GIVEN THE flow of negativity that has permeated our daily lives over the last six months, a book that brings with it a sense of positive and sensible calm could be favourably compared with a refreshing elixir of life.
It is all the more refreshing when that book restores our belief in humanity and our sense of humour. Such a book is Stepping Stones which at face value consists of a series of interviews by Dennis O’Driscoll with Seamus Heaney but which is, in fact, a whole lot more.
In his opening comments, O’Driscoll explains that he did not concur with the opinion that Heaney was “the most over interviewed of modern poets”. On the contrary, he felt convinced that the Nobel Laureate was under interviewed in more ways than one and that a major poet, such as Heaney, “should be encouraged to expound his ideas and expand his recollections beyond the meagre word-counts of a newspaper or literary journal”.
O’Driscoll continues to say that he saw his role as that of prompter rather than interrogator and that the book does not pretend to be either a tell-all of Heaney’s life or a reader’s guide to his work; rather the book “offers a biographical context for the poems and a poetry-based account of his life”.
Central to Stepping Stones are questions that have often preoccupied Heaney’s own mind as to how the poet should live and write and what his relationship should be “to his own voice, his own place, his literary heritage and his contemporary world”.
A brave and courageous undertaking that is fraught with dangers. Yet such is the empathy between the two men, their love of and commitment to the poetic art, their understanding of the human condition and their innate generosity that the reader is immediately drawn into the heart of the conversation.
From the first question – “Can public life as a prominent writer rob you of your private life? If so, does poetry restore that missing life or at least provide some recompense?” – to the last – “And finally from ‘Keeping Going’: “Is this all? As it was/In the beginning, is now and shall be”? – the reader is held enthralled, totally immersed in an extraordinary exchange between two wonderful minds, one skilfully bringing forth the other in all its richness and wisdom.
That O’Driscoll achieves his role as prompter is determined by his almost ghostly presence throughout Stepping Stones and the fact that his contributions merge almost seamlessly with Heaney’s narration.
Then, ever so often, he injects a question that brings his interlocutor down a new and inevitably fruitful path. Despite the almost constant poetic erudition present in the text, it is never over bearing as the narration remains even, balanced, always focused and accessible.
Stepping Stones is a book that needs to be read at least three times, first for entertainment, second for self-knowledge, and thereafter to savour its countless gems. Given the fact that it runs to nearly 500 pages, it is not only personally enriching but, with a price tag of €24.99, it is serious value for money.
