Thin Places | Litsy

Thin Places | Kerri ni Dochartaigh

pick

Oh, this beautiful, relentless book!
The writing is gorgeous but the onslaught of trauma, chapter upon chapter is a lot. For the most part the book feels to be making repeated circlings of its themes: if there is forward motion then it's in a spiral, not a straight line. I am glad that by the end she seems to have found peace.

TW: violence, trauma, alcohol addiction, suicidal ideation

quietlycuriouskate I've always thought The Troubles a dismissive, almost frivolous, name for what was happening in Northern Ireland. Like neighbours were parking on each other's drives or playing their music too loud, not throwing petrol bombs through kids' bedroom windows. 9mo

Bookwomble "The Troubles" sounded better in news headlines than "The Civil War", which is undoubtedly what it was. 9mo

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monalyisha

Thin Places | Kerri ni Dochartaigh

pick

I feel strongly about this book as a physical object; I think it might be the prettiest book I‘ve ever seen, with the gossamer wings of a moth gracing its cover. My feelings about the words inside are more complicated. The author tells of her life growing up in Ireland, specifically in Derry, at the center of the Troubles, in a mixed religion household. Her childhood home is bombed with her inside. 👇🏻

monalyisha 1/6: Though she and her family escape the resulting fire, the rest of her life is marked by this trauma and more. Her best friend is senselessly murdered when she‘s 16, in a place (not Derry) that she‘d just begun to think of as “safe.” She battles alcoholism, depression, and suicidal ideation, as well as physical illness. She struggles to escape abusive relationships with others and with herself. (edited) 11mo

monalyisha 2/6: Though she finds sanctuary in nature (especially in the water, as well as through a connection with winged things), this isn‘t an easy book. The story the words tell isn‘t an easy one. Neither are the words themselves easy; oftentimes, sentences are fractured, mirroring the brokenness inside. (edited) 11mo

monalyisha 3/6: The teller is also unabashedly in love with certain ideas — liminal spaces, in particular (see: title) — and I think the voice of those ideas sometimes overshadows her own, unique voice. (edited) 11mo

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monalyisha 4/6: I wish there had been more structure, too - that each chapter had been more like a separate essay. It almost feels as though each page is written like it‘s the end of the book, like the language is coming together and everything is wrapping up, continually. But then…it doesn‘t. It keeps going. Her deep consciousness of language sometimes reads as affected; when it doesn‘t, it dips, soars, and sparkles. (edited) 11mo

monalyisha 5/6: I struggled as a reader at times. But on some level, that feels sort-of right. I‘m glad that the author has come to a place where she‘s so herself and is no longer afraid if her story makes other people feel unsettled. Even if I was unsure about the particulars of the telling, I was never uninterested or unbothered. (edited) 11mo

monalyisha 6/6: I would read more by Kerri ni Dochartaigh - with the foreknowledge that I‘d need to be comfortable with moving through her words slowly and with patient attention. It‘s almost as if she has become so sick of boundaries that her words and her work have none of the typical ones I‘ve come to expect. And that‘s not wrong. It‘s just not easy. (edited) 11mo

Amiable Wonderfully comprehensive review! 11mo

TrishB Fantastic review ♥️ 11mo

rockpools A beautiful review of a beautiful book! 11mo

monalyisha Thanks, @rockpools! I was glad to have your review, too, to knock my feelings up against. 💙 11mo

monalyisha Thanks @Amiable & @TrishB! Like reading it, wrapping my head around how I felt about it and then getting those thoughts down in writing was a bit of a challenge. I appreciate your comments! 11mo

Amiable @monalyisha Was just reading this article in the Washington Post and thought of you —have you seen it ? https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/18/school-librarians-jailed-ban... 11mo

Cinfhen Beautiful and thoughtful review. Thanks for sharing 💜 11mo

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monalyisha

Thin Places | Kerri ni Dochartaigh

Goals ✨🔥✨

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monalyisha

Thin Places | Kerri ni Dochartaigh

I got this nifty reading accessory from my local Buy Nothing group. The gifter acquired it while living in Oman. I think it‘s meant to hold the Qur'an. I‘m not sure how often I will truly end up using it, since it doesn‘t hold your book *open* but I love it all the same.

