A C Grayling
The Country of the Word
Susan Sontag’s reputation stands high in both her homelands – the United States of America and the republic of letters. She was a writer of choice skills, she was absolutely sincere in her commitment to ideals of justice and right in politics and international affairs, and all her work is animated by a strong controlling intelligence that was forthright, clear, and committed. Every one of these qualities is fully present in her last collection of essays, even though – as her editors, and her son David Rieff in his personal preface, tell us – it is likely that if she had lived she would have wished to polish them further.
Sontag saw herself as a literary figure, and this expression embraces and explains the variety of her work: four novels, a play, books about photography and illness, and collections of essays. As a commentator on politics and human rights she saw herself as a representative of the country of the
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'It’s long been known that there is an optimum reproductive window and that women enjoy a considerably shorter one than men. For both sexes this window is opening and closing earlier than it used to.' (£)
https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-end-of-babies
Sixty years ago today, the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter outer space. @Andrew_Crumey looks at his role in the space race.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/one-giant-leap-for-mankind
On the night of 5th July 1809, a group of soldiers kidnapped Pope Pius VII on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte. Munro Price looks at what happened next.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/bonaparte-meets-his-match