In this exquisitely written personal, lyrical narrative
about storytelling and empathy, author Rebecca Solnit explores the ways we make
our lives out of stories, and how we are connected by empathy, by narrative and
by imagination.
In the course of unpacking some of her own stories Solnit
revisits fairy tales and other stories as she considers life. Her ruminations
carry her through tales of Arctic explorers and of Che Guevara’s great
motorcycle ides around and through South America in 1951 and 1952; through to
the romantic horror of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and more.
Through these and other stories, Solnit consider the lives
and works of artists and activists who experienced tremendous growth after
witnessing or enduring great pain, and uses fairy tales to examine the idea of
self-transformation. In doing so, she weaves these stories, real and
fantastical, into a tapestry that charts the territories and extent of storytelling
and shows how it allows us to explore, understand and even reframe who we are
and how we might tell our own story.
Join Caledonia Skytower in in Ceiliuradh Glen as she reads
selections from this remarkable book, live in stream.