Top right: Moxie eating second breakfast, embracing her true hobbit nature.

Sapphire It‘s beautiful! 12mo

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monalyisha

Thin Places | Kerri ni Dochartaigh

Enjoying a slow, soft morning.

IndoorDame 😍🐇 12mo

UwannaPublishme Awww! 🐰 12mo

dabbe Da cutest little bunny! 💙🐰💙 12mo

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rabbitprincess 🥰😻🐰 12mo

Clare-Dragonfly 😍🐰 12mo

ShelleyBooksie Bunny ♡♡♡: 12mo

81 likes6 comments

rockpools

Thin Places | Kerri ni Dochartaigh

pick

A beautifully written, honest and emotional book, very close to a 5🌟read, and one that I cried my way through. I‘m not sure I‘d have read it if I‘d known what I was getting into, but I would like to read this again.

This is a story of healing from compound trauma, our links to place and ‘home‘, and the wild natural places/encounters that hold us and lift us from our normal lives. Irish language, legends, history, nature and borders all play 👇🏻

rockpools a part in the author‘s understanding and letting go of what she‘s been thro‘- from the violence of a childhood during the Troubles, onwards and back, she‘s been thro‘ a lot. I appreciated that this is a story of recovery, rather than a direct memoir of loss, & I admire her willingness to share her story after years of suppressing/minimising her trauma. And did I mention how beautiful the writing is? Themes of depression, suicide, grief & trauma. 3y

rockpools #Nonfiction2021 #SomethingAboutOvercoming @Riveted_Reader_Melissa And a 3rd book finished for #FabulousFebruary @Andrew65 (edited) 3y

Cathythoughts Great review! Home is such huge theme in all our lives ... stacked 3y

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squirrelbrain This sounds wonderful - but tough. Great review! 3y

Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 3y

Cinfhen Beautiful review 😢 3y

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rockpools

Thin Places | Kerri ni Dochartaigh

💔💙💚💙💔

Canongate sent me an ARC. I appear to have abandoned everything to read it (surprise!). It‘s achingly beautiful and kind of devastating, and every page makes me want to cry.

It‘s a nature/memoir, but with politics (because if you grow up in Derry, with Protestant-Catholic parents, politics matters). A woman who left the trauma of her ‘Troubles‘ childhood behind, feels the need to return. In 2016. Yep.

Something special. Also, moths.

rockpools Oh, and the idea of Thin Places follows on from Piranesi ridiculously closely. 3y

JennyM Beautiful review. It sounds like a special reading experience ❤️ 3y

Cinfhen Gorgeous review.... I think a moth is close enough to a bird...it has wings #BirdsAndBones 3y

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TrishB Beautiful words ♥️ 3y

Libby1 This was mentioned by Dara McAnulty - so went on my list. Dara‘s book is stunning.

Diary of a Young Naturalist

rockpools @JennyM I‘m only 25% through, but it‘s quite gorgeous! 3y

rockpools @Cinfhen 😂😂 It‘s funny you should mention that - I almost posted the contents page! In a nutshell, Part 1: Blood & Bone; Part 2: Feather & Stone. I‘m really not doing this deliberately- #BirdsAndBones is definitely a genre!! 3y

rockpools @TrishB It‘s a lovely book, Trish. Hope today‘s been ok 😘 3y

rockpools @Libby1 I want to read that! He was on the radio with Lauren Laverne (maybe) and came across SO well. Glad the book lives up to expectations 💚 3y

Cinfhen Hilarious 3y

TrishB It was ok thank you 🤞🏻 rewriting regs at the moment, I‘m alright without human intervention! 3y

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