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The Way of Imagination
Prize-winning essayist turns to the imagination as a spiritual guide and material method of living through climate disruption, as climate change and broad extinction forever alter our place on the planet and our lives together.
Scott Russell Sanders shows how imagination, linked to compassion, can help us solve the urgent ecological and social challenges we face. While reflecting on the conditions needed for human flourishing, he tells the story of his own intellectual and moral journey from childhood religion to an adult philosophy of life. That philosophy is tested when his first wife and then their son fall ill. Compelled to leave their beloved old house, they design a new one and then transform their vision into a home and their raw city lot into a garden.
Scott Russell Sanders shows how imagination, linked to compassion, can help us solve the urgent ecological and social challenges we face. While reflecting on the conditions needed for human flourishing, he tells the story of his own intellectual and moral journey from childhood religion to an adult philosophy of life. That philosophy is tested when his first wife and then their son fall ill. Compelled to leave their beloved old house, they design a new one and then transform their vision into a home and their raw city lot into a garden.
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First published August 11, 2020
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About the author
Scott Russell Sanders
72 books128 followersScott Russell Sanders is the award-winning author of A Private History of Awe, Hunting for Hope, A Conservationist Manifesto, Dancing in Dreamtime, and two dozen other books of fiction, personal narrative, and essays. His father came from a family of cotton farmers in Mississippi, his mother from an immigrant doctor’s family in Chicago. He spent his early childhood in Tennessee and his school years in Ohio, Rhode Island, and Cambridge, England.
In his writing he is concerned with our place in nature, the practice of community, and the search for a spiritual path. He and his wife, Ruth, a biochemist, have reared two children in their hometown of Bloomington, in the hardwood hill country of southern Indiana. You can visit Scott at www.scottrussellsanders.com.
In August 2020, Counterpoint Press will publish his new collection of essays, The Way of Imagination, a reflection on healing and renewal in a time of climate disruption. He is currently at work on a collection of short stories inspired by photographs.
In his writing he is concerned with our place in nature, the practice of community, and the search for a spiritual path. He and his wife, Ruth, a biochemist, have reared two children in their hometown of Bloomington, in the hardwood hill country of southern Indiana. You can visit Scott at www.scottrussellsanders.com.
In August 2020, Counterpoint Press will publish his new collection of essays, The Way of Imagination, a reflection on healing and renewal in a time of climate disruption. He is currently at work on a collection of short stories inspired by photographs.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 7, 2020
In reading this book, I was struck by the fact that there are very real reasons why it is that leftists go wrong the way that they do. This author fancies himself to be an environmental protector, and to have grown beyond the moral advice of the Bible, but he still feels it necessary in the absence of a firmly grounded biblical faith to be a moral voice to others, and so he adopts the moronic dribbles of the leftist social gospel in order to serve his role as being a prophet of an unbiblical faith in the worthiness of one world government and environmentalism and leftist causes of social "justice." The author's ignorance of human nature, which he waves away with an imagination that things can be made easier and that evil resides in social structures and not in the dark hearts of every single man, woman, and child who has ever lived, save One. There is a stark lack of reality here coming from two directions. One is the fears of the left about overpopulation that lead them to be cruel towards unborn life (and life that exists) while believing that they are loving towards life and projecting their own hostility to life to those who they charge for seeking the well-being of the unborn and not those who are alive, which is a damned lie that could only come from an author as clueless about reality as this one.
In terms of its contents, this book is almost 250 pages long and it consists of the author bloviating about various subjects near and dear to mind in mostly short essays. The author looks at the mysterious nature of creation, views his own opinions as being worthwhile insights for others, comments on the way of the imagination as a way of dealing with unpleasant realities that he would rather not have to face by simply imagining a world where the problems of this earth do not exist. Yet while the author acknowledges that the world is burning, after a fashion, the author seems to view the problems of the world as existing only within those who are on the other side, and the sight of evil tends to make the author think of eradicating evil people and that a good world will follow when the good guys are in charge, not recognizing that he is not one of the good guys--and that as far as humanity is concerned we are all fallen and in need of repentance. The author's poor grasp of the universality of sin and of the wickedness of the Progressive and environmental movements themselves, especially insofar as they support terrible economies and population control and general government tyranny, makes him unfit to think of solutions to the problems he thinks exist in the environment.
