The Invisible World Is in Decline

Don Precosky teaches English at the College of New Caledonia and is the
co-editor of Four Realities: Poets of Northern B.C.

The Invisible World Is in Decline is a book of prose meditations, with one single-paragraph meditation per page. The meditations touch on a number of topics including relationships, nature, technology, communications, information theory, and “the invisible world.” What is particularly interesting about this book is the way it draws upon images from the new electronic technology. Whiteman is especially fond of metaphors in which he compares things from life or nature with things from technology. He says, for example, “The world is an invasion like television” (p. 1) and “Sex is perfect reception on a day of snowstorms” (p.2). Are we seeing a new influence entering Canadian writing? This may well be a pioneer work. Whiteman reminds me of John Donne, meditating on old faith and new science. Unfortunately, his paragraphs are not always sufficiently lucid and they do not have the effect of surprising with their aptness or sudden insight, which is one of the strengths of the genre.