Against Interpretation
Ratings5
Average rating3.4
15
Ratings5
Average rating3.4
"'Against Interpretation' was Susan Sontag's first collection of essays and is a modern classic. Originally published in 1966, it has never gone out of print and has influenced generations of readers all over the world. It includes some of Sontag's best-known works, among them "On Style", "Notes on 'Camp", and the titular essay "Against Interpretation", where Sontag argues that modern cultural conditions have given way to a new critical approach to aesthetics." ([Source][1])
[1]: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/data/book/unclassified/9780141190068/against-interpretation-and-other-essays
Reviews with the most likes.
OK. I picked this up because I really wanted to read “Notes on ‘Camp.'” Because I love camp. Duh. And I loved “Notes on ‘Camp'” and I loved a few other essays, the ones I understood. A lot of these essays are reviews and/or critiques of French films and philosophical treatises that I had not even heard of, let alone read. Sontag is brilliant obviously and I'm sure all the essays were good–they were readable and I felt like I got something out of them, even if I literally didn't know what she was talking about. But unless you, like me, feel extreme reluctance at book abandoning, you could probably just read “Notes on ‘Camp'” online somewhere and not read reviews of a bunch of foreign films from the '60s. Unless you like foreign films from the '60s, in which case, pick this up immediately.
