Sontag
Tom Smith's analysis of Susan Sontag's death is spot-on:
A good essay on Susan Sontag. I haven't read anything by her since I stopped reading the New York Review of Books about 20 years ago, so I can't really comment on her evolution. What struck me about her death is how it marked the end of an era. The idea of people who live in New York or Paris and specialize in being intellectuals because they read so many deep books and are sensitive to many different forms of art seems antique now, like wearing goggles when you fly airplanes.Stuart Buck
posted by Stuart Buck at
9:16 AM
6 Comments:
Oh, I would not write off the idea of the intellectual all that easily, regardless of what one might have thought of Ms. Sontag and her ilk.
I think Tom Smith has in mind a certain category of pretentious and self-professed intellectuals, as opposed to the real deal. At least that's the distinction I would make.
Sorry, that last comment was from me.
Look I've blogged on my own skepticism that Sontag was anything earth-shaking; a well-read and decently-perceptive writer, sure; but anything more pushes the envelope so far as I can tell. We heard the same sort of lavish praise for Edward Said. (And neither one said anything, so far as I can find, of any depth or at all about cities, which is dirtectly in front of all of us, and so seems like somewhat of a gap in their worldview.) So I am skeptical, too.
BUT, at least people should base their crit on something solid. Why does her death bring out populist no-nothings who make up strawmen like "The idea of people who live in New York or Paris and specialize in being intellectuals because they read so many deep books and are sensitive to many different forms of art..."
Who the devil offers such an idea? It's such drivel. And so demeaning to the speaker.
Btw, that underlying essay about Sontag at Redstate is not bad at all and treats her fairly. In particular it puts Andrew Sullivan in his proper place (shallow end of the pool) for his mis-reading of Sontag and the creation of the Sontag Awards.
Tom Smith shouldn't be categorized as a "know-nothing." His comment is irreverent, to be sure; try to think about it in light of the old Partisan Review crowd in New York, Jacques Derrida in Paris, etc., etc.
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