[James Willis]

Hi Cooper,

I ordered my copies pre-publication and was reading them two (surely not three?) years ago. I remember it took me at least two months.

So, you have stimulated me to revisit my pages and pages of notes, thoughts and extracts that I collected on an app called Evernote as I went along.

Before I paste in one of these ‘thorts’ that I wrote down at the time, two other things:

It strikes me that one problem with the critique you found (I can’t look up his name without jumping out of this reply!) is that he totally lacks the humility which is such a powerful feature of Iain’s thinking and writing.

And – to be personal – I am astonished and very impressed indeed by your age. I hope it won’t put you off if I reveal that I will be 80 next month. I have a grandson only three years younger than you who is also very insightful and with whom I have occasional, precious exchanges.

Here we go – my thort:

//I find myself wary of putting my groping understanding of what Iain is trying to convey into discussion with other people who have their own ‘take’ – by which I know I will not be able to help being influenced. Particularly if I like and respect them!
I want to keep my ‘take’ fluid for as long as I can and resist it becoming crystallised too soon. I know it will happen in the end. But it would be so easy for it to become crystallised wrong.
The reading of the book for the first time is a precious and fragile experience – glorious and wonderful to be immersed in. As I am now. I don’t want this experience ever to end. Nobody can explain McGilchrist better than he is explaining himself at this moment. He has taken a lifetime to find the words to explain why, ultimately, nobody can ever find the words… But he is doing the best it is possible ever to imagine anyone achieving.//

I don’t think Mr ___ ever opened his mind, cluttered as it is with his own ideas, to the immensely subtle construct Iain was trying to convey.

Best wishes, James