For Luiselli, it is that liminal space between the words (“pas pas paspaspas pas”) that reveals the human, uncovering territory closely tied in feel and form to a baby joyfully exclaiming “mama” or “papa” for the first time, anchoring us to some lifelong continuity, and becoming the ultimate measure of the silence we all endure to some degree while occupying this planet.
This is at once wildly roundabout and almost rudely to the point. Those who would like to reduce the world and life to something earlier and smaller than they seem to be should skip genes and molecules. So far as we humans are concerned the world and life are encapsulated in the awe and misunderstanding, confusion and frustration, we experienced before we could fluently speak.
It seems to me that there is something extravagantly silly in the expression "liminal landscapes". Would the late pontiff's book impressed more with the title "Superseding Liminal Hope"?
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