Besides the unreality of the author's fears about the moral health of those who are hostile to abortion and to the author's dream of population control as a way of staving off God's judgment of a wicked and wayward planet comes the author's blind optimism about the goodness of leftist hearts like his own. For the author to think that the Bible's moral laws have nothing to say to him, because they allow for the existence of evil systems like slavery, is for the author to demonstrate that he has not examined the state of his own evil heart enough to repent of his own darkness and evil. As a result, the author has a belief in the false messianic power of the state, or the one world state, in making the world as a better place and blind optimism in the goodness of himself and his fellow progressives, and fails to provide any worthwhile insight about the state of the world because his worldview is too defective for him to come to grasp with reality. As a result, this book is simply for the amen corner of people who already think like he does and are immune to godly insights at present anyway.
In terms of its contents, this book is almost 250 pages long and it consists of the author bloviating about various subjects near and dear to mind in mostly short essays. The author looks at the mysterious nature of creation, views his own opinions as being worthwhile insights for others, comments on the way of the imagination as a way of dealing with unpleasant realities that he would rather not have to face by simply imagining a world where the problems of this earth do not exist. Yet while the author acknowledges that the world is burning, after a fashion, the author seems to view the problems of the world as existing only within those who are on the other side, and the sight of evil tends to make the author think of eradicating evil people and that a good world will follow when the good guys are in charge, not recognizing that he is not one of the good guys--and that as far as humanity is concerned we are all fallen and in need of repentance. The author's poor grasp of the universality of sin and of the wickedness of the Progressive and environmental movements themselves, especially insofar as they support terrible economies and population control and general government tyranny, makes him unfit to think of solutions to the problems he thinks exist in the environment.
Besides the unreality of the author's fears about the moral health of those who are hostile to abortion and to the author's dream of population control as a way of staving off God's judgment of a wicked and wayward planet comes the author's blind optimism about the goodness of leftist hearts like his own. For the author to think that the Bible's moral laws have nothing to say to him, because they allow for the existence of evil systems like slavery, is for the author to demonstrate that he has not examined the state of his own evil heart enough to repent of his own darkness and evil. As a result, the author has a belief in the false messianic power of the state, or the one world state, in making the world as a better place and blind optimism in the goodness of himself and his fellow progressives, and fails to provide any worthwhile insight about the state of the world because his worldview is too defective for him to come to grasp with reality. As a result, this book is simply for the amen corner of people who already think like he does and are immune to godly insights at present anyway.
August 18, 2020
The wisdom, deep humanity, and searching and compassionate mind that has been at the center of Scott Russell Sanders's vision for many decades is on full display in The Way of Imagination. His engagement with the human and more-than-human world of nature demonstrates a life of long attention to place. His prose is clean and clear. His invitation to join in exploring our relationships with each other and all living things inspires me to try and live a more present life. His writing is a gift of the spirit, to be sure, and for Sanders the spirit is always entwined with the physical world.
November 9, 2023
Sanders gives us a series of humane and conscientious essays that press for the vital need of imagination to serve our collective ethical conduct the world over. While he does focus on the significance art can have in opening up and changing our minds, he extends his focus on the necessity of imaginative thinking to mobilize our efforts in saving our planet from manmade demise.
Sanders worries that modern obsession with accumulating wealth has caused us to perceive ourselves as “separate beings, lords of Creation, free of the constraints that affect every other species.” But he also confronts those who deny the science on climate change, yet they willingly trust the science of medicine that improves their lives and the science of innovative technology that enables them to amass unregulated wealth.
Moreover, he exposes the contradiction of those who proclaim love for God and Christianity, yet they simultaneously dismiss the humanity of helping others and disregard preserving the Earth’s grand design. He advocates instead for a purposeful life as one taking up the duty to be compassionate and generous towards humankind and the natural world.
Sanders addresses the problem of pro-life MAGAs who declare their righteousness in fighting to save a fetus, yet those same pro-lifers show disdain and contempt for unwanted children, for entire groups of people, especially those stricken by poverty and underprivilege, and for the welfare and preservation of natural environments and habitants.
Sanders sees humans as trapped in a struggle between the desire on one hand for instant gratification and nonstop materialism and the need on the other hand for compassionate restraint to protect our lives by caring for the natural world. He believes we can nurture our feelings of kinship by embracing how science proves our survival depends on the health of the Earth’s natural ecosystems.
