For the Time Being
For the Time Being by Annie Dillard, published by National Geographic Books on February 8, 2000, is a thought-provoking narrative that explores profound questions about existence and the human experience. This edition spans 224 pages and is presented in English. Dillard employs her distinctive style to delve into themes of philosophy and nature, inviting readers to reflect on the wonder found in life’s complexities and uncertainties.
In this work, Dillard examines a variety of striking images and concepts, from human birth defects to the historical significance of terra-cotta figures, all while pondering the essence of life and individual significance. The narrative weaves together elements of social science and philosophical inquiry, encouraging contemplation of humanity’s place in the universe. For the Time Being offers a unique perspective on the interplay between the known and the unknown, making it a significant contribution to contemporary essays on existence and meaning.
Official synopsis Publisher
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and one of the most compelling writers of our time comes a “beautifully written and delightfully strange” (Daily News) narrative that renews our ability to discover wonder in life’s smallest—and often darkest—corners.
For the Time Being is Annie Dillard’s most profound narrative to date. With her keen eye, penchant for paradox, and yearning for truth, Dillard asks: Why do we exist? Where did we come from? How can one person matter? Dillard searches for answers in a powerful array of images: pictures of bird-headed dwarfs in the standard reference of human birth defects; ten thousand terra-cotta figures fashioned for a Chinese emperor in place of the human court that might have followed him into death; the paleontologist and theologian Teilhard de Chardin crossing the Gobi Desert; the dizzying variety of clouds. Vivid, eloquent, haunting, For the Time Being evokes no less than the terrifying grandeur of all that remains tantalizingly and troublingly beyond our understanding.
“Beautifully written and delightfully strange…as earthy as it is sublime…in the truest sense, an eye-opener.” —Daily News
“Stimulating, humbling, original. [Dillard] illuminate[s] the human perspective of the world, past, present and future, and the individual’s relatively inconsequential but ever so unique place in it.” —Rocky Mountain News
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