Richard Kearney

Touch: Recovering Our Most Vital Sense by Richard Kearney is a nice addition to the No Limits series. He examines the sense of touch and its importance to human beings, from pleasure to healing and simply our being in the world.

The books in this series tend to be short and to the point yet, to get the most from them, one needs to try not to read them too quickly. This volume is no exception, though for me there was one section that almost made me skip/skim several pages. In fairness, those same pages may well be what speaks most deeply to another reader, so it is not a flaw so much as missed connection between what the book is supposedly doing there and what it in fact did to this one particular reader. But otherwise, I found the discussions and rationale quite interesting.

The part that I could have done without, or at least have it done in a more even-handed manner, is part of the chapter on the Wounded Healer. Kearney cites several examples from antiquity, Greek and Roman mythology, then beats us over the head with a much too long excursion into Christian mythology while giving short bits about other traditions and mythologies and excluding, for the most part, Eastern tradition. I think the Christian example is every bit as important as the others, but not to the exclusion or expense of the other traditions and mythology. If you're going to cite mythology, then don't give one that much more space than the others just because it happens to be a mythology you still believe in in spite of all evidence to the contrary. But, for those subscribing to that mythology, this will likely be a positive section for them. I found it repetitive and at the expense of other equally important and valid examples.

His discussion of how we are at risk of "losing touch" with each other and, frankly, with ourselves, is compelling. It fell down when for a couple paragraphs at the end the "solution" seems to be variations on the theme of "enjoy what you do virtually but also put the technology down and enjoy the real world as well." Really? That is the best you have? Of course it makes sense, but for those who have never really done without their technology, that is like telling an alcoholic "just enjoy a periodic drink but also enjoy times without alcohol." Great in theory, impossible in practice.

I know it sounds like I didn't like this book, and that is not the case. Take out (or reduce) several repetitive pages and make a better suggestion in that one paragraph and I would have had only positive things to say. I'd say 135 or so positive pages out of about 140 makes the book a success.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)