Sanders believes one of the most perilous obstacles we face is our obsession with monetary gain and the excess of material luxuries. He is concerned by our misguided consciousness that deems any restraint on consumerism and the pursuit of wealth as foolish. He observes how too many capitalists dictate their lives upon the purpose of sacrificing everything in favor of amassing money, even at the cost of exploiting the planet.
Sanders challenges us to redirect our imagination to the common wealth of healing and saving our planet. He suggests we must embrace the foresight of minimizing the damage we are now causing in order to prevent the incalculable cost of what will be required to salvage what’s left of our ailing planet. He suggests we reverse seeing the world as only a source of what we can own, and instead seeing it as a place where everyone and everything has a right to life, most importantly future generations.
Sanders worries that modern obsession with accumulating wealth has caused us to perceive ourselves as “separate beings, lords of Creation, free of the constraints that affect every other species.” But he also confronts those who deny the science on climate change, yet they willingly trust the science of medicine that improves their lives and the science of innovative technology that enables them to amass unregulated wealth.
Moreover, he exposes the contradiction of those who proclaim love for God and Christianity, yet they simultaneously dismiss the humanity of helping others and disregard preserving the Earth’s grand design. He advocates instead for a purposeful life as one taking up the duty to be compassionate and generous towards humankind and the natural world.
Sanders addresses the problem of pro-life MAGAs who declare their righteousness in fighting to save a fetus, yet those same pro-lifers show disdain and contempt for unwanted children, for entire groups of people, especially those stricken by poverty and underprivilege, and for the welfare and preservation of natural environments and habitants.
Sanders sees humans as trapped in a struggle between the desire on one hand for instant gratification and nonstop materialism and the need on the other hand for compassionate restraint to protect our lives by caring for the natural world. He believes we can nurture our feelings of kinship by embracing how science proves our survival depends on the health of the Earth’s natural ecosystems.
Sanders believes one of the most perilous obstacles we face is our obsession with monetary gain and the excess of material luxuries. He is concerned by our misguided consciousness that deems any restraint on consumerism and the pursuit of wealth as foolish. He observes how too many capitalists dictate their lives upon the purpose of sacrificing everything in favor of amassing money, even at the cost of exploiting the planet.
Sanders challenges us to redirect our imagination to the common wealth of healing and saving our planet. He suggests we must embrace the foresight of minimizing the damage we are now causing in order to prevent the incalculable cost of what will be required to salvage what’s left of our ailing planet. He suggests we reverse seeing the world as only a source of what we can own, and instead seeing it as a place where everyone and everything has a right to life, most importantly future generations.
August 12, 2020
My book, The Way of Imagination, appears August 11 from Counterpoint Press. Here's a brief description:
Imagination breaks the shell of the status quo, summoning up objects that do not yet exist, actions that no one has yet performed, and wiser ways of living. It powers art, science, and all forms of human creativity. My new book seeks to show how imagination might guide us through the current social and environmental upheaval, as climate heating, epidemic diseases, divisive politics, and loss of biodiversity alter our place on the planet and our lives together.
The damage to the natural world caused by our swelling numbers and unbridled appetites has been abundantly documented in books, films, scientific reports, and the daily news. Likewise, we are constantly reminded of the violence and divisions within our society and around the world. Rather than pile on yet more daunting evidence, in this book I seek to understand how we stumbled onto this path toward social and ecological ruin, and how we might change direction. Clearly, we can change direction, because millions of individuals, organizations, and communities, across America and around the globe, have chosen a more promising path, embracing conservation, restoration, and peacemaking. Unless you have been scouting around for alternatives to the industrial growth economy, you may not be aware of these hopeful efforts, because the good news about solutions to our planetary crisis tends to be drowned out by the bad news about Earth’s unraveling. The path to healing begins from acts of imagination.
October 21, 2020
I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
I liked this book. When I first read the description, I thought, “this book sounds sad” and it made me question weather I wanted to read it or not honestly. But I found that it was like real life...sad, powerful, hopeful, and honest. It took me a long time to read, but only because I really took the time to think about what I was reading! It’s not a book that you can just breeze through and be done in a day, but every once in a while I need those kinds of books in my life. The Way of Imagination was a nice thought provoking break from my normal reads!
