Teaching A Stone to Talk

I am reading a book by Annie Dillard called Teaching A Stone to Talk.

The title is catchy, and the book is catchy too.

She tells about various assorted Expeditions and Encounters:

There are some natives who live by the Amazon, who reportedly get up in the middle of the night, randomly. Since they are sleeping in the open, the cold wakes them up, and they shuffle off to the river to warm up. The river is apparently warmer than the air at night. Once they've warmed up, they go back to sleep.

As one might expect, there is a story about a man who is trying to teach a stone to talk. If you want to know what happens, you will have to read the book.

Dillard's writing is playful and imaginative. I like it because some of the most ordinary things are brought to life by the words she uses. I'm pretty sure she is a poet. I also can't help wondering about her worldview, which comes through very strongly in some places. There is sarcasm, and dark wit. One strategy she seems to like using is to juxtapose two threads; two stories are pulled into parallel, and compared on several points, until finally the two stories become one.

For instance, clowns leaping around on an Arctic iceberg. Strange. Very strange, but funny nonetheless.