All Down Darkness Wide
- Downloads：7712
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-07-11 00:51:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Seán Hewitt
- ISBN：1787333388
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Summary
A luminous and haunting memoir from the prize-winning poet - a story of love， heartbreak and coming of age， and a fearless exploration of queer identity and trauma。
When Seán meets Elias， the two fall headlong into a love story。 But as Elias struggles with severe depression， the couple comes face-to-face with crisis。 Wrestling with this， Seán Hewitt delves deep into his own history， enlisting the ghosts of queer figures and poets before him。 From a nineteenth-century cemetery in Liverpool to the pine forests of Gothenburg， Hewitt plumbs the darkness in search of solace and hope。
All Down Darkness Wide is an unflinching meditation on the burden of living in a world that too often sets happiness and queer life at odds， and a tender portrayal of what it's like to be caught in the undertow of a loved one's suffering。 By turns devastating and soaring， it is a mesmerising story of heartache and renewal， and a work of rare and transcendent beauty。
When Seán meets Elias， the two fall headlong into a love story。 But as Elias struggles with severe depression， the couple comes face-to-face with crisis。 Wrestling with this， Seán Hewitt delves deep into his own history， enlisting the ghosts of queer figures and poets before him。 From a nineteenth-century cemetery in Liverpool to the pine forests of Gothenburg， Hewitt plumbs the darkness in search of solace and hope。
All Down Darkness Wide is an unflinching meditation on the burden of living in a world that too often sets happiness and queer life at odds， and a tender portrayal of what it's like to be caught in the undertow of a loved one's suffering。 By turns devastating and soaring， it is a mesmerising story of heartache and renewal， and a work of rare and transcendent beauty。
Reviews
Alex Ryan
，
Seán Hewitt’s All Down Darkness Wide is a beautifully written memoir that reflects on the author’s own coming out and his boyfriend’s struggle with mental health。 Hewitt weaves into his memoir the writing of other people he grows to revere， making this work part meditation on how art reflects and informs our reality。 At times slow moving， the story is nevertheless worthy of the reader’s time。
Lewis
，
Review to come
Morgan
，
All Down Darkness Wide is a beautifully written memoir that deals with topics and feelings I am not a stranger to。 It’s the kind of book where you are told the ending upfront but still reading it hoping for a different， happier， ending。 I picked this up not knowing anything about the author and now I am definitely going to have to pick up Hewitt’s other books。 Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Press for the e-arc。
Elizabeth
，
1
leah
，
such a melodic， moving， and haunting meditation on grief， love， mental illness， and queer discovery。 （rtc）
Colby
，
seán hewitt’s debut memoir all down darkness wide is a gorgeously written and evocative meditation on queerness， love， mental health， the natural world， and self-discovery in a world that feels dedicated to stand against us。 laced through seán’s own experiences are the poems and lives of two poets—gerard manley hopkins and karin boye—whose relationships to queerness reflect the shame， pain， and grief that we all grew up alongside and all forever hope we will be able to step away from。in chronicl seán hewitt’s debut memoir all down darkness wide is a gorgeously written and evocative meditation on queerness， love， mental health， the natural world， and self-discovery in a world that feels dedicated to stand against us。 laced through seán’s own experiences are the poems and lives of two poets—gerard manley hopkins and karin boye—whose relationships to queerness reflect the shame， pain， and grief that we all grew up alongside and all forever hope we will be able to step away from。in chronicling his journey from a childhood spent hiding to an adulthood mapping out the possibilities of his future， hewitt has written one of my favorite memoirs i’ve ever read。 this book found me when i needed it most， explained to me things i’ve never managed to find the words for， and set up shop in my heart for whenever i need to return to it for reassuring thoughts， for painful yet necessary reflections， or just to realize that in all the complex cartography of my life， i’m not alone。 there is someone who has experienced these feelings before and his words found me and lifted me up from the darkness for a while， so that i could breathe。there’s no greater gift a book can give than this。thank you to edelweiss+ and to penguin press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Leslie （LellieReads）
，
I don't know how a memoir managed to feel like a modern day Evelyn Waugh novel-- starting in a Victorian graveyard， the dark academia feel of cobblestone streets through colleges in Cambridge， to a post-graduate trip through South America， to the pine forests of Sweden-- but it did。 It reads so much like Brideshead Revisited or the Secret History that it was even more of a pleasure to read。 Seán is an incredible writer and his prose is so beautiful。 I can't wait to read his poetry collection now I don't know how a memoir managed to feel like a modern day Evelyn Waugh novel-- starting in a Victorian graveyard， the dark academia feel of cobblestone streets through colleges in Cambridge， to a post-graduate trip through South America， to the pine forests of Sweden-- but it did。 It reads so much like Brideshead Revisited or the Secret History that it was even more of a pleasure to read。 Seán is an incredible writer and his prose is so beautiful。 I can't wait to read his poetry collection now， because this memoir is stunning。Thank you to penguinpress for reaching out and sending an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review。 This book is beautiful。 。。。more
