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A review by ahc
Debriefing: Collected Stories by Susan Sontag
5.0
"Now I take a deeper breath. Readying myself, ready, faltering. My longing is pithed. It lies at hand, in words.
Turn up the halogen lamp. there's not enough light in this room.
Love, please go on writing. Your letters will always reach me. you can write me in your real, your littlest script. I will hold it to the light. I will magnify it with my love."
This is my first time reading Sontag and I'm absolutely blown away. I don't think I've ever read a better essay collection. Sontag writes about things without saying them outright, if that makes sense. She is able to speak to universal experience by writing through immensely personal stories. Her stories are at the same time visceral and logical; everyday and intimate; detached and feverish. This is borderline incoherent but I feel like I'm in a trance from her writing.
What I'm confused about is how little mention is made of Sontag in the "best American writers" discussions. Maybe I'm late to the game, but I first heard of Sontag through the Met Gala's "Camp" theme a few years back. And after briefly combing through articles on the Beat Generation, best American authors, authors that best highlight the American experience, I didn't see her name on any list. Which is quite striking to me because she traverses the American experience much better, in my opinion, than the "On the Road" observations of Kerouac.
Anyway, if you're reading this review, you need to read this book immediately.
Turn up the halogen lamp. there's not enough light in this room.
Love, please go on writing. Your letters will always reach me. you can write me in your real, your littlest script. I will hold it to the light. I will magnify it with my love."
This is my first time reading Sontag and I'm absolutely blown away. I don't think I've ever read a better essay collection. Sontag writes about things without saying them outright, if that makes sense. She is able to speak to universal experience by writing through immensely personal stories. Her stories are at the same time visceral and logical; everyday and intimate; detached and feverish. This is borderline incoherent but I feel like I'm in a trance from her writing.
What I'm confused about is how little mention is made of Sontag in the "best American writers" discussions. Maybe I'm late to the game, but I first heard of Sontag through the Met Gala's "Camp" theme a few years back. And after briefly combing through articles on the Beat Generation, best American authors, authors that best highlight the American experience, I didn't see her name on any list. Which is quite striking to me because she traverses the American experience much better, in my opinion, than the "On the Road" observations of Kerouac.
Anyway, if you're reading this review, you need to read this book immediately.