Touching the Rock is a unique exploration of that distant, infinitely strange, 'other world' of blindness. John Hull writes of odd sounds and echoes, of people without faces, of a curious new relationship between waking and dreaming, of a changed perception of nature and human personality. He reveals a world in which every human experience, eating and lovemaking, playing with children and buying drinks in the bar, is transformed. 'The observation is minute, and it is also profound: everything is pondered, explored, to its limit - every experience turned this way and that until it yields its full harvest of meanings. The incisiveness of Hull's observation, the beauty of his language, make this book poetry . . .' Oliver Sacks, from the foreword

John M. Hull

Cover

Also by John

Title page

Imprint

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Preface to the SPCK Classics edition

Introduction

1. Sinking

2. Into the tunnel

3. Beyond light and darkness

4. Time, space and love

5. The wind and the sea

6. Round the bend

7. Beyond feelings

8. Still looking

9. Waking up blind

10. Lost children

11. The gift

12. Touching the rock

Postscript

The power of this calmly eloquent, intensely perceptive memoir lies in its thorough navigation of the world of blindness - a world in which stairs are safe and snow is frightening, where food and sex lose much of their allure and playing with one's child may be agonizingly difficult. Reissued as an SPCK Classic.

Shortly after John Hull went blind, after years of struggling with failing vision, he had a dream in which he was trapped on a sinking ship, submerging into another, unimaginable world. The power of this calmly eloquent, intensely perceptive memoir lies in its thorough navigation of the world of blindness - a world in which stairs are safe and snow is frightening, where food and sex lose much of their allure and playing with one's child may be agonizingly difficult. As he describes the ways in which blindness shapes his experience of his wife and children, of strangers helpful and hostile and, above all, of his God, Hull becomes a witness in the highest, true sense. Touching the Rock is a book that will instruct, move, and profoundly transform anyone who reads it.

John M. Hull is Emeritus Professor of Religious Education at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of a number of books and many articles in the fields of religious education, practical theology, and disability. The latter interest arose from his experiences, and personal and theological reflections, on becoming blind in mid-career.

The moving and challenging memoir of John Hull's experience of blindness, 'triumphant in the teeth of ruin.'

‘Touching the Rock’ is the moving and thought-provoking memoir of John Hull’s experience of blindness and the impact it has had on his everyday life, his relationships and his faith.

While he was struggling with coming to terms with his failing vision, he had a dream. He was trapped on a sinking ship, drowning in the depths of darkness. With eloquent and honesty, John illuminates his submerged world:  
• Playing with his children became a challenge  
• Food &amp; Sex became illusive   
• Spirituality shifted into something different

In this touching account John reveals how losing his sight has shaped him into a witness. This transformative autobiography is in one sense eye-opening, while in another sense it is heart-opening.

“John Hull’s account is… to my mind, a masterpiece.” – Oliver Sacks, neurologist and bestselling author, from the forward.

“\[Blindness\]… has made of him what so few of us are: excellent watchers and hearers of the world… triumphant in the teeth of ruin.”

Touching the Rock

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Touching the Rock

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