"Reading as secular prayer"
I read Richard Powers’ most recent novel Bewilderment in December and still think about it nearly every day. He actually ended it like that. I still can’t believe it. I’m hardly ready to elaborate yet, but Powers’ perspective on “reading as secular prayer” is too beautiful not to share. As someone who has less formal religious practice in her life now than ever before, but more of a reading ritual on which I rely, this gives me hope:
“If reading is secular prayer—being quiet, being attentive, petitioning, being present—then the relationship between the writer and the reader is religious. And by that I mean religion…in the deepest, etymological sense of that word ‘religion’. Think of the Latin roots: religio, to tie back together. That’s what we need. We need something that’s going to tie us back to each other and to the rest of the more-than-human world.” —Richard Powers
Thinking of reading this way also affirms the work I’ve started over at my bookshop INPUTS [curated by Sarah Duet]. I do believe there’s true value in reading and in sharing what we read. What are you reading? Let me know.
Ps-I shared this first in my email newsletter. If you’d like to receive reflections like this along with original art, other book recommendations, and more directly to your inbox each Tuesday…well, consider subscribing!