What do you think?
Rate this book
Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness
With a foreword by Oliver Sacks
Shortly after John Hull went blind, after years of struggling with failing vision, he had a dream in which he was trapped on a sinking ship, submerging into another, unimaginable world. The power of this calmly eloquent, intensely perceptive memoir lies in its thorough navigation of the world of blindness—a world in which stairs are safe and snow is frightening, where food and sex lose much of their allure and playing with one's child may be agonizingly difficult. As he describes the ways in which blindness shapes his experience of his wife and children, of strangers helpful and hostile, and, above all, of his God, Hull becomes a witness in the highest, true sense. Touching the Rock is a book that will instruct, move, and profoundly transform anyone who reads it.
Shortly after John Hull went blind, after years of struggling with failing vision, he had a dream in which he was trapped on a sinking ship, submerging into another, unimaginable world. The power of this calmly eloquent, intensely perceptive memoir lies in its thorough navigation of the world of blindness—a world in which stairs are safe and snow is frightening, where food and sex lose much of their allure and playing with one's child may be agonizingly difficult. As he describes the ways in which blindness shapes his experience of his wife and children, of strangers helpful and hostile, and, above all, of his God, Hull becomes a witness in the highest, true sense. Touching the Rock is a book that will instruct, move, and profoundly transform anyone who reads it.
248 pages, Paperback
First published December 4, 1990
About the author
John M. Hull
32 books16 followersJohn Martin Hull was Emeritus Professor of Religious Education at the University of Birmingham. He was the author of a number of books and many articles in the fields of religious education, practical theology and disability. The latter interest arose from his experiences, and personal and theological reflections, on becoming blind in mid-career. He edited the British Journal of Religious Education for 25 years, and co-founded the International Seminar on Religious Education and Values, of which he was general secretary for 32 years, and president emeritus at the time of his death. After retirement he pursued a further interest as Honorary Professor of Practical Theology at the Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham, England.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
August 30, 2010
Short but marvelous essays on nearly all aspects of life as a blind person. I read this quite a few years ago, but its impact remains.
I just came across a copy I made of some of the essays, ones that covered topics in ways I'd never thought of. How a sighted person might not define a gray, overcast day as a "good day," but a blind person might, if the temp was mild and there was a soft breeze. A longer essay on the beautiful nuances of sound during a rainstorm. How smiling becomes a conscious rather than spontaneous gesture, since there is neither trigger nor response to be observed. And how time ceases to be a factor to a blind person: there's simply no way to rush about and do one's routine tasks more quickly.
This book reminds me of how much courage—both physical and emotional—a blind person needs to possess as s/he lives among or alongside the sighted world.
I just came across a copy I made of some of the essays, ones that covered topics in ways I'd never thought of. How a sighted person might not define a gray, overcast day as a "good day," but a blind person might, if the temp was mild and there was a soft breeze. A longer essay on the beautiful nuances of sound during a rainstorm. How smiling becomes a conscious rather than spontaneous gesture, since there is neither trigger nor response to be observed. And how time ceases to be a factor to a blind person: there's simply no way to rush about and do one's routine tasks more quickly.
This book reminds me of how much courage—both physical and emotional—a blind person needs to possess as s/he lives among or alongside the sighted world.
May 6, 2019
I added this book to my list because it was one of David Bowie's favorites. There were definitely some interesting insightful parts about the experience of blindness, but I had no idea how religious this memoir would be...and how much time would be spent talking about dreams.
September 26, 2019
A sad and touching account of a man's adjustment to gradual blindness.
Whilst the writing isn't groundbreaking or pioneering, its honest and heartfelt.
It made me sad to think of what it would be like to never be able to read a physical book again, turn the pages and cast your eyes over precious words, or to look at your partner's face, see them smile, laugh, frown, cry.
Blindness is so devastating when you live in such a visual world. John Hull handles the topic with tenderness and sensitivity. Whilst the religious referencing did little for me (as an Atheist), its admirable that he kept faith in something despite being dealt such a shitty hand.
Whilst the writing isn't groundbreaking or pioneering, its honest and heartfelt.
It made me sad to think of what it would be like to never be able to read a physical book again, turn the pages and cast your eyes over precious words, or to look at your partner's face, see them smile, laugh, frown, cry.
Blindness is so devastating when you live in such a visual world. John Hull handles the topic with tenderness and sensitivity. Whilst the religious referencing did little for me (as an Atheist), its admirable that he kept faith in something despite being dealt such a shitty hand.
February 15, 2020
Nella Premessa l’Autore scrive: “Se stai leggendo questo libro probabilmente vuoi capire cos’è la cecità. Vuoi sapere cosa significa diventare ciechi, vivere da ciechi”. In effetti è così: ero interessato a sapere proprio questo. E il libro inizia in maniera davvero spiazzante, ponendo una domanda a cui, da vedente, non avevo mai pensato: “Da quanto tempo bisogna essere ciechi prima che i sogni comincino a perdere i colori?”.
Tuttavia, proseguendo nel racconto, Hull abbandona progressivamente il suo obiettivo dichiarato, trasformando l’opera in una sorta di momento catartico all’interno del proprio percorso di accettazione del nuovo stato. Non riesco a spiegare altrimenti, per esempio, i numerosi e noiosissimi paragrafi dedicati ai sogni (con tanto di autointerpretazione del loro significato).
Molto toccanti le parti dedicate al rapporto con i figli, specie con quelli nati dopo la cecità anche se, man mano che si procede nella lettura, l’accumularsi delle ripetizioni attenua fortemente l’intensità emotiva del racconto, mentre alcuni aspetti dell’essere ciechi (come il rapporto con il desiderio e la sessualità) rimangono solo accennati, senza un vero sviluppo.
D’altronde è lo stesso Hull a scrivere, sempre in premessa, che: “Il libro non ha una vera struttura. È fatto di frammenti sparsi. […] Se ci sono ripetizioni è perché gli stessi problemi e le stesse esperienze si sono ripresentate continuamente e sono stati interpretati da diverse angolazioni”. Peccato, però, che un limite, anche quando venga dichiarato, rimanga pur sempre un limite.
Tuttavia, proseguendo nel racconto, Hull abbandona progressivamente il suo obiettivo dichiarato, trasformando l’opera in una sorta di momento catartico all’interno del proprio percorso di accettazione del nuovo stato. Non riesco a spiegare altrimenti, per esempio, i numerosi e noiosissimi paragrafi dedicati ai sogni (con tanto di autointerpretazione del loro significato).
Molto toccanti le parti dedicate al rapporto con i figli, specie con quelli nati dopo la cecità anche se, man mano che si procede nella lettura, l’accumularsi delle ripetizioni attenua fortemente l’intensità emotiva del racconto, mentre alcuni aspetti dell’essere ciechi (come il rapporto con il desiderio e la sessualità) rimangono solo accennati, senza un vero sviluppo.
D’altronde è lo stesso Hull a scrivere, sempre in premessa, che: “Il libro non ha una vera struttura. È fatto di frammenti sparsi. […] Se ci sono ripetizioni è perché gli stessi problemi e le stesse esperienze si sono ripresentate continuamente e sono stati interpretati da diverse angolazioni”. Peccato, però, che un limite, anche quando venga dichiarato, rimanga pur sempre un limite.
Read
June 2, 2021A very interesting and moving account of losing sight.
November 26, 2015
This is a true story about going blind. It is written by a man who goes blind later in life. He reveals his thoughts on blindness by describing what different parts of his home life and work life are like (for example, the new way he learns to open presents with his son on his son's birthday or the seemingly harmless jests his coworkers make about blindness in professional settings). The author is also a Christian and throughout the book he pauses to reflect on different pieces of scripture that he has wrestled with.
