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A review by steve_t
At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches by Anne Jump, David Rieff, Paolo Dilonardo, Susan Sontag
4.0
There's a lot to like about this book. I love the first few essays, where Sontag writes so passionately about literature that my "Want to Read" list has grown. Her passion about sharing these great books was very nice. I also love her essay on translation.
Some of her essays felt like they had unfinished ideas, which is fair since the the book was published posthumously, so I can't judge on this merit. I disagree with the last essay where she complains that with books that involve reader choice, the author can't craft an important story that is worth telling with that individual voice. It reminded me of Ebert's critique that games can't be art. But when I think of video games, there is player choice, but story can still exist. Outer Wilds comes to mind because I am playing it now. It is open world so players can choose to go anywhere at anytime. They enter the story at any point, but the story can't be changed (though arguably a player can finish the game without going through the entire story, like how a reader can speed read a book). But players who enjoy the act of exploring and getting to know a game in and of itself will experience the story and be moved. I guess what I wanted to say was that writers and artists can consider reader/player action, while still telling the story the writer/artist wanted to tell. The compromise that Sontag seems to assume doesn't exist for me.
Great series of essay, very original thoughts. I'll have to read more by Sontag.
Some of her essays felt like they had unfinished ideas, which is fair since the the book was published posthumously, so I can't judge on this merit. I disagree with the last essay where she complains that with books that involve reader choice, the author can't craft an important story that is worth telling with that individual voice. It reminded me of Ebert's critique that games can't be art. But when I think of video games, there is player choice, but story can still exist. Outer Wilds comes to mind because I am playing it now. It is open world so players can choose to go anywhere at anytime. They enter the story at any point, but the story can't be changed (though arguably a player can finish the game without going through the entire story, like how a reader can speed read a book). But players who enjoy the act of exploring and getting to know a game in and of itself will experience the story and be moved. I guess what I wanted to say was that writers and artists can consider reader/player action, while still telling the story the writer/artist wanted to tell. The compromise that Sontag seems to assume doesn't exist for me.
Great series of essay, very original thoughts. I'll have to read more by Sontag.