Against Interpretation and Other Essays

Listener Reviews

1. 3.0(1)

   The manner in which these essays are read does not truly emphasize the form: essays.

   If you, like me, fell in love with Sontag’s work because of On Photography, do not go back and listen to these essays. I felt like I was at a literary conference. And since she admits she even doesn’t agree with everything she wrote, and these essays are now 60 years old, the only way you should encounter this book is in text form if you are in a literary criticism class writing a paper summarizing criticism of criticism. Also… the manner in which these essays are read does not emphasize the form: essay. It’s almost jarring to hear the narrator pronounce French authors or Italian authors as if she has no accent at all. We all know Sontag is revered, and deservedly so, but as someone now retired, revisiting old haunts or selections I might have missed over the years, I was dissatisfied.

   Kenya Patton · October 18, 2024

2. 5.0(1)

   Synesthesia at Its Most Structured

   Each essay from Sontag builds on the last through harmonies, counterpoints, and ellipses into a melody of exposition. The goal? Unify the logos, ethos, and pathos of art as a reflection of the human experience, so as to advocate for a modern theory of aesthetic appreciation. The conclusions Sontag draws inform everything from how artists should approach outlines of works not-yet-started to the value governments and corporations place on ouevres. The voice talent / reading itself leaves a little to be desired but it's still overall good.

   Alanna Thornton · January 24, 2023

3. 3.0(1)

   Distracting Reader serious writing

   Sontag is smart and her writing will get your gears turning. The French was difficult to understand which was annoying

   Maddison Andrade · March 1, 2022

4. 2.0(1)

   Worthwhile as a historical document?

   She wrote from a place of looking at a world where things were just starting to open up in certain ways, and her perspective a lot of the time seems to be “wait, is this really as open as you think it is? Is it really possible to live without those traditional restrictions, or were our ancestors right that those restrictions are hard-baked into the fabric of the universe?” In a time some 50-60 years later where more things have opened up, but people — intellectually limited people who have never lived outside of America and Europe, never lived outside of the dominance of the tyranny of YHWH-worshippers — are still asking the same questions, doubting whether or not openness is really possible, these essays seem restrictive. On the other hand, no one asks deep questions at all anymore. They just live their lives with a fake façade of openness when deep down, they’re terrified of anything outside of the cultural boundaries they’ve been taught.

   Kassandra Marsh · February 27, 2022

5. 4.0(1)

   Excellent Essays Hurt By Labored Narrator

   I just don't get this narrator. It's almost like she's trying to channel Susan Sontag but Sontag spoke in an assured, even tone.....This Tavia Gilbert makes her sound somehow snobbish and unsure of herself. She really clings to the sound ending a sentence....maybe this is for enunciation but comes across labored, irritating and untrue to Sontag's speaking style.

   I've listened to Jennifer Van Dyck's reading on Sontag's journals and "On Photography". raksBooks PLEASE HAVE THESE RE-RECORDED with Jennifer Van Dyck.

   Jamie C. · November 21, 2020

6. 5.0(1)

   Against interpretation, like, literally.

   Sontag's ideas are way more spirituous than this interpretation by Tavia Gilbert. Not only that, but an additional detail: this narrator doesn't pronounce french properly and, since Sontag cites lots of french authors and ouvres, this fact takes me away from the listening every time the opportunity rises.

   Imani Kuhn · August 15, 2019