Susan Sontag dies

[neveronfriday]

Susan Sontag, Writer and Social Critic, Dies at 71

New York Times

I didn't put this one in politics on purpose.

Edited December 28, 2004 by deus62

[neveronfriday]

Over four decades, public response to Ms. Sontag remained irreconcilably divided. She was described, variously, as explosive, anticlimactic, original, trendy, iconoclastic, captivating, hollow, rhapsodic, naïve, sophisticated, approachable, abrasive, aloof, attention-seeking, charming, condescending, populist, puritanical, sybaritic, sincere, posturing, ascetic, voluptuary, right-wing, left-wing, mannered, formidable, brilliant, profound, superficial, ardent, bloodless, dogmatic, challenging, ambivalent, accessible, lofty, erudite, lucid, inscrutable, solipsistic, intellectual, visceral, reasoned, pretentious, portentous, maddening, lyrical, abstract, narrative, acerbic, opportunistic, chilly, effusive, careerist, sober, gimmicky, relevant, passé, facile, illogical, ambivalent, polemical, didactic, tenacious, slippery, celebratory, banal, untenable, doctrinaire, ecstatic, melancholic, humorous, humorless, deadpan, rhapsodic, aloof, glib, cantankerous and clever. No one ever called her dull.

[maren]

Oh -- this makes me sad. I haven't read her most recent books, but a couple of earlier ones had a big influence on me (Styles of Radical Will, On Photography, Illness as Metaphor, Notes on 'Camp'). I didn't think of them as a "big influence" at the time -- because they didn't "convince" me or "change my mind" -- but they were engaging ruminations that stuck with me.

In the early 90s I saw her in the audience of a dance performance I went to at BAM -- she's so recognizable -- she must have been used to the kind of look I gave her -- without saying anything, she looked me in the eye with a warm, wry smile that seemed to say, "yeah, we know each other."

Edited December 28, 2004 by maren

[sheldonm]

Over four decades, public response to Ms. Sontag remained irreconcilably divided. She was described, variously, as explosive, anticlimactic, original, trendy, iconoclastic, captivating, hollow, rhapsodic, naïve, sophisticated, approachable, abrasive, aloof, attention-seeking, charming, condescending, populist, puritanical, sybaritic, sincere, posturing, ascetic, voluptuary, right-wing, left-wing, mannered, formidable, brilliant, profound, superficial, ardent, bloodless, dogmatic, challenging, ambivalent, accessible, lofty, erudite, lucid, inscrutable, solipsistic, intellectual, visceral, reasoned, pretentious, portentous, maddening, lyrical, abstract, narrative, acerbic, opportunistic, chilly, effusive, careerist, sober, gimmicky, relevant, passé, facile, illogical, ambivalent, polemical, didactic, tenacious, slippery, celebratory, banal, untenable, doctrinaire, ecstatic, melancholic, humorous, humorless, deadpan, rhapsodic, aloof, glib, cantankerous and clever. No one ever called her dull.

...very sad indeed !

ps. I'm sure we've all been tagged with one or more of those labels !

[sheldonm]

Oh -- this makes me sad. I haven't read her most recent books, but a couple of earlier ones had a big influence on me (Styles of Radical Will, On Photography, Illness as Metaphor, Notes on 'Camp'). I didn't think of them as a "big influence" at the time -- because they didn't "convince" me or "change my mind" -- but they were engaging ruminations that stuck with me.

In the early 90s I saw her in the audience of a dance performance I went to at BAM -- she's so recognizable -- she must have been used to the kind of look I gave her -- without saying anything, she looked me in the eye with a warm, wry smile that seemed to say, "yeah, we know each other."

I also read her book (On Photography). Had no idea she was 71!

[king ubu]

This is really sad news

[SEK]

This is very sad news. Fortunately, she leaves a body of important and provocative work behind.

[Leeway]

In my view, she carried out the role of the public intellectual, a vital role that has few modern practioners of distinction. She was in the tradition of Lionel Trilling, Dwight Macdonald, Irving Howe, Alfred Kazin, et al. Sontag was an important member of the intelligentsia (to use a word that has more resonance in Europe and Russia than here).

[medjuck]

Oh no!. I first read Against Interpretation nearly 40 years ago when Marshal McLuhan recommended it in a class I was taking with him. I've been a fan ever since. Though I didn't always agree with her politically

I thought she towered above most other supposed intellectuals in the US.

She'll be missed and I can't think of anyone who will take her place.

[BruceH]

Something of shock!

RIP

[BFrank]

Oh no!. I first read Against Interpretation nearly 40 years ago when Marshal McLuhan recommended it in a class I was taking with him. I've been a fan ever since. Though I didn't always agree with her politically

I thought she towered above most other supposed intellectuals in the US.

She'll be missed and I can't think of anyone who will take her place.

You had a class with Marshal McLuhan?

That's pretty impressive, too.

[brownie]

Sad news. She was one of those writers whose articles and views are worth reading to catch new insights on so many subjects.

[medjuck]

You had a class with Marshal McLuhan?

That's pretty impressive, too.

Actually I took 2 from him ,and he was supposed to be on my MA thesis board but never showed up. I once got cornered by him on a train trip where he lectured me for an hour about

Dante-- whom I'd never read, and hence didn't really understand anything he said. I don't think McLuhan cared: he just wanted an audience so he could try out some new ideas.

[Dr_Dave]

For better or worse, "Against Interpretation" had a big impact on me, probably because I read it in 1970 when I was an impressionable 20-year-old.

"In place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art."

[Guy Berger]

There's an interesting symposium on the Nation from 1982 responding to a "controversial" speech Sontag made. Interesting though the whole thing is a little nutty.

Guy