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scf2ke's review against another edition
5.0
I knew as soon as I started this book it would be important to me....well worth the length...carried the heavy thing around everywhere because I loved it so much ....I learned a lot about Sontag, with only baseline knowledge from reading her famous Writings on camp, diaries etc...I did not realize what a complex and multifaceted person she was...she affected many people, and this book has certainly left me with a lasting impression on life, the pursuit of making and learning alongside each other...Everyone will take something from the stories presented within the framework of Sontag... MUST read 2020 Book...
yvespiders's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This is one of the better biographies I've read, as it is well researched and it highlights Sontag's accomplishments without shying away from her flaws. Though this tome is quite lengthy, I found the writing to be accessible and the book was able to sustain my attention.
But there seems to be a very "judgy" and almost sensationalized tone from biographer Benjamin Moser, particularly when the book exposes Sontag's personal, intimate life. What really irked me was Moser's pseudoscientific attempts to psychoanalyze Sontag. Psychology is outside of Moser's professional boundaries and expertise, so his constant "Freudian" connections between Sontag's problems and her issues with her toxic mother were insufferable and cringey.
But there seems to be a very "judgy" and almost sensationalized tone from biographer Benjamin Moser, particularly when the book exposes Sontag's personal, intimate life. What really irked me was Moser's pseudoscientific attempts to psychoanalyze Sontag. Psychology is outside of Moser's professional boundaries and expertise, so his constant "Freudian" connections between Sontag's problems and her issues with her toxic mother were insufferable and cringey.
jasmijn02's review against another edition
3.0
Ik heb echt zeer gemengde gevoelens over dit boek. Moser heeft ontegenzeglijk een monnikenklus geklaard, dat moet gezegd worden. Maar ik had gehoopt dat ik Sontag interessanter, of misschien vooral sympathieker, zou vinden dan ze in dit boek wordt afgeschilderd. Het was gewoon niet zo'n hele leuke vrouw, met name natuurlijk omdat ze enorm met zichzelf en haar jeugd / moeder in de knoop zat, maar toch. Ik hou heel erg van boeken over de New Yorkse intellectuele en kunstscene uit de vorige eeuw (leest allen vooral Just Kids van Patti Smith, of Girl in a Band van Kim Gordon!), maar eigenlijk maakt dit boek je ook daar niet veel wijzer over. Waar het voor mij interessant werd, was daar waar het echt over Sontag zelf ging, als mens. Maar te vaak verzandt het boek in beschrijvingen van haar essays, van boeken, of duidingen door de auteur van haar karakter.
viclucas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
ohjilla's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Insanely well researched, if a little long. I've only read a few of her books, and Sigrid Nunez's accounts of her, but I was both conflicted about my feelings about her, and often surprised by what I read. Her writings aren't tender or sentimental, but I didn't know how truly awful she could be. That said, I'm always interested in depictions of alternative motherhood. She's polarizing, but fascinating.
catyzhang's review against another edition
5.0
Should be given five stars for the sheer ambitiousness of the project, honestly. Moser is a skilled biographer, and I learned so much about Sontag's life. Agree w/ the broad strokes of Parul Sehgal's review in NYT though: he can get a little heavy handed when he weighs into debates, and I'm not sure I wanted so much attention to be on Susan Sontag the myth as opposed to her writing