In 1979, jonathan cott, a founding contributing editor of rolling stone magazine interviewed sontag, first in paris and later in new york. As a critic, she became the most provocative and influential voice of her time. Sontag was born in new york city to jewish parents. Susan sontag is an exemplary witness to the fact that living a thinking life and thinking about the life one is. The truth of this is perhaps more evident in a susan sontag reader than in any of sontags individual books. When scholars write the history of the american short story in the late 20 th century, susan sontag will most likely be, at best, a footnote. Susan sontags essays against interpretation, on photography and illness as metaphor have established her as one of the. The proof is in the interview she gave to rolling stone in 1978, now published in its entirety by yale. Most writers i know have switched to word processors. Sontag is the thinker for my generation, thats for sure. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading susan sontag. How susan sontag taught me to think the new york times. The latter was something of a specialist subject for sontag, as her 1978 rolling stone interview with jonathan. Apr 05, 2011 chris lydon interviews susan sontag after the release of her 1992 novel the volcano lovers.
Jan 19, 2017 on december 8, 1981, the henry gallery association sponsored an evening with susan sontag. Now, more than three decades later and almost a decade after sontags death, the full, wideranging magnificence of their teteatete, spanning from literature and philosophy to illness and mental health to music and art, is at last released in susan sontag. Among many of her other projects, she directed becketts waiting for godot in sarajevo during the summer of 1993. For a psychologist, there are few questions that are as attractive as that concerning the relation of health and philosophy, and if he should himself become ill, he will bring all of his scientific curiosity into his illness. Susan sontag on how the false divide between pop culture and. Susan sontag was not only a great mind and outstanding intellectual person but also an entertaining and challenging discourse partner in any type of conversation. Susan sontag biography childhood, life achievements. Born in new york city, raised in arizona and california, educated at the university of chicago, harvard, oxford and the sorbonne, susan sontag constitutes a veritable challenge for any biographer. Reconsidering sontag takis magazine takis magazine.
When jonathan cott, a writer at rolling stone, interviewed susan sontag in 1978, the dark lady of american letters was at the very height of her strange and confounding fame. What pleases first at the sight of the plant world is its vertical upward direction. The mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. This is peoples fantasy when they come to america, a land of new horizons. As resnais imagination was subsequently to surpass itself in muriel, a. Jonathan cott susan sontag, one of the most internationally renowned and controversial intellectuals of the latter half of the twentieth century, still provokes. In the spirit of susan sontags lifetime commitment to young artistic voices, the susan sontag foundation honors talented emerging artists in a variety of disciplines and promotes the international exchange of language and culture. In 1978, jonathan cott, the founding editor of rolling stone magazine, best known for his conversations with bob dylan, john lennon, and leonard bernstein, interviewed susan sontag, first in paris and then in new york. The writer reflects on her bout with cancer, the fundamentals of love, and her desert childhood by jonathan cott the only possible metaphor one may conceive of for the life of the mind, wrote the late political scientist hannah arendt, is the sensation of being alive.
And her new book could not have been more timely, even though she started it long before the invasion of. Sontag, who died in 2004, was remarkably prolific, especially if you count her journals, which i consider ecstatic texts in and of themselves. Oscar wilde, in a letter against interpretation susan sontag the earliest experience of art must have been that it was incantatory, magical. Interview with susan sontag listen help listening with realaudio summary.
Susan sontag simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Susan sontag is an exemplary witness to the fact that living a thinking life and thinking about the life one is living can be complementary and energizing activities. Lewinskys interview on 2020, i could almost hear the chorus. Oct 22, 20 susan sontag was not only a great mind and outstanding intellectual person but also an entertaining and challenging discourse partner in any type of conversation. Its definitely a myth, but because people believe in it, it ends up being possible. Sontag, susan 1933 american novelist and essayist, author of death kit. Susan sontag was an american literary figure who was known for her liberal thinking, which reflected in her works. Do not sell my personal information the new yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with. Interviewing susan sontag for rolling stone arts utne. Poor susan sontag remembered that 911 took place in the context of specific. Susan sontag is an exemplary witness to the fact that living a thinking life and thinking about the life one is living can be complementary and.