I liked this book. When I first read the description, I thought, “this book sounds sad” and it made me question weather I wanted to read it or not honestly. But I found that it was like real life...sad, powerful, hopeful, and honest. It took me a long time to read, but only because I really took the time to think about what I was reading! It’s not a book that you can just breeze through and be done in a day, but every once in a while I need those kinds of books in my life. The Way of Imagination was a nice thought provoking break from my normal reads!
September 15, 2020
Prize-winning essayist Scott Russell Sanders shows that acts of imagination are crucial to healing our divided society and damaged earth. Woven through his reflections on issues vital to human survival and flourishing, Sanders tells the story of his own intellectual and moral journey from childhood religion to an adult philosophy of life.
August 10, 2020
full disclosure: i received an arc through a goodreads giveaway.
i enjoy essay collections because it always feels like a peek into another person's life, the books they've read, the information they've consumed, the plays they've watched, and the places they've been. it's all the most interesting bits of all the best things they've absorbed, fact-checked for accuracy for the bibliography, and shared with you. and that's exactly what the way of imagination is: a condensed and abbreviated second life.
thematically, each essay mirrors the last but minutely, there's always something new to discover.
i enjoy essay collections because it always feels like a peek into another person's life, the books they've read, the information they've consumed, the plays they've watched, and the places they've been. it's all the most interesting bits of all the best things they've absorbed, fact-checked for accuracy for the bibliography, and shared with you. and that's exactly what the way of imagination is: a condensed and abbreviated second life.
thematically, each essay mirrors the last but minutely, there's always something new to discover.
October 4, 2020
An enjoyable collection on environmental issues that combines religious and scientific study, as well as the teachings of philosophers and writers such as David Thoreau.
January 9, 2021
I love the writing of Scott Russell Sanders and this book did not disappoint. Powerful, unstintingly honest, yet deeply compassionate and even hopeful.
A favorite quote:
"They (scientists) can provide statistics about the rapid decline in populations of amphibians, for example. But they cannot measure the joy of hearing the exuberant ringing calls of tiny frogs known as spring peepers, calls that announce the year's rebirth, nor can they measure the grief one feels over the diminishing and eventual silencing of that spring chorus. The scientists cannot measure the cost of sacrificing a forest for a parking lot, a swamp for a soybean field, a mountaintop for cheap electricity, a child's life for a toxic dump." pp 184-185
A favorite quote:
"They (scientists) can provide statistics about the rapid decline in populations of amphibians, for example. But they cannot measure the joy of hearing the exuberant ringing calls of tiny frogs known as spring peepers, calls that announce the year's rebirth, nor can they measure the grief one feels over the diminishing and eventual silencing of that spring chorus. The scientists cannot measure the cost of sacrificing a forest for a parking lot, a swamp for a soybean field, a mountaintop for cheap electricity, a child's life for a toxic dump." pp 184-185
September 13, 2023
a big ol’ mix of imagination, climate change, religion and art. Im vibing
December 27, 2021
To start: This book was very thought provoking! I found it was rather condemning towards monotheistic religions, and that it directed quite a bit of blame towards Christianity in particular for the world’s poor stewardship of natural resources... this argument was based on the western interpretation of the command to “have dominion over the land and subdue it” and how that drove the both the colonization and industrialization of American land. He did not miss an opportunity to let the reader know that he did not believe in Christianity, even though it came up in nearly every essay.
I’ll note just for shigglez that as a Christian, I interpret the to be a command in genesis to be advocating for stewardship, nurture, and communion with land rather than a reason to pillage it. I think distinguishing between the western Christian (American) culture and a biblical understanding would be important to note, rather than lumping it all together.
Anyways, It was a collection of essays discussing the way things are in our modern day society and was an encouragement to imagine a world beyond the status quo of dollar-driven environmental exploitation and abuse of our planet. He also discussed how art is inspired by nature and how we are corrupted by consumerism. It was all very interesting subject matter to think about weather your opinions aligned with his or not.
I’ll note just for shigglez that as a Christian, I interpret the to be a command in genesis to be advocating for stewardship, nurture, and communion with land rather than a reason to pillage it. I think distinguishing between the western Christian (American) culture and a biblical understanding would be important to note, rather than lumping it all together.
