
Into the Dark
What darkness is and why it matters
Jacqueline Yallop(Author)
Icon Books (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 9. November 2023
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-83773-071-1 (ISBN)
Article not available at the moment
Description
'Often poetic ... highly-researched and thought-provoking' New Scientist
'Gently and thoughtfully enquiring' The Spectator
'A beautifully written, deep and moving exploration of darkness' Sean Hewitt, author of All Down Darkness Wide
Can you remember the first time you encountered true darkness? The kind that remains as black and inky whether your eyes are open or closed? Where you can't see your hand in front of your face?
Jacqueline Yallop can. It was in an unfamiliar bedroom while holidaying in Yorkshire as a child, and ever since then she has been fascinated by the dark, by our efforts to capture or avoid it, by the meanings we give to it and the way our brains process it.
Taking a journey into the dark secrets of place, body and mind, she documents a series of night-time walks, exploring both the physical realities of darkness and the psychological dark that helps shape our sense of self. Exploring our enduring love-hate relationship with states of darkness, she considers how we attempt to understand and contain the dark, and, as she comes to terms with her father's deteriorating Alzheimer's, she reflects on how our relationship with the dark can change with time and circumstance.
Darkness captivates, baffles and appals us. It's a shifty thing of many textures and many moods. It can be an absence and a presence, a solace and a threat, a beginning and an end. Into the Dark is the story of the many darks that fascinate and assail us. It faces the darkness in all its guises and mysteries, celebrating it as a thing of beauty while peering into the void.
'Gently and thoughtfully enquiring' The Spectator
'A beautifully written, deep and moving exploration of darkness' Sean Hewitt, author of All Down Darkness Wide
Can you remember the first time you encountered true darkness? The kind that remains as black and inky whether your eyes are open or closed? Where you can't see your hand in front of your face?
Jacqueline Yallop can. It was in an unfamiliar bedroom while holidaying in Yorkshire as a child, and ever since then she has been fascinated by the dark, by our efforts to capture or avoid it, by the meanings we give to it and the way our brains process it.
Taking a journey into the dark secrets of place, body and mind, she documents a series of night-time walks, exploring both the physical realities of darkness and the psychological dark that helps shape our sense of self. Exploring our enduring love-hate relationship with states of darkness, she considers how we attempt to understand and contain the dark, and, as she comes to terms with her father's deteriorating Alzheimer's, she reflects on how our relationship with the dark can change with time and circumstance.
Darkness captivates, baffles and appals us. It's a shifty thing of many textures and many moods. It can be an absence and a presence, a solace and a threat, a beginning and an end. Into the Dark is the story of the many darks that fascinate and assail us. It faces the darkness in all its guises and mysteries, celebrating it as a thing of beauty while peering into the void.
Reviews / Votes
In what might seem a literally dark time in a metaphorically dark year, Yallop's book makes a welcome companion, gently and thoughtfully enquiring. * The Spectator * Often poetic ... highly-researched and thought-provoking. * New Scientist * A beautifully written, deep and moving exploration of darkness, its history, its science, its cultural weight. Yallop is both lyrical and rigorous, and Into the Dark doubles as a tender and fascinating exploration of the workings and misfirings of the mind. -- Sean Hewitt, author of All Down Darkness Wide A beautiful read, scholarly yet personal, full of ideas and yet intensely sensuous and tangible. -- George Szirtes This is cultural history at its most accessible, with plenty of illustration, analysis and cogent examples of a subject which affects us all in one way or another. * Nation Cymru *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Duxford
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 135 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-83773-071-1 (9781837730711)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions

Book
10/2024
Icon Books
€12.50
Available immediately
Person
Jacqueline Yallop is the author of three critically acclaimed novels and three works of non-fiction. She lives in West Wales and teaches creative writing at the University of Aberystwyth.