I skipped “The World of Perception” to read Niall Williams “This Is Happiness”. Having just finished “Art Can Help”, the afterword reminded me of this quote from “What Is Happiness” regarding what art is:
“It seems to me the quality that makes any book, music, painting worthwhile is life, just that. Books, music, painting are not life, can never be as full, rich, complex, surprising or beautiful, but the best of them can catch an echo of that, can turn you back to look out the window, go out the door aware that you've been enriched, that you have been in the company of something alive that has caused you to realise once again how astonishing life is, and you leave the book, gallery or concert hall with that illumination, which feels I'm going to say holy, by which I mean human raptness.”
I skipped “The World of Perception” to read Niall Williams “This Is Happiness”. Having just finished “Art Can Help”, the afterword reminded me of this quote from “What Is Happiness” regarding what art is:
“It seems to me the quality that makes any book, music, painting worthwhile is life, just that. Books, music, painting are not life, can never be as full, rich, complex, surprising or beautiful, but the best of them can catch an echo of that, can turn you back to look out the window, go out the door aware that you've been enriched, that you have been in the company of something alive that has caused you to realise once again how astonishing life is, and you leave the book, gallery or concert hall with that illumination, which feels I'm going to say holy, by which I mean human raptness.”
How does one sit down with romantics, delightful as they can be when I'm in the mood?
I suppose one has to be a bit of a romantic.
"I understand how you feel." "No you don't."