FEATURED BOOK REVIEW

Xylem Press. 106 pages. ISBN: 978-9163935-7-8. 

By Paul H. Harris 

This unique book could be described as a philosophical journal of writings and drawings inspired by Chinese scholars’ rocks and stone appreciation. In the spirit of a contemporary literati contemplating viewing stones, Prudence writes short rock-meditations on a wide range of themes, including geologic time, dreams, mortality, and spirituality. In the tribute to classical Chinese texts, a section of the book called “The Stone Catalog of The Transfixed Gaze” features brief chapters on types of stones (“Cloudstones,” “Mapstones,” “Cavernstones”). Instead of defining each type, Prudence interprets them, expressing the meanings and associations he discovers in them. Sometimes his meditations on stones are illustrated with meticulous line drawings of their form and textures. Like Chinese ink paintings, the drawings may be seen as attempts to capture not only the appearance but also the energy and forces that flow through the rocks.

The author is a well-regarded writer, artist, scholar, and musician. His dense style, original thinking, and advanced vocabulary make the book both a pleasure and a challenge to read. It explains Taoist concepts and compares them to sources in western philosophy, art, and literature, including Max Ernst’s surrealist paintings, Carl Jung’s psychology of dreams, and a mystical novel by Gustave Flaubert. 

Prudence explores ideas and experiences common to many people who have a deep appreciation of viewing stones and develop strong connections to them, such as the sense that stones are alive or exude a spirit or energy. His text is particularly exciting because he expresses and extrapolates such ideas to their furthest extent. Prudence describes his work as a “visionary geology,” in which viewing stone appreciation is a profound meditative practice: “Rock reverence invokes a dialogue with our spirit-self and brings to us a precious rendezvous with our own inner voices.” Within his hylozoic philosophy (the idea that all matter is alive), “the interanimating spirit of mind and matter” enables viewing stone contemplation to “open a two-way transmission line so that geology can send messages to us in stone.” He imagines the forms and textures of stones literally imprinting themselves in our brains: "The messages are mineralized into minds and in the marble patterns of neural pathways".

This book will offer stimulating reading to anyone with a philosophical interest in viewing stones. It opens up new ways of thinking about viewing stones, geology, and our relationship with nature. It may be read most profitably in small doses—each of its short chapters might suggest new approaches to viewing stone appreciation and practice.