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sureiken's review against another edition
4.0
This essays have a Borgean Je ne se quais. I enjoyed this collection very much
normt's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
simazhi's review against another edition
5.0
Basically the words of a genius. If you are a sinologist or interested in Chinese culture and some well-thought-out reflections on 'China' as a whole, this is your pick.
keerthana_p's review against another edition
5.0
i’m a bit torn on this one; i enjoyed the portions on China and Literature immensely but was oftentimes bored with the rest of it. some genuinely excellent essays in here though, Leys has an enviable gift for political commentary and literary criticism (which you might have gauged by now are two of my main pulls in his writing)
“Mao is the Marx what Voodoo is to Christianity” is certainly a contender for all-time favourite line
“Mao is the Marx what Voodoo is to Christianity” is certainly a contender for all-time favourite line
innashtakser's review against another edition
5.0
Collection of erudite, witty and deeply human essays. Leys is a brilliant reader - insightful, irreverent, and deeply in love with the art of writing. His essays on various writers and their work are a pleasure to read. So are the essays about China, about seamen (whether literary or real) and about the state of higher education. His protests against the oppression in China and in Cambodia come from a deeply humanist impulse. His defense of Catholicism comes from the same impulse and thus is deeply sympathetic. I could argue about his protest against the ban of smoking in public places. But then, I could argue about some other things as well. The thing about Leys is that he starts a conversation with his readers and, no matter what it is about, the conversation is fascinating. Which is the best thing I could say about any essay writer.
ilovewongkarwai's review against another edition
4.0
Me tardé más de un año en terminar este libro y, al final, creo que ésa es la mejor forma de leerlo: poco a poco. Estoy segura de que me habría gustado mucho menos si hubiese leído el libro sin pausar por semanas o meses porque muchos de los ensayos, además de tratar los temas que ya había leído en La felicidad de los pececillos, son repetitivos dentro de esta colección. Pero bueno, pues lo leí y así y tuve Simon Leys para muchas noches o días en los que sentía que quería leer algo pero no estaba segura de qué; desde ensayos sobre Balzac, Victor Hugo y muchas muchas páginas dedicadas a Chesterton, hasta el mar, la música, la literatura occidental, la traducción, el ocio y el acto de leer, pasando por diferentes aspectos de la historia y cultura de China, siempre abrí este libro y me encontré con algo nuevo. Quizá eso es lo que más me gusta y admiro de Simon Leys: sabía muchísimas cosas, seguro un montón de ellas inútiles, pero habla de ellas como si fueran la cosa más interesante del mundo, sin importar si las repite una y otra vez, porque la verdad es que siempre está diciendo algo nuevo.
Leer The Hall of Uselessness fue como visitar muchas tardes a un abuelo que ha leído y visto tanto que, ya en sus últimos años, decide compartir contigo historias sobre lo que vivió, lo que aprendió y lo que piensa. Y yo quiero mucho a mi abuelito Simon.
Creo que Acantilado lo editó el año pasado en español como "Breviario de saberes inútiles", por si quieren echarle un ojo :) vale mucho la pena.
Leer The Hall of Uselessness fue como visitar muchas tardes a un abuelo que ha leído y visto tanto que, ya en sus últimos años, decide compartir contigo historias sobre lo que vivió, lo que aprendió y lo que piensa. Y yo quiero mucho a mi abuelito Simon.
Creo que Acantilado lo editó el año pasado en español como "Breviario de saberes inútiles", por si quieren echarle un ojo :) vale mucho la pena.
blackoxford's review against another edition
5.0
Critical Reality
Two approximate descriptions of the indescribable Simon Leys: Harold Bloom without the arrogance or the Shakespearean idolatry; or Terry Eagleton with an understanding of Asian as well as continental culture. With the wit, erudition and style of both. The unique can't be categorised. And Leys is certainly that: a unique literary and social critic.
Fiction, in fact all writing, for Leys is depiction of reality as opposed to the expression of truth, which is an entirely different matter (science is after all fiction of a particular genre). Poetry as the apotheosis of fiction is the grasping of reality, the naming of what actually is. Literary criticism is the poetic uncovering of a reality that even the author of the work criticised may be unaware of. Since reality provides an infinite scope for story-telling, neither fiction nor its criticism has any obvious boundary and therefore leads to social commentary.
This view on the world produces lots of profoundly engaging judgements on European literature and the society that produces it: Balzac displays the aesthetic sense of a prosperous Caribbean pimp. Victor Hugo is a Trumpian (but endearing) figure of French literature. Malraux is essentially phony [sic]. The orientalist Edward Said is a Palestinian scholar with a huge chip on his shoulder. Roland Bathes bestows a new dignity upon the age-old activity of saying nothing at great length.
Leys's judgements of are perhaps even more interesting for Europeans who are novices in Chinese literature: the persistence in Chinese culture of spirituality within a landscape largely devoid of material ancient monuments, the self-expressiveness of writing per se as an artistic and quasi-sacred frame for literary content, the modernity of Confucian thought in its openness and adaptability, China itself as a sort of recipe for cosmic order with the main ingredient as a virtue ethics that could come from Thomas Aquinas, the lethally seductive charm of Zhou Enlai, Mao's complete lack of personal charisma, Communist literature as rhinoceros sausage.
Simon Leys died just short of two years ago. His legacy is profoundly rich.
Two approximate descriptions of the indescribable Simon Leys: Harold Bloom without the arrogance or the Shakespearean idolatry; or Terry Eagleton with an understanding of Asian as well as continental culture. With the wit, erudition and style of both. The unique can't be categorised. And Leys is certainly that: a unique literary and social critic.
Fiction, in fact all writing, for Leys is depiction of reality as opposed to the expression of truth, which is an entirely different matter (science is after all fiction of a particular genre). Poetry as the apotheosis of fiction is the grasping of reality, the naming of what actually is. Literary criticism is the poetic uncovering of a reality that even the author of the work criticised may be unaware of. Since reality provides an infinite scope for story-telling, neither fiction nor its criticism has any obvious boundary and therefore leads to social commentary.
This view on the world produces lots of profoundly engaging judgements on European literature and the society that produces it: Balzac displays the aesthetic sense of a prosperous Caribbean pimp. Victor Hugo is a Trumpian (but endearing) figure of French literature. Malraux is essentially phony [sic]. The orientalist Edward Said is a Palestinian scholar with a huge chip on his shoulder. Roland Bathes bestows a new dignity upon the age-old activity of saying nothing at great length.
Leys's judgements of are perhaps even more interesting for Europeans who are novices in Chinese literature: the persistence in Chinese culture of spirituality within a landscape largely devoid of material ancient monuments, the self-expressiveness of writing per se as an artistic and quasi-sacred frame for literary content, the modernity of Confucian thought in its openness and adaptability, China itself as a sort of recipe for cosmic order with the main ingredient as a virtue ethics that could come from Thomas Aquinas, the lethally seductive charm of Zhou Enlai, Mao's complete lack of personal charisma, Communist literature as rhinoceros sausage.
Simon Leys died just short of two years ago. His legacy is profoundly rich.
kastelpls's review against another edition
4.0
The most helpful useless book. Have it as your companion for perusal during lazy periods.
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