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THE RECKONING Hedonism, generational despair, cul
tural nihilism, suicidal ideations and moral collapse have formed the backbone of Rob Doyle’s personal life and attendant literary explorations since his accomplished debut Here Are the Young Men back in 2014. However, with Threshold, his latest novel, Doyle may be closing a chapter on himself or version of himself. words Michael McDermott photo Al Higgins “I first tried magic mushrooms in my early twenties. I can’t remember the precise occasion, nor much about the trip, but it must have been pretty good or I wouldn’t have taken to them so enthusiastically afterwards. Before trying mushrooms, I had felt towards psychedelic substances the same sort of curiosity that drew me to philosophy, art and literature, particularly those varieties that trafficked in the mysterious, the sublime, the fantastical and the shocking. At the root of my interest in both drugs and art was the longing for an encounter with otherness, a seeking out of astonishment for its own sake.” It comes as a surprise to Rob Doyle when I mention how the dust jacket on his new novel Threshold, which boasts a translucent grey rectangle, reminds me of the sort of surface upon which lines could be racked up on or partaken from. He hadn’t looked at it this way until now. “It’s a mirror, a book about self, it’s a shimmering translucent kind of book with a kind of lysergic kind of quality to it. Why not have a mirror so the reader can perceive themselves – but by all means snort a line off it, I’d be more than honoured.” It’s the perfect accompaniment to the funhouse world of autofiction which he inhabits, a psychotropic sheen which illuminates and distorts. “Threshold is a record of the search in many of the wrong places – and some of the right places – for some sort of sustenance and way to stay sane, alive, mirthful and even hopeful in the midst of all of the carnage and anguish and brutality of life. It goes into some dark places in my own life and psyche,” says Doyle on a crisp, sunny, morning in January. His journey of discovery and enlightenment, aided by some drug consumption and experimentation, takes him around the world and is culled from Doyle’s extensive global travels upon completion of his Masters. He was, in the grand tradition of many travellers, a T.E.F.L. teacher-at-large. “I had lived-in experiences to draw from whether that was Buddhism or Ayahuasca and felt it would be a waste if I didn’t use them.” Threshold also sees Doyle explore his relationship with, and affections for, the philosophical musings of writers who aided his artistic blossoming and framed the concerns which informed his development as a writer. In particular, the work of Romanian writer E.M. Cioran, the French intellectual Georges Bataille and leading South American literary figure Roberto Bolaño. He becomes a ‘cultural tourist” travelling to their home places, gazing from the street into places they once lived or inspecting plaques acknowledging their physical footprint in locations. ➝ 33