The question that will stick with me from reading this man's story is: Can blindness be thought of as a gift? The author asks this over and over again throughout the book and he doesn't seem to conclude either "yes" or "no." I was also surprised/impressed that the author addresses separate notes in his preface to his sighted readers and to his blind readers. This is the first time I've read a book on disability where the author seems to acknowledge (in my opinion) that disability writing may not be chiefly so that able bodied people can come to understand disability, but for the strengthening of community ties and camaraderie between disabled people.
The question that will stick with me from reading this man's story is: Can blindness be thought of as a gift? The author asks this over and over again throughout the book and he doesn't seem to conclude either "yes" or "no." I was also surprised/impressed that the author addresses separate notes in his preface to his sighted readers and to his blind readers. This is the first time I've read a book on disability where the author seems to acknowledge (in my opinion) that disability writing may not be chiefly so that able bodied people can come to understand disability, but for the strengthening of community ties and camaraderie between disabled people.
January 30, 2022
Un uomo tutto intero, interamente presente
Nessun buonismo o frasi altisonanti. Hull ce lo premette quando parla di altre biografie sulla cecità. Manca il banale, l'immediato e la condivisione di questa condizione. Lo scrive per sé, per altri ipovedenti ma lo scrive soprattutto per farci rendere conto di come si diano molte cose per scontate su una condizione che non conosciamo e tendiamo a tarare secondo le nostre conoscenze percettive.
L'ho ascolto in audiolibro, ad occhi chiusi per simulare uno stato di consapevolezza della cecità che Hull mi stava trasmettendo.
Per chi volesse provare con l'incipit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpuVk...
P.S: Il titolo è superbo e racchiude il percorso, il pensiero e il traguardo di quest'uomo.
Nessun buonismo o frasi altisonanti. Hull ce lo premette quando parla di altre biografie sulla cecità. Manca il banale, l'immediato e la condivisione di questa condizione. Lo scrive per sé, per altri ipovedenti ma lo scrive soprattutto per farci rendere conto di come si diano molte cose per scontate su una condizione che non conosciamo e tendiamo a tarare secondo le nostre conoscenze percettive.
L'ho ascolto in audiolibro, ad occhi chiusi per simulare uno stato di consapevolezza della cecità che Hull mi stava trasmettendo.
Per chi volesse provare con l'incipit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpuVk...
P.S: Il titolo è superbo e racchiude il percorso, il pensiero e il traguardo di quest'uomo.
February 13, 2021
Da questo libro mi aspettavo tantissimo, forse troppo.
Gli estratti che avevo letto promettevano di aiutarmi a capire com'era a livello esistenziale la vita di un cieco. Purtroppo però questa promessa viene esaudita solo in parte e in maniera non del tutto soddisfacente.
Probabilmente ciò che stavo cercando era un saggio rigoroso e profondo, invece mi sono trovato di fronte al diario personale di John Hull in cui viene documentato il modo in cui una persona di 45 anni, deve affrontare la sua nuova condizione di non vedente. Proprio i limiti della forma diario ci consegnano in mano un libro frammentato, che affianca passi capaci di voli speculativi altissimi, a tratti più terreni nei quali l'autore racconta le sfide che ha dovuto affrontare quotidianamente senza l'utilizzo della vista.
Le parti migliori, quelle che riescono a toccare corde molto profonde, sono quelle in cui Hull riflette sulla sua nuova percezione del mondo, quelle in cui racconta del suo rapporto con i figli, bambini di cui non vedrà mai il viso e quelle parti in cui, da teologo, cerca di dare un significato spirituale in ciò che sta vivendo. Le parti restanti, che compongono però la maggior parte del libro, raccontano invece del lavoro, delle incombenze domestiche e delle amicizie e risultano abbastanza interessanti, se non fosse che dopo un po' iniziano a diventare ripetitive. Queste vicende, tuttavia, vengono affrontate meglio e in maniera più coinvolgente in una breve postfazione scritta dalla moglie dell'autore, Marylyn, nel 2016, un anno dopo la morte del marito, forse una delle parti più profonde e toccanti di questo libro.
Il Dono Oscuro è un libro imperfetto che, nonostante tutto, apre uno squarcio, seppur incompleto, su ciò che si prova ad esser ciechi e deve essere letto con questa consapevolezza.
PS: Nel 2016 è uscito un documentario tratto proprio da questo memoir intitolato "Notes on Blindness", qui il trailer, accompagnato da una bella esperienza VR del "soundscape"percepito da Hull durante le passeggiate al parco commentato proprio dalla sua vera voce estratta da uno dei nastri su cui registrava i capitoli del suo libro:
Notes on Blindness - A 360/VR experience
Gli estratti che avevo letto promettevano di aiutarmi a capire com'era a livello esistenziale la vita di un cieco. Purtroppo però questa promessa viene esaudita solo in parte e in maniera non del tutto soddisfacente.
Probabilmente ciò che stavo cercando era un saggio rigoroso e profondo, invece mi sono trovato di fronte al diario personale di John Hull in cui viene documentato il modo in cui una persona di 45 anni, deve affrontare la sua nuova condizione di non vedente. Proprio i limiti della forma diario ci consegnano in mano un libro frammentato, che affianca passi capaci di voli speculativi altissimi, a tratti più terreni nei quali l'autore racconta le sfide che ha dovuto affrontare quotidianamente senza l'utilizzo della vista.
Le parti migliori, quelle che riescono a toccare corde molto profonde, sono quelle in cui Hull riflette sulla sua nuova percezione del mondo, quelle in cui racconta del suo rapporto con i figli, bambini di cui non vedrà mai il viso e quelle parti in cui, da teologo, cerca di dare un significato spirituale in ciò che sta vivendo. Le parti restanti, che compongono però la maggior parte del libro, raccontano invece del lavoro, delle incombenze domestiche e delle amicizie e risultano abbastanza interessanti, se non fosse che dopo un po' iniziano a diventare ripetitive. Queste vicende, tuttavia, vengono affrontate meglio e in maniera più coinvolgente in una breve postfazione scritta dalla moglie dell'autore, Marylyn, nel 2016, un anno dopo la morte del marito, forse una delle parti più profonde e toccanti di questo libro.
Il Dono Oscuro è un libro imperfetto che, nonostante tutto, apre uno squarcio, seppur incompleto, su ciò che si prova ad esser ciechi e deve essere letto con questa consapevolezza.
PS: Nel 2016 è uscito un documentario tratto proprio da questo memoir intitolato "Notes on Blindness", qui il trailer, accompagnato da una bella esperienza VR del "soundscape"percepito da Hull durante le passeggiate al parco commentato proprio dalla sua vera voce estratta da uno dei nastri su cui registrava i capitoli del suo libro:
Notes on Blindness - A 360/VR experience
October 7, 2013
This is a strange book to review. As a collection of journal entries and brief essays, it somewhat escapes genres. The guiding theme is, more or less, the author's own adaptations to blindness, and these are frequently thought-provoking (to my fully-sighted self). The different approaches (which one might call medical management, social management, and finally spiritual management) are compelling and interesting, but the thoughts the author presents didn't stun me. Not that he NEEDS to -- in some ways, perhaps the reality that blindness is much of what we would imagine it to be is its own lesson. And there were certainly thoughts that I hadn't had cause to consider, and Hull writes them fairly clearly.
All of that said, I think two things were most striking to me. One was the set of conversations he relates about trying to explain blindness to his children, and thinking through his role as a father. The reality of his separation from a layer of common humanity was most present to me there, and -- perhaps because the topic of this book was to collect journals related to blindness -- I wondered if the illness demanded a sort of self-attention that took him away from his children some. This struck me as very poignant.
The second was that I realized that when he described blindness, I felt like he was in another world. I really have trouble wrapping my own mind around the fact that his consciousness is as immediate as any sighted person's; he's simply navigating by voices and ideas; by maps in his mind and routines that take work to establish.
Several scenes do stand out in my memory (I read the entries slowly over several months), including one in which a church declined to consider him for holy orders because he'd be a burden on their retirement fund, one in which an angry man accosted him in the street and accused him of faking his blindness, and the final entry about exploring Iona Abbey, which has something of childlike wonder about it -- perhaps a restoration of "immediacy."
I enjoyed reading the book, and some parts of it will stay with me, but I'm not sure whether I'll ever return to it.
All of that said, I think two things were most striking to me. One was the set of conversations he relates about trying to explain blindness to his children, and thinking through his role as a father. The reality of his separation from a layer of common humanity was most present to me there, and -- perhaps because the topic of this book was to collect journals related to blindness -- I wondered if the illness demanded a sort of self-attention that took him away from his children some. This struck me as very poignant.
The second was that I realized that when he described blindness, I felt like he was in another world. I really have trouble wrapping my own mind around the fact that his consciousness is as immediate as any sighted person's; he's simply navigating by voices and ideas; by maps in his mind and routines that take work to establish.
Several scenes do stand out in my memory (I read the entries slowly over several months), including one in which a church declined to consider him for holy orders because he'd be a burden on their retirement fund, one in which an angry man accosted him in the street and accused him of faking his blindness, and the final entry about exploring Iona Abbey, which has something of childlike wonder about it -- perhaps a restoration of "immediacy."
I enjoyed reading the book, and some parts of it will stay with me, but I'm not sure whether I'll ever return to it.
January 31, 2020
Una testimonianza che va al di là delle false considerazioni e dei fraintendimenti che si creano necessariamente tra vedenti e non vedenti. Ma non c’è traccia di autocommiserazione, di politicamente corretto, di una strada per una facile accettazione di questo dramma. Piuttosto le considerazioni che la nostra società è giocoforza strutturata su esperienze visive e di come non si possa pretendere un cambiamento radicale o lamentarne la mancanza di comprensione.
Verso la conclusione (spero non venga intesa come spoiler): “La cecità implica anche la dipendenza. Da qualche parte, lungo il cammino, c’è sempre qualcuno che ha gli occhi. Che lo si voglia o no, i ciechi sono deboli. Il mondo della cecità è piccolo, autentico e autosufficiente, eppure è circondato e contenuto in un mondo più grande, il mondo dei vedenti. Come farà il piccolo a comprendere il grande senza provare gelosia, e come farà il grande a capire il piccolo senza provare pietà?” (dove le parole da sottolineare sono GELOSIA e PIETÀ).
Molto sobria anche la testimonianza della moglie, in fondo al volume. Consiglierei, però, di leggersi l’introduzione (che è misteriosamente stata spostata alla fine). Bella e puntuale, l’introduzione di Oliver Sacks (questa, sì, ad inizio volume).
Sassolini nella scarpa: non mi piacciono queste forme: “non abbiamo mai scordato” (non abbiamo mai dimenticato); “potrebbe essere stato per via di un programma..” (potrebbe essere stato a causa); “scoprendo tutti i dettagli e capendo che..” (e comprendendo che..).
Verso la conclusione (spero non venga intesa come spoiler): “La cecità implica anche la dipendenza. Da qualche parte, lungo il cammino, c’è sempre qualcuno che ha gli occhi. Che lo si voglia o no, i ciechi sono deboli. Il mondo della cecità è piccolo, autentico e autosufficiente, eppure è circondato e contenuto in un mondo più grande, il mondo dei vedenti. Come farà il piccolo a comprendere il grande senza provare gelosia, e come farà il grande a capire il piccolo senza provare pietà?” (dove le parole da sottolineare sono GELOSIA e PIETÀ).
Molto sobria anche la testimonianza della moglie, in fondo al volume. Consiglierei, però, di leggersi l’introduzione (che è misteriosamente stata spostata alla fine). Bella e puntuale, l’introduzione di Oliver Sacks (questa, sì, ad inizio volume).
Sassolini nella scarpa: non mi piacciono queste forme: “non abbiamo mai scordato” (non abbiamo mai dimenticato); “potrebbe essere stato per via di un programma..” (potrebbe essere stato a causa); “scoprendo tutti i dettagli e capendo che..” (e comprendendo che..).
July 6, 2016
I'm not sure how anyone's journal/ personal thoughts/ experience could be lower than a 5 star review... It doesn't make sense to me. With that said, I thought Touching the Rock was so insightful into the world of blindness and it was honest. I love thought processes and his ideas of what blindness is. It took me a while to read because I liked to break up in, reading a few journal entries everyday until I was done. I would recommend this book to anyone.
August 23, 2011
Very personal and authentic account of struggles one may face after losing sight. The internal battle to accept blindness reveals that no one is prepared for such an event. Hull touched me with his relationship to the children, he portrays a father who tries to fulfill his role but knows it will not come easily.
April 9, 2016
I'm grateful that John Hull was so vulnerable. He allowed me to gain an inkling of what it must be like to be blind. At times it was heart wrenching. The reflections were, at times, profound. Well worth the read.
April 3, 2016
Peers into the world of a man who can no longer visualize the world with his eyes, and yet sees more than we could ever dream.
February 19, 2026
• Libro che Lingiardi cita nel suo "Corpo, umano", nasce come diario e prende forma nel corso degli anni in cui l’autore perde progressivamente la vista fino alla cecità totale.
• Hull, teologo e docente di educazione religiosa, osserva la propria condizione con rigore analitico. Il tono evita il patetico. L’attenzione si concentra sulle strutture dell’esperienza. La cecità emerge come un mutamento, una diversa modalità di vivere il mondo.
• Il paesaggio visivo, che per i vedenti funge da sfondo stabile e continuo, si dissolve. Subentra un universo acustico e tattile fatto di risonanze, correnti d’aria, superfici, ritmi. E di pioggia, che diventa un dispositivo di rivelazione: cadendo sugli oggetti ne disegna i contorni sonori, restituisce la forma delle cose.
• Hull descrive la perdita delle immagini mentali, lo scolorirsi dei volti amati, la difficoltà di conservare una memoria figurativa. Il mondo allora diventa scena e l’esperienza intermittente, fatta di apparizioni locali e discontinuità.
• Ne deriva una riflessione sull’identità. Senza lo specchio dello sguardo altrui, senza la conferma visiva del proprio corpo, l'autore deve ridefinire i confini del sé.
• Le frasi sono chiare, il lessico è preciso, meditativo. Ogni annotazione nasce dall’osservazione minuta di un gesto quotidiano come attraversare una strada, riconoscere la presenza dei figli, orientarsi in una stanza.
• È abbastanza angosciante ma anche illuminante e commovente.
• Hull, teologo e docente di educazione religiosa, osserva la propria condizione con rigore analitico. Il tono evita il patetico. L’attenzione si concentra sulle strutture dell’esperienza. La cecità emerge come un mutamento, una diversa modalità di vivere il mondo.
• Il paesaggio visivo, che per i vedenti funge da sfondo stabile e continuo, si dissolve. Subentra un universo acustico e tattile fatto di risonanze, correnti d’aria, superfici, ritmi. E di pioggia, che diventa un dispositivo di rivelazione: cadendo sugli oggetti ne disegna i contorni sonori, restituisce la forma delle cose.
• Hull descrive la perdita delle immagini mentali, lo scolorirsi dei volti amati, la difficoltà di conservare una memoria figurativa. Il mondo allora diventa scena e l’esperienza intermittente, fatta di apparizioni locali e discontinuità.
• Ne deriva una riflessione sull’identità. Senza lo specchio dello sguardo altrui, senza la conferma visiva del proprio corpo, l'autore deve ridefinire i confini del sé.
• Le frasi sono chiare, il lessico è preciso, meditativo. Ogni annotazione nasce dall’osservazione minuta di un gesto quotidiano come attraversare una strada, riconoscere la presenza dei figli, orientarsi in una stanza.
• È abbastanza angosciante ma anche illuminante e commovente.
August 19, 2020
"Non farti sopraffare dall'insieme. Scomponi la difficoltà, fanne dei bocconi che puoi addentare uno per volta".
.
John ha insegnato tanto a me lettrice, alla moglie Marilyn, ai figli Imogen, Tom, Lizzie, Gabriel e Josh nati in diversi momenti della sua "trasformazione". Professore di un'energia eccezionale che si ritrova cieco a 40 anni... prima la nebbia e poi anche quella sbiadita luce scompare per lasciar posto ad una cecità profonda, buia. Uomo che mai ha smesso di voler comprendere quel nuovo oscuro mondo. John snocciola attraverso osservazioni immediate, chiare, concrete la sua vita esteriore e interiore, mette in relazione veglia e sogno (rappresentativo delle paure), ci mostra le difficoltà relazionali tra vedenti e non-vedenti e nel concreto ci spiega cosa occorre o crea disagio a un non-vedente nella quotidianità (scale, neve, bastone bianco, bar, incroci stradali ecc).
Aspetto importante di questa lettura è ciò che la cecità insegna: l'acuirsi delle percezioni uditive e tattili che prendono il sopravvento e permettono a John di "vedere" in un modo eccezionale: vedere-con-tutto-il-corpo.
Da qui ci mostra con i suoi sensi il mondo: la pioggia che cade lo definisce, lo scolpisce.
Magia. Poesia. La vera esistenza, si potrebbe dire, quella profonda.
Tanti i temi importanti trattati:
Rapporti familiari, i dubbi sulla propria utilità genitoriale, le aspettative relazionali e le loro diverse forme, il valore della voce e della comunicazione verbale, l'identità, il fenomeno dell'"ecolocalizzazione", la reciprocità umana, il sesso e l'amore, lo stato prenatale in cui si precipita, la forza di volontà necessaria per rinascere e tornare a maneggiare il mondo, il rapporto col tempo, l'emarginazione sociale ed anche i momenti di sconforto quando ci si accorge che i ricordi iniziano a sbiadire e non esiste più alcuna macchina fotografica in grado di riportarli in vita.
"I ciechi sono STATI come il giovane, il vecchio, il maschio e la femmina e insieme costituiscono uno degli ordini naturali dell'esistenza. Ma finché ci sarà tribalismo e chiusura mentale sarà difficile oltrepassare i confini di questi stati."
DA LEGGERE, ASSOLUTAMENTE
.
John ha insegnato tanto a me lettrice, alla moglie Marilyn, ai figli Imogen, Tom, Lizzie, Gabriel e Josh nati in diversi momenti della sua "trasformazione". Professore di un'energia eccezionale che si ritrova cieco a 40 anni... prima la nebbia e poi anche quella sbiadita luce scompare per lasciar posto ad una cecità profonda, buia. Uomo che mai ha smesso di voler comprendere quel nuovo oscuro mondo. John snocciola attraverso osservazioni immediate, chiare, concrete la sua vita esteriore e interiore, mette in relazione veglia e sogno (rappresentativo delle paure), ci mostra le difficoltà relazionali tra vedenti e non-vedenti e nel concreto ci spiega cosa occorre o crea disagio a un non-vedente nella quotidianità (scale, neve, bastone bianco, bar, incroci stradali ecc).
Aspetto importante di questa lettura è ciò che la cecità insegna: l'acuirsi delle percezioni uditive e tattili che prendono il sopravvento e permettono a John di "vedere" in un modo eccezionale: vedere-con-tutto-il-corpo.
Da qui ci mostra con i suoi sensi il mondo: la pioggia che cade lo definisce, lo scolpisce.
Magia. Poesia. La vera esistenza, si potrebbe dire, quella profonda.
Tanti i temi importanti trattati:
Rapporti familiari, i dubbi sulla propria utilità genitoriale, le aspettative relazionali e le loro diverse forme, il valore della voce e della comunicazione verbale, l'identità, il fenomeno dell'"ecolocalizzazione", la reciprocità umana, il sesso e l'amore, lo stato prenatale in cui si precipita, la forza di volontà necessaria per rinascere e tornare a maneggiare il mondo, il rapporto col tempo, l'emarginazione sociale ed anche i momenti di sconforto quando ci si accorge che i ricordi iniziano a sbiadire e non esiste più alcuna macchina fotografica in grado di riportarli in vita.
"I ciechi sono STATI come il giovane, il vecchio, il maschio e la femmina e insieme costituiscono uno degli ordini naturali dell'esistenza. Ma finché ci sarà tribalismo e chiusura mentale sarà difficile oltrepassare i confini di questi stati."
DA LEGGERE, ASSOLUTAMENTE
July 1, 2015
This came highly recommended from a trusted source, but I found it did not hold my attention. I forced myself to finish, hoping for some illumination which didn't happen. Towards the end, I skipped any retelling of dreams as I find this the most tedious element to read. Nothing is more boring than another person's dream and the analysis of dreams is highly suspect.
February 26, 2021
Boy, this was a fascinating look at blindness--the experience of blindness, the strangeness and alienation of blindness, the faith life of the blind.
Seriously, have you ever thought about the difference between hearing and sight? Hearing is passive; sight is active. Sight can be turned off; hearing can't. Sight is the way we experience the world; hearing is secondary. Anywho. That was only one of the fascinating things I was led to think about while reading. My horizons have been broadened. :)
I would give this four stars, but there were some seriously questionable theological statements in the last quarter, and for that I'm going to knock it down to 3.5. (Which does round up to four for Goodreads...so have I made a meaningful statement here? Maybe not. But I feel better.)
Seriously, have you ever thought about the difference between hearing and sight? Hearing is passive; sight is active. Sight can be turned off; hearing can't. Sight is the way we experience the world; hearing is secondary. Anywho. That was only one of the fascinating things I was led to think about while reading. My horizons have been broadened. :)
I would give this four stars, but there were some seriously questionable theological statements in the last quarter, and for that I'm going to knock it down to 3.5. (Which does round up to four for Goodreads...so have I made a meaningful statement here? Maybe not. But I feel better.)
April 24, 2022
As a person born visually impaired, I would say that the author does wax a bit too melodramatic about blindness, but he also presents some interesting observations about what it is like to go from vision to blindness.
Still, oh, how I wish that he would have had more exposure to other well-adjusted blind people earlier on in his journey. The internalized ableism he expresses is astounding! Indeed, for this and other reasons that follow, I doubt that I would recommend this book to any sighted person or even to anyone newly blind. Also, this strange obsession with dreams and tendency to over-analysis…
The author places far too much emphasis on the differences between blind and sighted people. I know there are some differences, but far fewer than his over-analysis would lead him or you to believe. Further, our similarities with sighted people are far greater than our differences.
It is very disheartening the way he submits so readily to the passivity that most non-disabled people expect of blind and other disabled people and how he accepts it as, well, acceptable when a non-disabled person acts in microaggressive ways against his dignity as a human being. In my opinion, he should have learned to stand up for himself a long time ago. He continually apologizes for the ableist behavior of sighted people.
Also, it is interesting that one of his children had to ask how he knew something or other without sight. Is sight-centricism engrained at such an early age or was something else at play? 🤔
At one point, the author seems to have gone through quite the transformation! He has begun to accept far more his blindness and the experiences therein! I’m also glad he, by this point, had exposure to other blind people, but he quickly sinks back into all the internalized ableism again…
Still, oh, how I wish that he would have had more exposure to other well-adjusted blind people earlier on in his journey. The internalized ableism he expresses is astounding! Indeed, for this and other reasons that follow, I doubt that I would recommend this book to any sighted person or even to anyone newly blind. Also, this strange obsession with dreams and tendency to over-analysis…
The author places far too much emphasis on the differences between blind and sighted people. I know there are some differences, but far fewer than his over-analysis would lead him or you to believe. Further, our similarities with sighted people are far greater than our differences.
It is very disheartening the way he submits so readily to the passivity that most non-disabled people expect of blind and other disabled people and how he accepts it as, well, acceptable when a non-disabled person acts in microaggressive ways against his dignity as a human being. In my opinion, he should have learned to stand up for himself a long time ago. He continually apologizes for the ableist behavior of sighted people.
Also, it is interesting that one of his children had to ask how he knew something or other without sight. Is sight-centricism engrained at such an early age or was something else at play? 🤔
At one point, the author seems to have gone through quite the transformation! He has begun to accept far more his blindness and the experiences therein! I’m also glad he, by this point, had exposure to other blind people, but he quickly sinks back into all the internalized ableism again…
March 12, 2012
This is a beautiful little book about this man's early experience of going blind and his encounters with himself, his family, and others along the way. Simple. Practical. Clear. Beautiful.
June 20, 2024
Recensione a cura della pagina instagram pagine_e_inchiostro:
Il dono oscuro è un saggio sul tema della cecità e un viaggio intimo nella mente di un uomo che ne é affetto. L’autore, John Hull, ha difatti perso completamente la vista a quarant’anni, in seguito ad una lesione della retina.
La sua é una precisa e asciutta testimonianza, tra trascrizioni di sogni interpretabili e problemi tangibili e quotidiani.
Hull non si limita a parlare della cecità fisica, ma si spinge a farci percepire la sensazione di incoscienza in cui possono scivolare le persone che non possono più vedere, riflettendo su quello che può essere a tutti gli effetti un Dono oscuro.
Il libro diventa così un affascinante resoconto di come funzioni non solo l’occhio esterno, ma anche quello interno, capace di introspezione e di un vero sentire.
Hull trasforma l’opera in una catarsi, tentando di accettare il suo nuovo stato, grazie ad un percorso di accoglimento del sé.
Il lettore non vi troverà nessun pietismo, nessuna autocommiserazione, se non un dettagliato sunto di un tema poco battuto, che riguarda non solo i non vedenti, ma anche una società basata sulla vista.
Un libro che riesce a toccare corde molto profonde, scritto da un professore che non ha mai voluto smettere di indagare la mente umana e i suoi funzionamenti.
Il dono oscuro è un saggio sul tema della cecità e un viaggio intimo nella mente di un uomo che ne é affetto. L’autore, John Hull, ha difatti perso completamente la vista a quarant’anni, in seguito ad una lesione della retina.
La sua é una precisa e asciutta testimonianza, tra trascrizioni di sogni interpretabili e problemi tangibili e quotidiani.
Hull non si limita a parlare della cecità fisica, ma si spinge a farci percepire la sensazione di incoscienza in cui possono scivolare le persone che non possono più vedere, riflettendo su quello che può essere a tutti gli effetti un Dono oscuro.
Il libro diventa così un affascinante resoconto di come funzioni non solo l’occhio esterno, ma anche quello interno, capace di introspezione e di un vero sentire.
Hull trasforma l’opera in una catarsi, tentando di accettare il suo nuovo stato, grazie ad un percorso di accoglimento del sé.
Il lettore non vi troverà nessun pietismo, nessuna autocommiserazione, se non un dettagliato sunto di un tema poco battuto, che riguarda non solo i non vedenti, ma anche una società basata sulla vista.
Un libro che riesce a toccare corde molto profonde, scritto da un professore che non ha mai voluto smettere di indagare la mente umana e i suoi funzionamenti.
March 19, 2025
Una testimonianza (diario/saggio/autobiografia) reale e preziosissima, ricca di spunti di riflessione, di una persona di mezza età divenuta cieca. Una lunga descrizione senza nè inizio nè fine che ripercorrere tanti momenti, eventi, pensieri e domande che l'autore si è posto durante il corso della sua vita da quando è divenuto cieco.
L'unico dettaglio che mi ha fatta storcere il naso riguarda le continue digressioni religiose che esulano dal tema principale. Ovviamente capisco che il cristianesimo sia una parte importante della vita personale dell'autore, ma non sempre ho trovato utile o sensata l'aggiunta di alcuni paragrafi.
L'aggiunta in questa edizione dell'Epilogo scritto dalla moglie credo sia stata la ciliegina sulla torta. Poter rianalizzare il tutto attraverso il vissuto e il percepito di chi ha condiviso tutta questa esperienza con John M. Hull ha permesso di "chiudere il cerchio" rendendo questa testimonianze davvero completa.
L'unico dettaglio che mi ha fatta storcere il naso riguarda le continue digressioni religiose che esulano dal tema principale. Ovviamente capisco che il cristianesimo sia una parte importante della vita personale dell'autore, ma non sempre ho trovato utile o sensata l'aggiunta di alcuni paragrafi.
L'aggiunta in questa edizione dell'Epilogo scritto dalla moglie credo sia stata la ciliegina sulla torta. Poter rianalizzare il tutto attraverso il vissuto e il percepito di chi ha condiviso tutta questa esperienza con John M. Hull ha permesso di "chiudere il cerchio" rendendo questa testimonianze davvero completa.
May 20, 2025
An amazing book on blindness. John Hull lost the sight in his left eye in his 20s and eventually went completely blind. He began to record his thoughts of his days on a cassette recorder. This book is taken from those recordings. He is a professor of religious education in England. He tells of his struggles with and the joys he finds in his blindness.
His final thoughts in the book are:
“There are many worlds and many states, but God is a trans-world reality.
God is the God of every world, and the Lord of every state.
God is many and yet one, and in God there are many worlds yet one.
God does not abolish darkness; God is the Lord of both light and darkness.
If in God’s light we see light, then in God’s darkness we see darkness.
If a journey into light is a journey into God, then a journey into darkness is a journey into God.
That is why I go on journeying, not through, but into. “
His final thoughts in the book are:
“There are many worlds and many states, but God is a trans-world reality.
God is the God of every world, and the Lord of every state.
God is many and yet one, and in God there are many worlds yet one.
God does not abolish darkness; God is the Lord of both light and darkness.
If in God’s light we see light, then in God’s darkness we see darkness.
If a journey into light is a journey into God, then a journey into darkness is a journey into God.
That is why I go on journeying, not through, but into. “
August 9, 2021
Pensées, émotions et détresses intimes d'un être devenu "aveugle" mais qui pourtant voit, et ce si magnifiquement...
December 30, 2025
Reading this through my ophthalmology rotation was a very good choice. To my knowledge, there aren’t many accounts of blindness out there, especially one narrated through a spiritual lens.
Read like journal entries of one experiencing the active journey of blindness, with a life that concurrently does not wait for adjustments, I find John Hull’s writings scattered but specific; a capturing of fleeting reactions to different blind experiences yet a loosely held framework of the whole journey. I’ll be chewing much on these reflections for some time.
It is my firm belief that to give an account of something, one must do so at its edges. The center holds many blind spots, and various vantage points must be taken. In working through the theological intersections of beauty, healing, suffering, aesthetics, and gaze, it was particularly nourishing to me to include accounts of blindness at this time.
---
“I am not expected to solve the problem of blindness. If I can take one step, it is Yours.”
"I opened the front door, and rain was falling. I stood for a few minutes, lost in the beauty of it. Rain has a way of bringing out the contours of everything; it throws a coloured blanket over previously invisible things; instead of an intermittent and thus fragmented world, the steadily falling rain creates continuity of acoustic experience. I hear the rain pattering on the roof above me, dripping down the walls, splashing...If only rain could fall inside a room, it would help me to understand where things are in that room, to give a sense of being in the room, instead of just sitting on a chair. This is an experience of great beauty. I feel as if the world, which is veiled until I touch it, has suddenly disclosed itself to me. I feel that the rain is gracious, that it has granted a gift to me, to gift of the world. I am no longer isolated...Instead of having to worry about where my body will be and what it will meet, I am presented with a totality, a world which speaks to me. Have I grasped why it is so beautiful? When what there is to know is in itself varied, intricate and harmonious, then the knowledge of that reality shares the same characteristics. I am filled internally with a sense of variety, intricacy and harmony. The knowledge itself is beautiful, because the knowledge creates in me a mirror of what there is to know. As I listen to the rain, I am the image of the rain, and I am one with it."
“We should remember the so-called ‘illusion of privacy’, a feature of the behavior of many blind adults. It refers to the difficulty of remembering all the time, when you are blind, that you can be seen. It is so hard always to bear in mind the astonishing range of this faculty which other people are said to have. The blind person has to remind himself all the time…that he is visible. This is not the case when hearing is lost…One of the reasons for this, I think, is that the organ of hearing and that of speech are located separately on the head or the face. The organ by means of which one hears (the ears) and the organs by means of which one makes oneself heard (the larynx and the mouth) are not identical. The organ with which one sees and the organ with which one is seen are, however, identical. Sight is reciprocal but hearing is sequential. The eye is thus related both actively and passively to other eyes, which is not the case with the ear. Touch is reciprocal under normal conditions. If I can feel you, you can normally feel me feeling you…The difference between touch and sight is that the reciprocity of sight can be turned off so easily.”
“The archetype of blindness represents the power to obliterate the distinction between that which is known and that which is not known, that which is here and that which is not here, the inside and the outside, the specific and the general. It represents dissolution, the borderland between being and not-being…One of the most beautiful biblical passages which expresses the power of the archetype of light is found in Numbers 6:24-26, the Aaronic Blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace.” This passage expresses the clarity, the radiance and the sense of identity which is conferred by being in the presence of the lighted face of God.
“These little attempts at clairvoyance having been somewhat inconclusive, our visitor began another explanation about my lack of sight. He told me that I had ceased to read the Bible…Mr. Cresswell pointed out that maybe it was not me but my parents or grandparents because God visits their sins unto the third and fourth generation. Mr. Cresswell took a vigorously punitive view of illness and disability.”
“Time, against which you previously fought, becomes simply the stream of consciousness within which you act. For the deaf-blind person, space is confined to his body, but he has lots of time. Modern technology seeks to expand human space and compress human time. The disabled person, on the other hand, finds that space is contracted and time is expanded. It is because of the space-time co-ordinates within which the blind person lives that his life becomes gradually different from the lives of sighted people, particularly in a time of high technology.”
“I felt unable to ignore these calls, and was turning from left to right, thanking this man and that man, saying hello and goodbye, assuring them that I was all right, in the midst of which it was quite impossible to concentrate and I was in real danger of walking into a trolley. When I got back to my own little room, I found that my hands were moist with perspiration, my heart was beating with excitement, and I felt completely exhausted. I was overcome with the effort and with the embarrassment…It is these offers of help which really disable me.”
“It did not affect me like this before I lost my sight. It is quite different now. The sense of recoil, of numbness is greater, and there is this strange feeling that one is becoming more and more unreal. Can it be that I have become a sort of nocturnal animal? …Am I becoming a creature of the night? Am I not close to dreams? Does not blindness give me an affinity with darkness?”
“It seems then that there is no exact visual parallel to the distinction between sound and silence. Sounds come and go in a way that sights do not. Sounds have a gratuitous quality. One never possesses the sound, one never has it within one’s power the way that one possesses the sight. The evil eye has power over the world, but nobody ever heard of an evil ear. The ability close the eyes represents the power one has over things that are seen, the power to exclude. Hearing, however, is always receptive, whether to sound or to silence. You can look away, but you cannot listen away. You cannot turn the ear aside the way you can look aside. You can pretend that you don’t hear, just as you can pretend that you don’t see, but the ears cannot be averted…This must be why it was always considered impious to look upon God but permissible to hear him. Sound is transcendent.”
“Is blindness to sight as silence is to sound? This is clearly incorrect. Blindness is to sight as deafness is to sound. Blindness is an internal state. One knows that the external world is still there to be seen. One has merely lost the faculty of seeing it. In the case of silence, however, the external world, the world of sound, is not there any longer. It has gone into silence. In the case of silence one is still listening, but in the case of blindness, one can hardly be said to be still looking…In total darkness, sight is useless. But in total silence, we would not say that the faculty of hearing was useless. It is just that there is nothing at the moment of hear.”
“One or two wisps of panic began to flicker through my brain, and when we arrived home, I felt completely exhausted. I did not feel sleepy but had a desire to lie down under a blanket. I wanted to be warm and to forget…My body felt relaxed. Had it been a sort of desire to die? Do people die in their sleep during such conditions? Can the psyche simply renounce life? Can the spirit simply not return? Can one commit suicide by mere desire? Experiences like this have taught me that the deepest feelings go beyond feeling. One is numbed by the feeling; one does not experience the feeling. I recognize now, looking back, that I was in the grip of a profound melancholy due to the impoverishment of my rich relationship with a much-loved child, but at the time all I was conscious of was a desire to escape.”
“Have I come close to understanding blindness? There is still much I do not know, but the conviction has deepened in me that blindness is a paradoxical world because it is both independent and dependent. It is independent in the sense that it is an authentic and autonomous world, a place of its own. Increasingly, I do not think of myself so much as a blind person, which would define me with reference to sighted people and as lacking something, but simply as a whole-body-seer. A blind person is simply someone in whom the specialist function of sight is now devolved upon the whole body, and no longer specialized in a particularly organ…Blindness is also dependent. Somewhere along the line, at the end of the road, there is someone with eyes. Like it or not, the blind are weak. Blindness is a little world, authentic and integrated of itself, and yet surrounded by and help within a greater world, the world of the sighted. How should the little understand the big, without jealousy, and how shall the big understand the little without pity?”
“There are many worlds and many states, but God is a trans-world reality. God is the God of every world, and the Lord of every state. God is many and yet one, and in God there are many worlds yet one. God does not abolish darkness; God is the Lord of both light and darkness. If in God’s light we see light, then in God’s darkness we see darkness. If a journey into light is a journey into God, then a journey into darkness is a journey into God. This is why I go on journeying, not through, but into.”
Read like journal entries of one experiencing the active journey of blindness, with a life that concurrently does not wait for adjustments, I find John Hull’s writings scattered but specific; a capturing of fleeting reactions to different blind experiences yet a loosely held framework of the whole journey. I’ll be chewing much on these reflections for some time.
It is my firm belief that to give an account of something, one must do so at its edges. The center holds many blind spots, and various vantage points must be taken. In working through the theological intersections of beauty, healing, suffering, aesthetics, and gaze, it was particularly nourishing to me to include accounts of blindness at this time.
