( 5 reviews )
-
Posted: Jul 19 2007
It is easy to get off on the wrong foot with Said if you are distracted by ideology and feel yourself threatened. What one has to do is look beyond the politics for long enough to see Said for what he is, namely, an intellectual who has devoted his life to learning. This is terribly rare these days. Sontag held the spot light for years as America's premier intellectual. Gore Vidal still has a role to play, Edmund Wilson and Lionel Trilling both deserve mention, as do others, but in the end we are talking about a handful of people who can seriously be compared to the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre. American academics may be intellectual but they are rarely if ever intellectuals. I am not certain why, but Said, an expert on music among other things, succeeded in creating this role for himself. These essays provide a great introduction into the breadth of his thought. Like all intellectuals, he has his moments of stupidity and can be blindingly prejudiced, but then again so could Edmund Wilson and Sartre himself. What becomes apparent with intellectuals is that all of life gets submitted to intellectual scrutiny. There is none of this, "That's not my field" stuff. Everything, including Philly steak sandwiches, gets analyzed. The erudition is impressive, but then finally it is love that stands out, not learning. Said is a lover of life, and that, ladies and gentlemen, can't be taught.
-
( 8 of 13 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 28 2002
This book takes you onto a spectacular and highly satisfying intellectual journey. Many essayists set up their tent with the first couple of paragraphs and then spend the rest of the time just rearranging the furniture inside. With Said, one never knows what point he might make next, what brilliant new connection will be created before our eyes. You can tell by reading this collection how Said won his reputation as a fantastic lecturer and educator. I guess this is why Columbia University stuck by him when he was being vilified by his enemies for championing the Palestinian cause and demanding the end of Israeli occupation. Buy it, read it, enjoy!
-
( 5 of 15 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 6 2002
The essay is a text that is closer to what we mortals can write than the book is close. And yet, it is all the more amazing to witness Said's attempts at a form I'm known to attempt. Because he can simply say things I cannot say. His writing is pyrotechnical. As Zappa would say, it's "stunt writing". It's not only worth reading, it's worth memorizing. As Said says, "Extraordinary varieties of diversity are open to text." Some people can take these simple words we all know and link them in magical series. They have figured out how to do this. They've been told secrets few have been told.