Anyways, It was a collection of essays discussing the way things are in our modern day society and was an encouragement to imagine a world beyond the status quo of dollar-driven environmental exploitation and abuse of our planet. He also discussed how art is inspired by nature and how we are corrupted by consumerism. It was all very interesting subject matter to think about weather your opinions aligned with his or not.
February 18, 2021
EARTH WORKS AND THE WAY OF IMAGINATION
TWO COLLECTIONS OF ESSAYS
BY
SCOTT RUSSELL SANDERS
I’ve been a fan of Scott Russell Sanders ever since I read his book Earth Works. Essay after essay in that earlier volume drove home to me what it meant to hold a certain place on earth dear, regarding with a rush of fondness the people, creatures and plant life that live and flourish there. Of all the pieces in Sanders’ Earth Works, I have often returned to one essay titled Wayland, the name of a crossroads somewhere in rural Ohio where the author “met seven of the great mysteries: Death, life, beasts, food, mind, sex and God.”
“Seven words,” Sanders tells his readers, “which are only tokens, worn coins that I shove onto the page, hoping to bribe you, coins that I finger as reminders of those awful encounters.” One such encounter in Wayland which Sanders tells us about occurred when he was a seven-year-old. It involved the Reverend Mister Kline, “a bulky man, sunken with age, his hair as white as the siding on the church parsonage, his voice like the cooing of pigeons in a barn.” For the young Sanders Reverend Kline’s voice “became that of the Bible itself, even of the voice of God. Then one day,” Sanders writes, “after the church service, I went home to my dinner and the minister went home to his. While his wife set the table in the parsonage, the Reverend Kline rested on his front porch in his caned rocking chair, fell asleep and never woke up.”
“To sleep and never wake!” Sanders exclaims, “To be a white-haired man with a voice like a barn full of pigeons, and the next minute to be nothing at all.”
These two lines leapt off the page at me. Final and profound, they contained real awe and fear.
A few paragraphs later in this essay Sanders paints a most endearing portrait of his high school science teacher, Fay Given, who lived in a house in the woods near the crossroads of Wayland. “Many students mocked her for being so unthinkably old, for looking like a schoolmarm, …for trembling when she spoke about nature or gazed fervently into a beaker as though a whole galaxy spun before her.” In these lines Sanders’ “schoolmarmish” science teacher bestows upon the teenager a deep reverence for the mystery of life.
Paging through the other offerings in Earth Works, I’ve found many more of these gems and could have quoted whole passages from the well-made essays in that earlier collection. Such praise can be spoken for the authors’ more recent book, The Way of Imagination. There is writing in this new volume that entirely justifies Scott Russell Sanders’ position alongside other great modern nature writers from Loren Eiseley and Rachael Carson to Wendell Berry and Anne Dillard. His essay Useless Beauty about the shell of a chambered nautilus on his mantel at home is absolutely dazzling, revealing the author at the height of his powers, exploring modern and provocative thinking about the functionality of beauty in the natural world. But the heart and soul of The Way of Imagination, in my view, is a piece entitled At the Gates of Deep Darkness.
This essay opens with a series of heart-rending sentences:
“My son has stage-four cancer. I can write the sentence and I can explain the diagnosis, but I cannot wholly believe it. Reason tells me that Jessie is likely to die soon, long before I do, but my heart rebels.” It is a bold way to begin an essay and as I learned upon reading it in its entirety, it more than fulfills its directness.
At the Gates of Deep Darkness appears in the second half of The Way of Imagination, coming after three pieces titled Conscience and Resistance, Language and Lies, and Living Midnight, in which the author makes an urgent call to readers about the indignities human beings have set upon the Earth. This most moving essay about the author’s son and his terminal illness is situated in a small cluster of pieces in which Sanders writes in a homey, compassionate voice. Essays titled Neighbors, The Suffering of Strangers, Kinship and Kindness tell the reader that she is in an intimate world where human values such as compassion, love and kindness have plenty of space to be expressed and explored.
