Description
Creaking open the pages of a heavy hardback, or bending the spine of a poetry book over your knee on the train; squinting over curled-up pages by the light of a candle, or scribbling notes in the margins in the corner of a sprawling library. There are many who read as if for life; many for whom, as David Dickinson explores, reading does not just feed the mind but also the soul.
Reading as if for Life takes us beyond the spirituality of sacred texts, and into the spiritual possibilities of ‘secular’ literature: the opportunity to find or empty oneself, the chance to engage in silent conversation with an absent other, the appreciation of beauty and art, the possibility of enlightenment. From Augustine of Hippo to Thomas Hardy, Iris Murdoch, the poetry of R.S. Thomas, Duffy and Donne, and many other literary works, David Dickinson explores how writers throughout the centuries have understood and experienced their own spirituality of reading. For Dickinson, these myriad journeys all bring us closer to an encounter with God, dreaming ourselves into a world beyond. This book invites its readers to see reading as a valuable spiritual exercise.
About the Author
David Dickinson is a retired Methodist Minister and an avid reader. He has researched and written in the field of literature and theology since the early 1990s and ministered in churches from the late 1980s until 2023. Another work of Dickinson’s published by The Lutterworth Press is Make-Believe: God in 21st Century Novels (2020).
Contents
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. The Beginnings of a Spirituality of Reading
3. Reading Charitably
4. Circling the Text
5. Self-Identity and Reading
6. Silent Conversation with the Absent Other
7. Giving Texts Holy Attention
8. The Beauty of Books
9. Contemplative Reading
10. Escaping the Net
Bibliography
Endorsements and Reviews
David Dickinson teaches us what it is to love books, especially novels and poetry. He teaches us the need for close attention to the text and reading as a spiritual exercise through teachers from Augustine to Ricoeur and leading us through literature from Hardy to Auden and Murdoch. Dickinson writes gently and passionately from wide and deep literary and theological wisdom that draws us finally into the silence of understanding.
Emeritus Professor David Jasper, University of Glasgow
With originality and insight, this lucid book brings a wide range of stories to bear on the beguiling alliance between reading fiction and the search for life’s significance. Aware that good literature often takes us out of ourselves, into other lives, and that sometimes it even gestures toward Transcendent Mystery, David Dickinson provides opinions that are erudite and astute and are punctuated at times with great warmth and personal touches. Thoughtful readers will find themselves challenged, encouraged, and ultimately heartened by Dickinson’s compelling work.
Darren J. N. Middleton, Professor of Literature and Theology, Baylor University, USA
