What is Happiness?
This is Happiness, an exquisitely written book by Naill Williams, searches for meaning, finding joy and wonder in the seemingly mundane, beginning with an unheralded break in the months long rain.
Set in a small fictional Irish village, it is populated by interconnected townspeople. All are charming, some eccentric, easy to imagine being fully alive. It’s the affection-filled stories of the community that brighten the mind and tug at the heart. Life is quiet and sweet, and Williams transports readers to an unhurried time, where it isn’t filled as much as savored, where there is time to be present and listen. Electricity is coming, bringing big changes to this small town, breaking its natural rhythm.
If you like fast paced novels, this likely isn’t for you. Here, the world moves slowly, gently and allows time for reflection and awe. As in our own lives, it offers humor, joy and wonder alongside heartbreak and regret. It connects the reader with the full scope of being human. This, collectively, is happiness.
“…you could stop at, not all, but most of the moments in your life, stop for one heartbeat and, no matter what the state of your mind or heart, say This is happiness, because of the simple truth that you were alive to say it.’
For me, Williams joins great Irish writers such as James Joyce and WB Yeats. I’m happy to include him in my personal artistic pantheon. I’m grateful for the character’s break in the weather and for the book providing a break from my world’s incessant electronic cacophony. I’m most grateful for the book’s poignant reminder that in this fleeting yet miraculous moment we have a break to know the wonder of being alive.
Jane
This sounds like a must read – thanks for the recommendation!
This sounds like a must read – thanks for the recommendation!
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