At the Gates of Deep Darkness, in addition to speaking directly to anyone who has experienced grief first hand, tells an instructive and fascinating story -- a story I’ve encountered in other Scott Russell Sanders essays. It is a not uncommon tale, involving the conflict between one’s early religious belief and one’s dawning awareness of scientific and philosophic thought. In the hands of Scott Sanders this story of faith coming up against science thoroughly engages me because he is a man who has delved deeply into scripture – its beauty and terrible power – and has so capably contrasted religion with the depth of scientific and philosophical knowledge that he also possesses. Again and again in his writing, he has demonstrated such skill in joining these streams of thought, regarding their confluence at the very point where their waters roil together.
Regarding his essay At the Gates of Deep Darkness along with the cluster of pieces that surround it, I can wholeheartedly say that Sanders has entwined ever more lovingly his own personal story of growing up in rural Ohio. There we meet not for the first time, and hopefully not for the last, all the diverse people, his family foremost, whom he has taken into his heart. His latest book, The Way of Imagination, adds an uplifting fullness to Sanders’ well-established virtuosity.
--Paul Corrigan
Paulcorriganjr@gmail.com
TWO COLLECTIONS OF ESSAYS
BY
SCOTT RUSSELL SANDERS
I’ve been a fan of Scott Russell Sanders ever since I read his book Earth Works. Essay after essay in that earlier volume drove home to me what it meant to hold a certain place on earth dear, regarding with a rush of fondness the people, creatures and plant life that live and flourish there. Of all the pieces in Sanders’ Earth Works, I have often returned to one essay titled Wayland, the name of a crossroads somewhere in rural Ohio where the author “met seven of the great mysteries: Death, life, beasts, food, mind, sex and God.”
“Seven words,” Sanders tells his readers, “which are only tokens, worn coins that I shove onto the page, hoping to bribe you, coins that I finger as reminders of those awful encounters.” One such encounter in Wayland which Sanders tells us about occurred when he was a seven-year-old. It involved the Reverend Mister Kline, “a bulky man, sunken with age, his hair as white as the siding on the church parsonage, his voice like the cooing of pigeons in a barn.” For the young Sanders Reverend Kline’s voice “became that of the Bible itself, even of the voice of God. Then one day,” Sanders writes, “after the church service, I went home to my dinner and the minister went home to his. While his wife set the table in the parsonage, the Reverend Kline rested on his front porch in his caned rocking chair, fell asleep and never woke up.”
“To sleep and never wake!” Sanders exclaims, “To be a white-haired man with a voice like a barn full of pigeons, and the next minute to be nothing at all.”
These two lines leapt off the page at me. Final and profound, they contained real awe and fear.
A few paragraphs later in this essay Sanders paints a most endearing portrait of his high school science teacher, Fay Given, who lived in a house in the woods near the crossroads of Wayland. “Many students mocked her for being so unthinkably old, for looking like a schoolmarm, …for trembling when she spoke about nature or gazed fervently into a beaker as though a whole galaxy spun before her.” In these lines Sanders’ “schoolmarmish” science teacher bestows upon the teenager a deep reverence for the mystery of life.
Paging through the other offerings in Earth Works, I’ve found many more of these gems and could have quoted whole passages from the well-made essays in that earlier collection. Such praise can be spoken for the authors’ more recent book, The Way of Imagination. There is writing in this new volume that entirely justifies Scott Russell Sanders’ position alongside other great modern nature writers from Loren Eiseley and Rachael Carson to Wendell Berry and Anne Dillard. His essay Useless Beauty about the shell of a chambered nautilus on his mantel at home is absolutely dazzling, revealing the author at the height of his powers, exploring modern and provocative thinking about the functionality of beauty in the natural world. But the heart and soul of The Way of Imagination, in my view, is a piece entitled At the Gates of Deep Darkness.
This essay opens with a series of heart-rending sentences:
“My son has stage-four cancer. I can write the sentence and I can explain the diagnosis, but I cannot wholly believe it. Reason tells me that Jessie is likely to die soon, long before I do, but my heart rebels.” It is a bold way to begin an essay and as I learned upon reading it in its entirety, it more than fulfills its directness.
At the Gates of Deep Darkness appears in the second half of The Way of Imagination, coming after three pieces titled Conscience and Resistance, Language and Lies, and Living Midnight, in which the author makes an urgent call to readers about the indignities human beings have set upon the Earth. This most moving essay about the author’s son and his terminal illness is situated in a small cluster of pieces in which Sanders writes in a homey, compassionate voice. Essays titled Neighbors, The Suffering of Strangers, Kinship and Kindness tell the reader that she is in an intimate world where human values such as compassion, love and kindness have plenty of space to be expressed and explored.
At the Gates of Deep Darkness, in addition to speaking directly to anyone who has experienced grief first hand, tells an instructive and fascinating story -- a story I’ve encountered in other Scott Russell Sanders essays. It is a not uncommon tale, involving the conflict between one’s early religious belief and one’s dawning awareness of scientific and philosophic thought. In the hands of Scott Sanders this story of faith coming up against science thoroughly engages me because he is a man who has delved deeply into scripture – its beauty and terrible power – and has so capably contrasted religion with the depth of scientific and philosophical knowledge that he also possesses. Again and again in his writing, he has demonstrated such skill in joining these streams of thought, regarding their confluence at the very point where their waters roil together.
Regarding his essay At the Gates of Deep Darkness along with the cluster of pieces that surround it, I can wholeheartedly say that Sanders has entwined ever more lovingly his own personal story of growing up in rural Ohio. There we meet not for the first time, and hopefully not for the last, all the diverse people, his family foremost, whom he has taken into his heart. His latest book, The Way of Imagination, adds an uplifting fullness to Sanders’ well-established virtuosity.
--Paul Corrigan
Paulcorriganjr@gmail.com
March 13, 2021
A series of essays on environmentalism and ethics. Imagination is a theme in many of them, but not as deeply or persistently explored as I would have liked, given the title. Sanders' writing style is graceful and persuasive, and he has a talent for well-crafted polysyndetons that help us to grasp the breadth and beauty of the natural world. Several of his sentences are really things of beauty. Interestingly, he is a writer raised in the Christian tradition who has left the faith he was raised in for a mysticism based on scientific appreciation of the complexities of the natural world. He makes a good case for environmentalism and the response to climate change as the pressing issue of our times. Well-written, but not earth-shaking.
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March 17, 2021Scott Russell Sanders has always provided us with a way to look at the Ohio Valley, at Indiana and beyond, to make sense of what is around us, and that continues in The Way of Imagination, published this year by Counterpoint Press.
Sanders is looking back at a full life lived in Bloomington, more personal than many of his previous essays. His criticism of the present has never been sharper, and it’s tempered by looking forward to the future where, he argues, the human imagination will be paramount...
Read Kevin McKelvey's full review here: https://www.indianaauthorsawards.org/...
Sanders is looking back at a full life lived in Bloomington, more personal than many of his previous essays. His criticism of the present has never been sharper, and it’s tempered by looking forward to the future where, he argues, the human imagination will be paramount...
Read Kevin McKelvey's full review here: https://www.indianaauthorsawards.org/...
February 25, 2021
The author has a beautiful way of writing, which I appreciated.
Notes for common book consideration: though beautiful, there was a lot of religious philosophy that may be difficult to grapple with for incoming students that haven't a background with such. Much of that religious philosophy is centered around a Christian tradition.
Notes for common book consideration: though beautiful, there was a lot of religious philosophy that may be difficult to grapple with for incoming students that haven't a background with such. Much of that religious philosophy is centered around a Christian tradition.
February 4, 2022
He touches on topics that are truly issues that we need to wake up and deal with efficiently and compassionately. However, I found his narrative style monotonous. It was like listening to a very long, monotonous news broadcast or opinion piece. I also felt that his ambiguous religious views were intertwined in odd ways.
January 12, 2024
Scott Russel Sanders ofrece una mirada esperenzadora sobre la capacidad creativa de los seres humanos, pero también advierte que a ella debemos el desarrollo que en última instancia ha provocado el desastre ecológico en el que vivimos. Ensayos eruditos, pero no por ello faltos de emocionalidad y sensibilidad.
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May 25, 2021This was, for me, a captivating narrative of the beauty of nature, capitalism vs. conservation, indifference vs. stewardship, full of his personal experience with nature and family.
August 24, 2022
“Conscience and Resistance” = ****
“Kinship and Kindness” = *****
“A Writer’s Calling” = ****
“Kinship and Kindness” = *****
“A Writer’s Calling” = ****
March 17, 2025
Less about imagination and more about climate change. Still found it interesting!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews