RaveThe RumpusIn a time when all the familiar narratives—of good triumphing over evil or truth prevailing over its opposite—feel far from assured, when humans themselves seem so at odds with each other, it’s nice to imagine there are some ideas that might still connect us. It’s also nice to know there’s comfort to be found in the meandering of our own minds and the spectacular epiphanies of everyday existence. With her deftly crafted essays, Greene celebrates the meaning-making inherent to the human experience. She reminds us that there is revelation all around.
Kerri Ní Dochartaigh
RaveAdroit JournalNí Dochartaigh’s deep connection with nature aids in her recovery, manifesting on the page as a rich combination of autobiography and natural history ... Though initiates will have no trouble digesting ní Dochartaigh’s ecstatic proclamations and spiritual bent, skeptics need only look to the mounting scientific evidence linking experiences of nature to lowered levels of stress as proof that the author isn’t just leading us down the garden path, as it were ... The book is not always an easy read, as its emotions are heavy, but it works its magic when the themes coalesce—ní Dochartaigh’s connection to the natural world rising every time her personal world seems about to sink. And it’s in these moments where the writing is at its most revelatory ... At its simplest, it’s easy to read Thin Places as a looping chronology of the writer’s life and the unique way she overcame personal tragedy, but I read it more as a hymn for the natural world.