Susan sontag 19332004, was the author of four novels and nine works of nonfiction. Hbos regarding susan sontag traces the life behind the. As we opened the apartment door, sontag was emptying some trash into a bin. Did susan sontag write her thenhusband philip rieffs first book, freud. January 16, 1933 december 28, 2004 was an american writer, filmmaker, philosopher, teacher, and political activist. In this clip, the late writer susan sontag talks to bill moyers about her book, regarding the pain of others, which examines how the images of war affect our perception of reality. Only a third of their twelve hours of discussion ever made. Check out a few of my favorite quotations from the book below.
Moral seriousness and gossipy skittishness from the. The writer selected a sampling of her work, meaning the choice both to reflect accurately a career and also. Born in new york city, raised in arizona and california, educated at the university of chicago, harvard, oxford and the sorbonne, susan. Speaking of ecstasy, sontag is also a figure of worship for a lot of writers, in part because of the many, many opinions she had on writing, and what good writing should be. This interview is excellent, and sontags words are inspiring. Susan sontag on literature and freedom brain pickings. In 1978 jonathan cott, a founding contributing editor of rolling stone magazine, interviewed sontag first in paris and later in new york. The complete rolling stone interview yale university press, 20, profiles one of the most internationally renowned and controversial intellectuals of the latter half of the twentieth century. Sontag is above all a writer, which is only to say that, though the form may differ, there is an essential unity in all her work. Art and consciousness susan sontag interviewed by bonnie marranca and gautam dasgupta, performing arts journal, 80 2005.
The rolling stone interview is a feature article in the american magazine rolling stone that sheds light on notable figures from the worlds of music, popular culture, or politics. Susan sontag whose new novel, in america, has just been published doesnt feel at home in new york, or anywhere else. Her words were always thoughtprovoking and engaging, often generating a lot of debate and earning her both praise and criticism in equal measure. She grew up in arizona and california, studied philosophy at the univ. Thanks to the yale university press for a superb edition.
Rereading susan sontags work vital, maddening chicago. Susan sontag is a powerful thinker, and a better writer, sentence for sentence, than anyone who now wears the tag intellectual. In an interview with rossiya 24, she explained her photography style. Its surprising how much of her thought is inspired by nietzsche. The complete rolling stone interview is ineffably brilliant in its entirety. Jan 01, 2005 reevaluation of sontags seminal essay against interpretation. Susan sontag has seen war close up in her long career as a writer and activist. With her exquisite prose, borrowed european sensibilities, and penchant for considering the cultural merits of sex, drugs, and rock n roll, susan sontag was an intellectual who commanded the.
Obviously, whatever interpretation is, sontag seems against it. The complete rolling stone interview jonathan cott on. Latest susan sontag quotes from interviews az quotes. Susan sontag, in your latest book, you write that the united states is a country where one can always start over in life. New york observer sontag crafts a novel of ideas in which real figures from the past enact their lives against an assiduously researched, almost cinematically vivid background. Susan sontag s essays against interpretation, on photography and illness as metaphor have established her as one of the. Susan sontag on books, selftranscendence, and reading in the age of screens the conscience of words. The complete rolling stone interview is an utter delight and absolute mustread for any susan sontag fan.
Ive been busy rereading it since xmas, and want to take this chance to set down some thoughts regarding it. The writer reflects on her bout with cancer, the fundamentals of love, and her desert childhood. Susan sontag was an incandescent presence in american culture, whether as essayist, fiction writer, filmmaker, or political activist. Rather than even attempt to synthesize sontags far ranging criticism, i have decided to concentrate on a single piece of criticism which has had a profound influence on the way many people analyze film, myself included. American writer 19332004 i havent been everywhere, but its on my list. This volume brings together four essential works of the 1960s and 70s.
Susan sontag when you found out that you had cancer four years ago, you immediately started thinking about your illness. The complete rolling stone interview that was published this year. Susan sontag on the wisdom of literature, the danger of opinions, and the writers task susan sontag on storytelling, what it means to be a moral human being, and her advice to writers. The film overflows with meanings of varying accessibility, and there are further meanings from relics and talismans on the set which the audience cant possibly know about. This interview took place in late july, 2000 at susan sontags penthouse apartment in chelsea on a sunny, tolerably hot day. Complement it with sontag on literature and freedom, the four people every writer must be, photography and aesthetic consumerism, writing, boredom, sex, censorship, and aphorisms, her radical vision for remixing education, her insight on why.