---
“I am not expected to solve the problem of blindness. If I can take one step, it is Yours.”
"I opened the front door, and rain was falling. I stood for a few minutes, lost in the beauty of it. Rain has a way of bringing out the contours of everything; it throws a coloured blanket over previously invisible things; instead of an intermittent and thus fragmented world, the steadily falling rain creates continuity of acoustic experience. I hear the rain pattering on the roof above me, dripping down the walls, splashing...If only rain could fall inside a room, it would help me to understand where things are in that room, to give a sense of being in the room, instead of just sitting on a chair. This is an experience of great beauty. I feel as if the world, which is veiled until I touch it, has suddenly disclosed itself to me. I feel that the rain is gracious, that it has granted a gift to me, to gift of the world. I am no longer isolated...Instead of having to worry about where my body will be and what it will meet, I am presented with a totality, a world which speaks to me. Have I grasped why it is so beautiful? When what there is to know is in itself varied, intricate and harmonious, then the knowledge of that reality shares the same characteristics. I am filled internally with a sense of variety, intricacy and harmony. The knowledge itself is beautiful, because the knowledge creates in me a mirror of what there is to know. As I listen to the rain, I am the image of the rain, and I am one with it."
“We should remember the so-called ‘illusion of privacy’, a feature of the behavior of many blind adults. It refers to the difficulty of remembering all the time, when you are blind, that you can be seen. It is so hard always to bear in mind the astonishing range of this faculty which other people are said to have. The blind person has to remind himself all the time…that he is visible. This is not the case when hearing is lost…One of the reasons for this, I think, is that the organ of hearing and that of speech are located separately on the head or the face. The organ by means of which one hears (the ears) and the organs by means of which one makes oneself heard (the larynx and the mouth) are not identical. The organ with which one sees and the organ with which one is seen are, however, identical. Sight is reciprocal but hearing is sequential. The eye is thus related both actively and passively to other eyes, which is not the case with the ear. Touch is reciprocal under normal conditions. If I can feel you, you can normally feel me feeling you…The difference between touch and sight is that the reciprocity of sight can be turned off so easily.”
“The archetype of blindness represents the power to obliterate the distinction between that which is known and that which is not known, that which is here and that which is not here, the inside and the outside, the specific and the general. It represents dissolution, the borderland between being and not-being…One of the most beautiful biblical passages which expresses the power of the archetype of light is found in Numbers 6:24-26, the Aaronic Blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace.” This passage expresses the clarity, the radiance and the sense of identity which is conferred by being in the presence of the lighted face of God.
“These little attempts at clairvoyance having been somewhat inconclusive, our visitor began another explanation about my lack of sight. He told me that I had ceased to read the Bible…Mr. Cresswell pointed out that maybe it was not me but my parents or grandparents because God visits their sins unto the third and fourth generation. Mr. Cresswell took a vigorously punitive view of illness and disability.”
“Time, against which you previously fought, becomes simply the stream of consciousness within which you act. For the deaf-blind person, space is confined to his body, but he has lots of time. Modern technology seeks to expand human space and compress human time. The disabled person, on the other hand, finds that space is contracted and time is expanded. It is because of the space-time co-ordinates within which the blind person lives that his life becomes gradually different from the lives of sighted people, particularly in a time of high technology.”
“I felt unable to ignore these calls, and was turning from left to right, thanking this man and that man, saying hello and goodbye, assuring them that I was all right, in the midst of which it was quite impossible to concentrate and I was in real danger of walking into a trolley. When I got back to my own little room, I found that my hands were moist with perspiration, my heart was beating with excitement, and I felt completely exhausted. I was overcome with the effort and with the embarrassment…It is these offers of help which really disable me.”
“It did not affect me like this before I lost my sight. It is quite different now. The sense of recoil, of numbness is greater, and there is this strange feeling that one is becoming more and more unreal. Can it be that I have become a sort of nocturnal animal? …Am I becoming a creature of the night? Am I not close to dreams? Does not blindness give me an affinity with darkness?”
“It seems then that there is no exact visual parallel to the distinction between sound and silence. Sounds come and go in a way that sights do not. Sounds have a gratuitous quality. One never possesses the sound, one never has it within one’s power the way that one possesses the sight. The evil eye has power over the world, but nobody ever heard of an evil ear. The ability close the eyes represents the power one has over things that are seen, the power to exclude. Hearing, however, is always receptive, whether to sound or to silence. You can look away, but you cannot listen away. You cannot turn the ear aside the way you can look aside. You can pretend that you don’t hear, just as you can pretend that you don’t see, but the ears cannot be averted…This must be why it was always considered impious to look upon God but permissible to hear him. Sound is transcendent.”
“Is blindness to sight as silence is to sound? This is clearly incorrect. Blindness is to sight as deafness is to sound. Blindness is an internal state. One knows that the external world is still there to be seen. One has merely lost the faculty of seeing it. In the case of silence, however, the external world, the world of sound, is not there any longer. It has gone into silence. In the case of silence one is still listening, but in the case of blindness, one can hardly be said to be still looking…In total darkness, sight is useless. But in total silence, we would not say that the faculty of hearing was useless. It is just that there is nothing at the moment of hear.”
“One or two wisps of panic began to flicker through my brain, and when we arrived home, I felt completely exhausted. I did not feel sleepy but had a desire to lie down under a blanket. I wanted to be warm and to forget…My body felt relaxed. Had it been a sort of desire to die? Do people die in their sleep during such conditions? Can the psyche simply renounce life? Can the spirit simply not return? Can one commit suicide by mere desire? Experiences like this have taught me that the deepest feelings go beyond feeling. One is numbed by the feeling; one does not experience the feeling. I recognize now, looking back, that I was in the grip of a profound melancholy due to the impoverishment of my rich relationship with a much-loved child, but at the time all I was conscious of was a desire to escape.”
“Have I come close to understanding blindness? There is still much I do not know, but the conviction has deepened in me that blindness is a paradoxical world because it is both independent and dependent. It is independent in the sense that it is an authentic and autonomous world, a place of its own. Increasingly, I do not think of myself so much as a blind person, which would define me with reference to sighted people and as lacking something, but simply as a whole-body-seer. A blind person is simply someone in whom the specialist function of sight is now devolved upon the whole body, and no longer specialized in a particularly organ…Blindness is also dependent. Somewhere along the line, at the end of the road, there is someone with eyes. Like it or not, the blind are weak. Blindness is a little world, authentic and integrated of itself, and yet surrounded by and help within a greater world, the world of the sighted. How should the little understand the big, without jealousy, and how shall the big understand the little without pity?”
“There are many worlds and many states, but God is a trans-world reality. God is the God of every world, and the Lord of every state. God is many and yet one, and in God there are many worlds yet one. God does not abolish darkness; God is the Lord of both light and darkness. If in God’s light we see light, then in God’s darkness we see darkness. If a journey into light is a journey into God, then a journey into darkness is a journey into God. This is why I go on journeying, not through, but into.”
January 6, 2013
I was intrigued by the author's descriptions of what it is like for him to experience blindness after forty-five years of at least some degree of sight. He maintains that he was able to survive by clinging to his religious faith, which is not very helpful to me as I try to find a reason to continue living should I lose my own sight, but I did not find his religious references to be off-putting. I simply concentrated on his experience of blindness and how his blindness affects his relationships to other people and the world in general. His observation that social mobility is more of a problem than physical mobility for him has given me much to think about, as prior to reading this I have focused on the physical aspects of blindness, the problems of mobility and grooming in particular, as being a fate worse than death to me.
