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| Somewhere between the subconscious and the collective unconscious lies the liminal state Diane Ackerman calls “deep play.” Involving rules, boundaries, tension and ritual, deep play is a disciplined state of mind fueled by wonder — an experience that at once frees us from the phenomenological world and holds us fast to it. Humans enter this realm through sharp concentration and heightened sensory awareness, while meditating, mountain-climbing, flying, creating art or admiring sunlight filtered through autumn leaves. In her latest work of nonfiction, Ackerman explores the depths of deep play as she wanders through memories, personal experiences and past research. With her trademark lush, effusive prose, meandering sensibility and encyclopedic knowledge of culture, etymology and natural history, Ackerman tries to do for deep play what she did for smell or taste in A Natural History of the Senses, but falls short in the execution. Ideas mined from Ackerman’s previously published work and detailed digressions into her feelings about tangential subjects such as school prayer and the fate of the rain forests will leave even the most patient reader searching for a clear narrative or thematic thread. Deep Play is liberally sprinkled with bright gems of prose and thought, but the effort it takes to find them sometimes feels more like work than play. – Reviewed by Sona Pai |
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