The rolling stone interview, in poague, conversations, p. May 23, 2012 over at pageturner, ive posted about susan sontags film criticism and the entries in her recently published journals that illuminate it one of these items is a fragment of a list, which i. Steve wassermans opus on susan sontag, critic and crusader. Maybe it is not the destructiveness of the volcano that pleases most, though everyone loves a conflagration, but its defiance of the law of gravity to which every inorganic mass is subject. Janis joplin the rolling stone illustrated history of rock n roll, 1980. Susan sontag born susan rosenblatt, january 16, 1933 december 28, 2004 was an american writer and political activist. Susan sontag questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on susan sontag. This 1978 interview with jonathan cott, published here in its entirety for the very first time, captures sontag at the height of her career, shortly after the publication of. Susan sontag quotes author of on photography page 6 of 18. The author and public intellectual wrestled with a new medium and a foreign language in her now restored first feature, duet for cannibals, a dry comedy. Like pier paolo pasolini, alain robbegrillet, and marguerite duras, susan sontag has come to filmmaking in the course of a career as a novelist and essayist. The complete rolling stone interview kindle edition by jonathan, cott. Born in new york in 1933, she was strongly associated with the 1960s counterculture and its more anarchistic aftermath in the 1970s, and this interview combines two meetings that took place in 1978. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
List of books and articles about susan sontag online. She never strikes me as pedantic, obscure or simplistic. During her most successful visit to seattle, she graciously agreed to an interview with jeffrey bishop to be published in this issue of insight. Our primary guide to bibliographic style was the chicago manual of style, 14th. When you found out that you had cancer four years ago, you immediately started thinking about your illness. Geoffrey movius speaks with susan sontag about photography, writing, and memory. Susan sontags seminal mid60s essay has come up several times at this site.
While working for rolling stone, leibovitz learned that she could work for magazines and. The interview was first published in the canadian journal of political and social theory cjpst volume 9, numbers 12, 1985. Her only collection of stories, i, etcetera, published. One impulse is to take bergmans masterpiece for granted. Author and human rights activist susan sontag, who just returned from sarajevo, talks about the war in bosnia and her commitment to helping in any way she can. It gets harder and harder to see susan sontag through the smoke of opinion. More than a commentator on her era, she helped shape it. Susan sontag farrar, straus and giroux farrar, straus and giroux. The rolling stone interview 1979 the writer reflects on her bout with cancer, the fundamentals of love, and her desert childhood. The complete rolling stone interview, jonathan cottwhose 1978 interview with sontag got chopped down by the magazine to onethird of its lengthremembers. Jeffrey bishop interviews susan sontag seattle, 1981. Just as i entered the building, sontags assistant was returning from some errands and we went up the elevator together. Since 1960 at least, with the breakthrough into new narrative forms propagated with most notoriety if not greatest distinction by last year in marienbad, audiences have continued to be educated by even more elliptical and complex work.
I think it has something to do with the fact that at last writing, which has been such an oldfashioned, artisanal activity, even on a typewriter, has now entered the central domain of modern experience which is that of making copies, being involved in the world of duplicates. Susan sontag on how the false divide between pop culture. A tale of two plagiarists the chronicle of higher education. Susan sontag, one of the most internationally renowned and controversial intellectuals of the latter half of the twentieth century, still provokes. The complete rolling stone interview, yale university press, 20, 168 pp, arg. I havent but im very curious about why people like it so much. Susan is widely regarded as the preeminent critic of our times. Andrew joseph pegoda on december 23, 20 2 i recently read jonathan cotts susan sontag. Hbos regarding susan sontag traces the life behind the critic susan sontag was known as the ultimate postwar new york. The complete rolling stone interview public library.
Sempre susan, a short memoir by sigrid nunez, who lived with sontag and rieff for a while in the 1970s, is the masterpiece of the i knew susan minigenre and a. For example, on baers table syberberg put a piece of wood from ludwigs hundinghutte, the playhouse at linderhof it burned down in 1945 inspired by the designs. For a psychologist, there are few questions that are as attractive as that concerning the relation of health and philosophy, and if he should himself become ill, he will. Em 1978, jonathan cott, um dos fundadores da revista rolling stone, entrevistou sontag pela primeira vez em paris e. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels. Her goal is always to define the truly revolutionary doctrine. The latter was something of a specialist subject for sontag, as her 1978 rolling stone interview with jonathan cott, published unexpurgated and at book length for the first time, makes clear. The rolling stone interview the writer reflects on her bout with cancer, the fundamentals of love, and her desert childhood.
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