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Brilliant!OK, so why put this on your "must read" list? To start, Mendelsohn is a brilliant critic who writes insightfully and without condescension to author, work or audience (reader, movie-goer, etc.). Even when he utterly demolishes his subject, he never descends to snark or gratuitous sniping. Many times, I got the sense of a man exasperated with how close these artists get to creating something of real meaning/value but keep missing the target.In his introduction, Mendelsohn explains the c...
The true measure of a critic is the extent to which the reader will follow him or her into subjects for which the reader has little intrinsic interest. For me, Mendelsohn is just such a critic because he always takes a narrow subject and broadens his critique to include aspects of the larger culture.
Daniel Mendelsohn is much, much smarter than I am and has a sophisticated perspective on whole areas of the culture (opera, say) of which I am almost entirely ignorant, I can't imagine a critic, though, more in line with my own peculiar enthusiasms. I wouln't've thought it was possible to read someone with astute things to say about Kill Bill and Thucydides, let alone with such generous sensibility and elegant prose style. I was a little less smitten, I suppose, with this collection than with
Daniel Mendelsohn observes in this collection's intro that as a critic, "however random the assignments you accept, you always end up writing your own intellectual autobiography." That's one of the reasons why this volume is so interesting -- reading his careful reviews of everything from The Lovely Bones to Oliver Stone's Alexander to a Broadway staging of The Glass Menagerie starring Jessica Lange and Christian Slater, Mendelsohn's particular proclivities and preoccupations gradually emerge. H...
So far this is awesome. I picked it out b/c the title and cover are awesome. The first essay is about The Lovely Bones and I knew how severely he trashed the book would indicate my ability to read the rest of the book. He pretty severely trashed it, I'd say. Pointing out, (accurately, I think) that the book is NOT really about "hard issues" like rape or murder, but about being happy and overcoming grief. Essentially.. sugar coating grief. Which, sas he points out, is useless because people DO gr...
A brilliant collection of essays from the classics to contemporary literature. There are also reviews of film and theater that are equally engaging. The section of essays on gay writers and their works, from Housman to Toibin, is exceptional. Mendelsohn is one of my favorite critics and he does not disappoint with these essays.
In light of Goodreads recent policy shift I would like to point out what is said in the essay “Nailed” – “. . the best literary criticism has often been a form of sadistic entertainment” (161).. This book is criticism. At times, it meant be seem mean. At times, you might disagree with it. Guess what? That happens. Get over it. The criticism really should be how well the idea –the thesis of the criticism – is supported. Here, each In and every one is wonderf
I've read a lot of reviews by this point in my life. It's a constrained art, honestly more of a craft. Without stepping outside it, Mendelsohn elevates it. He's our best critic/reviewer.
These unswerving essays are a pleasure to read. Mendelsohn examines the material with a jeweler’s eye to discern the real from the phony. In the first essay in this collection, he skewers the best-selling and well-reviewed “The Lovely Bones”, a book I’ve avoided which is narrated from heaven by a 14 year old murdered girl. Her ghost engineers the redemptive future of her family and friends and she even revisits and enters, like a succubus, the body of a friend to experience healing sex with a bo...
Beautifully written essays, primarily about popular entertainments based on Greek myth.
As a culture and art critic, the author spans this book of essays into several categories: heroines (such as various women in the movie "The Hours"), the heroics (such as movies "300" and "Troy"), closets (Oscar Wilde, Angels in America), Theater (The Producers), and lastly, war (Medea, etc). I did not read all the essays as I am not yet familiar with some of the subject matters, and would rather come to the essays when I have more than a casual acquaintances (as I know how influential a critic
Well, this isn't a literary novel, but it includes REVIEWS of a number of literary novels, together with films and theater performances (and even an opera!) Most appeared in the NY Review of Books. I really enjoy Mendelsohn's writing - he is incredibly erudite but wears it lightly. He writes in a dry, conversational tone which is ironic without being snarky. He has a wonderful ability to be critical (sometimes deeply, fiercely critical) in a respectful way -- to take issue with some fundamental
