At its roots, it’s about perception: how we allow it, honour it, foster it. How we can allow ourselves to encounter beauty and transcendence in the everyday.
But there’s also a hidden political dimension to Kerri’s work. She’s showing us a way of life that’s largely been lost, a mode of perception that has been deliberately crushed and denied. It’s a spiritual mode that’s democratic, resistant, dangerous. These times are ripe for it.
In this interview, we talk about the practice of everyday mysticism, its connection to Kerri’s Irish heritage, and the ways that reading has been warped by contemporary life.
Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is available now: US/CAN and UK
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