Aaron Williams
，
I cannot express how beautifully written this book is and how much it has affected me。 One of those rare books where you start casually reading and suddenly you're 100 pages in， totally engrossed。 Even though it's a memoir， at times it felt i was reading the story of my life。 It's going to be a while before this book's ghost will leave me。 I cannot express how beautifully written this book is and how much it has affected me。 One of those rare books where you start casually reading and suddenly you're 100 pages in， totally engrossed。 Even though it's a memoir， at times it felt i was reading the story of my life。 It's going to be a while before this book's ghost will leave me。 。。。more
Eoin Mulligan
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When I die， I want this added to a list entitled “things that changed his life。”This memoir， written by the poet Sean Hewitt， really is quite an achievement。 An ode to love， loss， poetry， queerness， shame， bodies， mental health， family， transformations， memory and the beauty of reclaiming something we didn’t lose， but purposefully left behind。
Ayesha the Great （Happier Than Ever）
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BOOK: I am a memoir about a gay Irishman and his lover-ME: TAKE ME TO CHURCH， I'LL WORSHIP LIKE A DOG AT THE SHRINE OF YOUR LIES- BOOK: I am a memoir about a gay Irishman and his lover-ME: TAKE ME TO CHURCH， I'LL WORSHIP LIKE A DOG AT THE SHRINE OF YOUR LIES- 。。。more
emma
，
hmmm。review to come / 3。5 stars---------------memoirs are books that are both true and not boring。 in other words the dream scenario（thanks to the publisher for the ARC）
Gwen
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Lovely language in the service of searing honesty。 He writes of men who haunt him still， and by extension， the very idea of haunting。 Hewitt allows us close enough to share the heartbreak which has too often been accepted as the only trajectory of a life like his。
Alwynne
，
“The great Muriel Rukeyser asked， “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life？ The world would split open。” And I think that could be said again。 What would happen if a queer person told the truth about their life？ Maybe the world might be queerer， might be （in the words of Hopkins） more “counter， original， spare， strange”， than we previously thought。”Poet， academic and Irish Times critic Seán Hewitt’s exquisitely-written memoir develops themes， and explores territory， that wil “The great Muriel Rukeyser asked， “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life？ The world would split open。” And I think that could be said again。 What would happen if a queer person told the truth about their life？ Maybe the world might be queerer， might be （in the words of Hopkins） more “counter， original， spare， strange”， than we previously thought。”Poet， academic and Irish Times critic Seán Hewitt’s exquisitely-written memoir develops themes， and explores territory， that will be familiar to anyone who knows his poetry: an intense connection with the natural world; meditations on mortality; his immense grief at the loss of his father; struggles with his identity and with what it is， or was， to grow up gay in an overwhelmingly heterosexual world， and at its centre his troubled relationship with his former partner Elias。 They met， fell in love and eventually moved to Elias’s home in Gothenburg， Sweden。 There they planned to live together while Elias studied and Hewitt worked on a thesis examining the work of Gerard Manley Hopkins。 At first everything went to plan but then Elias was overwhelmed by depression and thoughts of suicide， and both their lives underwent a momentous change。 Hewitt’s account of their time together， the guilt， the anguish， the uncertainty， is deeply moving， close to self-laceratingly direct， the beauty and precision of his prose almost at odds with the trauma he’s recounting。 Interwoven with Hewitt’s experiences are elements of the verse and life histories of two poets: Manley Hopkins whose queer desires were a lifelong source of torment and shame; and Swedish poet Karin Boyes whose death by suicide was precipitated by the death of the woman she loved。 The result’s an incredibly evocative， memorable and thought-provoking piece。 Highly recommended。 Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Penguin Press for an arc 。。。more
Jessie S
，
I flew through this book， blown away by the author’s lyricism and poignant descriptions。 Seán Hewitt’s background in poetry really reflects itself into his view of the world in these pages。At times joyful， other times meditative and searching， All Down Darkness Wide reveals so much about ourselves as human beings: how to reckon with an identity that you’ve had to repress， how to struggle with caring for a loved one with mental illness， and how to survive day to day。 It’s colorful and adventitiou I flew through this book， blown away by the author’s lyricism and poignant descriptions。 Seán Hewitt’s background in poetry really reflects itself into his view of the world in these pages。At times joyful， other times meditative and searching， All Down Darkness Wide reveals so much about ourselves as human beings: how to reckon with an identity that you’ve had to repress， how to struggle with caring for a loved one with mental illness， and how to survive day to day。 It’s colorful and adventitious， and one I couldn’t recommend more。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=All Down Darkness Wide
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=All Down Darkness Wide&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft