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sophoph's review against another edition
I will have to come back to this book. I didn’t realize how academically dense this would be, and I checked it out from the library when I should get my own copy to highlight + annotate. I want to finish this book, but right now I’m not able to absorb all the information and I’m only picking up bits and pieces. need to come back to this after I improve my reading skills a bit + get my own copy.
elcordobazo's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
mimosaeyes's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Opened my eyes to something that feels like it should have been obvious. I don't know most of the Orientalist scholars Said refers to, but I could still follow the arguments. Much to think about, regarding the sociology of knowledge itself, and of how culture is constructed.
mariebrunelm's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
The importance and scope of this essay cannot be overestimated.Edward W. Said, a Palestinian author, set out to describe, explain and discuss the huge concept that is Orientalism in a very nuanced and learned book that is very demanding but also very rewarding. Summarising those 400 pages would be ridiculous. Let me just say that this book, although it ends on a relatively optimistic note, opened my eyes to the historical and deep-rooted bias or filter with which colonising powers (England, France and the USA) consider what they refer to as “the East” without ever considering the myriad of cultures and societies this word encompasses. Orientalism was never really about knowing the civilisations it depicted, but rather about finding in them justifications or examples of the prejudices the Orientalists perpetuate.There are outrageous examples of blatant racism in both scholarly works and literature, which Said puts into context and discusses with a calm I certainly did not feel. I was a little frustrated that the author chose not to focus on art, but on the one hand the book would have been twice as big, and on the other hand, he gives many critical foundations on which to base future studies (either by him I believe, or certainly by other scholars).
ktopreads's review against another edition
it is very high level academic writing. i hope to finish it one day, but i am taking it off my reading list to give me some space to be reinterested. i will choose another book on palestine to read.