One particular passage affected me so deeply that I wrote it down in order to be able to re-read it whenever I like. (I do not own a copy of the book). Here is the passage:
"Blindness is like a huge vacuum cleaner which comes down upon your life, sucking almost everything away. Your past memories, your interests, your perception of time and how you will spend it, place itself, even the world, everything is sucked out. Your consciousness is evacuated, and you are left to reconstruct it, including a new sense of time, a new realization of the body in space and so on. In that situation, there is likely to be a drastic revision of priorities...I still think there is something purging about blindness. One must re-create one's life or be destroyed."
His account of how he re-created his life makes me reconsider allowing myself to be destroyed should I become blind. For the last twenty-three years I have vision in one eye only, which makes me much more aware of how much sighted people take their vision for granted. I am grateful for the vision that I have, and always worry that I will lose it. This man, John M. Hull, had vision in only one eye for many years and gradually lost that. He lived through what I fear may happen to me, and has done his best to explain what his life has been like since he got through the first few years of total blindness. I would love to read what those years were like for him as well, but am not sure if he has written or spoke of them in any detail. I can only imagine how awful that must have been for him. But he did survive and adapt, and continues to do so. I find that inspirational.
One particular passage affected me so deeply that I wrote it down in order to be able to re-read it whenever I like. (I do not own a copy of the book). Here is the passage:
"Blindness is like a huge vacuum cleaner which comes down upon your life, sucking almost everything away. Your past memories, your interests, your perception of time and how you will spend it, place itself, even the world, everything is sucked out. Your consciousness is evacuated, and you are left to reconstruct it, including a new sense of time, a new realization of the body in space and so on. In that situation, there is likely to be a drastic revision of priorities...I still think there is something purging about blindness. One must re-create one's life or be destroyed."
His account of how he re-created his life makes me reconsider allowing myself to be destroyed should I become blind. For the last twenty-three years I have vision in one eye only, which makes me much more aware of how much sighted people take their vision for granted. I am grateful for the vision that I have, and always worry that I will lose it. This man, John M. Hull, had vision in only one eye for many years and gradually lost that. He lived through what I fear may happen to me, and has done his best to explain what his life has been like since he got through the first few years of total blindness. I would love to read what those years were like for him as well, but am not sure if he has written or spoke of them in any detail. I can only imagine how awful that must have been for him. But he did survive and adapt, and continues to do so. I find that inspirational.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2016
The word memoir doesn't quite capture the spirit of this book. Yes, the memoir genre basically fits, as Hull is describing his very specific and very arresting experiences of going blind. Yet, memoir doesn't convey the utterly philosophical nature of Hull's writing. Despite its journal-based structure, I'd have to call this a meditation instead of something as prosaic as memoir.
In Touching the Rock Hull ruminates on the philosophical and psychological consequences of total blindness. He describes in an accessible and educated way, the strange duality of being blind: it both alienates you from the sighted persons around you and brings you closer to them whenever you might need a hand. He shows, in unsparing terms, how deeply sighted people misunderstand blindness. As someone who is also going through the process of a slow slide into blindness, this book both depresses and uplifts me. Even though this book was written more than 20 years ago, surprisingly little has changed.
As good of a description of blindness as Hull gives, I just can't give it 5 stars. He gets bogged down at times with his philosophical meandering (and dream interpretations), which made his writing too self-conscious and overly intellectual. This detracted and drew away from the more practical aspects of blindness, which Hull spent very little time on.
Good book to read if you want a more philosophical meditation on blindness. Bad book to read if you want to derive much practical insights into a blind person's life.
In Touching the Rock Hull ruminates on the philosophical and psychological consequences of total blindness. He describes in an accessible and educated way, the strange duality of being blind: it both alienates you from the sighted persons around you and brings you closer to them whenever you might need a hand. He shows, in unsparing terms, how deeply sighted people misunderstand blindness. As someone who is also going through the process of a slow slide into blindness, this book both depresses and uplifts me. Even though this book was written more than 20 years ago, surprisingly little has changed.
As good of a description of blindness as Hull gives, I just can't give it 5 stars. He gets bogged down at times with his philosophical meandering (and dream interpretations), which made his writing too self-conscious and overly intellectual. This detracted and drew away from the more practical aspects of blindness, which Hull spent very little time on.
Good book to read if you want a more philosophical meditation on blindness. Bad book to read if you want to derive much practical insights into a blind person's life.
January 7, 2021
Ci ho messo un pò a leggere questo libro, perchè nonostante lo abbia trovato interessante non ho particolarmente amato lo stile.
Il libro non è un vero e proprio libro, bensì un diario tenuto da Mr. Hull da quando è divenuto cieco totale. Nelle pagine cerca di far capire al lettore le difficoltà di un ex-vedente ad accettare la sua nuova condizione e nel reimparare la quotidianità, illustra inoltre le differenze sostanziali tra il mondo dei vedenti e quello dei ciechi.
Ho trovato istruttive tutte quelle note che parlavano con molta ironia degli errori più comuni commessi dai vedenti nei confronti dei ciechi e ne farò sicuramente tesoro.
Alcuni degli episodi raccontati sono davvero esilaranti o teneri, in particolare il suo affrontare la paternità in un modo completamente nuovo, reinventando i giochi e la routine.
Ho letto con molta più difficoltà invece i numerosi sogni descritti.
Non ho affatto apprezzato la scelta nell'edizione italiana di mettere l'introduzione all'edizione originale in fondo al libro, a mio avviso è un sunto fondamentale della vita dell'autore che in parte ti fa capire un pò di più di lui, se l'avessi letta all'inizio del testo sicuramente alcune parti le avrei interpretate diversamente, pertanto suggerisco a chi vorrà leggere questo libro di iniziare dall'introduzione che si trova alla fine del volume.
Il libro non è un vero e proprio libro, bensì un diario tenuto da Mr. Hull da quando è divenuto cieco totale. Nelle pagine cerca di far capire al lettore le difficoltà di un ex-vedente ad accettare la sua nuova condizione e nel reimparare la quotidianità, illustra inoltre le differenze sostanziali tra il mondo dei vedenti e quello dei ciechi.
Ho trovato istruttive tutte quelle note che parlavano con molta ironia degli errori più comuni commessi dai vedenti nei confronti dei ciechi e ne farò sicuramente tesoro.
Alcuni degli episodi raccontati sono davvero esilaranti o teneri, in particolare il suo affrontare la paternità in un modo completamente nuovo, reinventando i giochi e la routine.
Ho letto con molta più difficoltà invece i numerosi sogni descritti.
Non ho affatto apprezzato la scelta nell'edizione italiana di mettere l'introduzione all'edizione originale in fondo al libro, a mio avviso è un sunto fondamentale della vita dell'autore che in parte ti fa capire un pò di più di lui, se l'avessi letta all'inizio del testo sicuramente alcune parti le avrei interpretate diversamente, pertanto suggerisco a chi vorrà leggere questo libro di iniziare dall'introduzione che si trova alla fine del volume.
October 16, 2016
There is one section, on Rain, which is brilliant. However the construction of the book is seriously flawed. The sections are taken from recordings which John Hull made in the years following his complete loss of sight. They are collated in date order, but the sense of a journey, although referred to metaphorically, is not clear. There is some repetition, which does not matter, and is even, to some extent, used effectively, but generally there is not a clear construction of themes. It appears that he just put together the pieces without working on them to create a coherent whole. Moreover the voice is uncertain. To some extent this uncertainty reflects his feelings at the time and it's not that I want writing to fall into a set genre, but the style changes, from sermon to diary to self help manual, seem problematic to me. There is also a pompous, pedantic over explained feel which made me long to skip. Some of the dream pieces and more poetic pieces would have been good without the over explication.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews