The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays Pdf, Epub, Ebook

THE HALL OF USELESSNESS: COLLECTED ESSAYS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

What made Leys most remarkable was his depth, his continuous effort to try to get to the bottom of things, to understand them, and to render them with the great simplicity proper of the people who really worked through them. Maeve Binchy. How Did I Get Here? Simon Leys died just short of two years ago. Simon Leys is one writer who is possessed of intelligence, wide learning, facility for the written word, and a clear minded logic that cuts through to the core of the matter. After his imprisonment on St Helena in , Napoleon manages to escape, having left an imposter, a close double, in his place. We are experiencing technical difficulties. I imagine Simon would have very little patience for the no-sacrifice, lip-service, sentimentality posing as critical thinking and actual involvement that seems to be all the rage today, facilitated as it is by the bully-pulpit-in-every- pot, medium of the internet. Continuity is not ensured by the immobility of inanimate objects, it is achieved through the fluidity of the successive generations. These are matched with his own highly-quotable phrases, sentences and whole paragraphs. If one did not already come to the conclusion from what I have just written, let me point out that Leys was also a Christian. Rarer still that that person would be a translator of Chinese. This collection is a collection of all of Leys' finest es Simon Leys or Pierre Ryckmans was a Belgian-Australian writer, professor of Chinese literature at University of Sydney, translator, sinologist and, frankly, an all round man of the arts. By sharing his thoughts with us, we not only get those thoughts but we also get a fine example of how to engage with the world, respectfully, intelligently, compassionately, all through clear, controlled writing. Oct 12, Inna rated it it was amazing. With complete sincerity, I adopt other people's opinions and thus give them a misleading impression of agreement. Henry Darger. Leys is a brilliant reader - insightful, irreverent, and deeply in love with the art of writing. Add to Cart. As it happens, Leys is famous for having pointed out the dark side of the People's Republic of China at a time when doing so was controversial among Western intellectuals. The Sancho who followed Quixote for so long, with skepticism, with perplexity, with fear, also followed him with fidelity. Cahier Series 1 - 10 of 23 books. The section on China was very illuminating for me, with quite deep discussion of Chinese poetry, art and calligraphy, along with Chinese attitudes to the past, and the use and mis-use of Confucius Leys has published a translation of the Analects. And it is Sancho Panza who will vouch for this reality. Jesus preached to taxfarmers? David Shields. View 1 comment. Michel Foucault. Norman Lebrecht. You need to provide evidence of professional training even to obtain the modest position of street-sweeper or dog-catcher, but no one questions your competence when you wish to become a husband or a wife, a father or a mother- and yet these are full-time occupations of supreme importance, which actually require talents bordering on genius. Patric rated it it was amazing. It also gives us ideals by which to judge them. Cultural i A collection of great essays, book introductions, reviews, addresses, with a wide range of topics from Don Quixote through George Orwell to Georges Simenon, from Chinese calligraphy to the Khmer Rouge and on and on. The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays Writer

Thus, my desire to spend time with this work was intensified during every minute that I was unable to read it. I find myself jotting down sentences, sending choice quotations to friends, and in general, hoping the book won't end at least not too quickly. When applied anywhere else, it is death-- for truth is not democratic, intelligence and talent are no democratic, nor is beauty, nor love--nor God's grace. But that only makes his splenetic attacks on the intellectuals who covered up the famines and genocides of China and Cambodia more bizarre. Or perhaps I should not try to disguise the fact: what follows is not much of a book review. Jan 03, Jim Coughenour rated it really liked it Shelves: essaysforautodidacts , chinesepoetry. Additional Information. His journey with Gide is so full of well, Gide, that by the end of it, I was almost exhausted emotionally from spending the time I did with the man. Toggle Sliding Bar Area. Download Hi Res. Simon Leys' collection of essays is a brilliant survey of so many unique minds, voices, ideas, movements, observations, and personalities; some more well known than others throughout history. I sat for afternoons on end, reading pages, and pondering pages, my journal alongside me for company. Cultural i A collection of great essays, book introductions, reviews, addresses, with a wide range of topics from Don Quixote through George Orwell to Georges Simenon, from Chinese calligraphy to the Khmer Rouge and on and on. A collection of great essays, book introductions, reviews, addresses, with a wide range of topics from Don Quixote through George Orwell to Georges Simenon, from Chinese calligraphy to the Khmer Rouge and on and on. The market demands that contemporary world literature ignore contemporary injustices. It has the flavour of a parable as Leys examines identity and the power of personality. This guy was very witty and intelligent RIP , it is sad he is not well-known. They kept me from being a dupe. Because of the goodness, I must overlook the bad. This book is a collection of essays and speeches that Leys the pen-name of Pierre Ryckmans, a well regarded Sinologist has written and given over the last thirty years or so. The concept must be destroyed. One mistake must be avoided. Leys highlights issues around the cult of personality that are equally as relevant today as when it was written in the mids. David Shields. Another who was vexed by the tale as originally told was Nabokov. His Catholicism informs his interactions with Chesterton, Waugh, and Christopher Hitchens and his skepticism informs h It has taken me awhile to get through the close to five hundred pages of these wonderful essays. In he delivered the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Boyer lectures. It slightly marred by enjoyment of this otherwise wonderful book. View 2 comments. I haven't edited it. Leys uses Don Quixote as an example. A truly democratic education is an education that equips people intellectually to defend and promote democracy within the political world; but in its own field, education must be ruthlessly aristocratic and high-brow, shameless geared toward excellence. Only yesterday, it seems, he was still a tiny kid, and now he is bald, with a big moustache; a married man and a father! An inspired work is one which has by its very definition escaped its author; this creates the danger that the author will want to recapture it and strive maladroitly to regain control over it. Probably a review brought Simon Leys, the Belgian writer long resident in Australia, born Pierre Ryckmans, to my attention, though I long ago had heard of his Chinese Shadows and thought of him as, in his words, a Sinologist. I believe I have read every essay by now, some surely more than twenty times. Leys will always live on in writing. Therefore, all progress depends on the loser. I have laughed more in the last two weeks than I had in two years. He is a challenging, thought-provoking and well-equipped critic and essayist. The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays Reviews

Now I feel like I know Leys very well -- for several weeks he has been a constant, endearing companion in my life. Paperback —. And do we really need another snide evisceration of Said's already-snide Orientalism? Leys is a brilliant reader - insightful, irreverent, and deeply in love with the art of writing. With this conflicting dilemma of being boring and good at the same time, one is reminded of the old cliche "you can't judge With the witty and humble title of the book "The Hall of Uselessness"; fun, intelligence, great writing, and entertainment are sure to ensue. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Contact Contact Us Help. Jan 03, Jim Coughenour rated it really liked it Shelves: essaysforautodidacts , chinesepoetry. Fauber rated it it was amazing. Error rating book. What sets Leys apart and amplifies his value to international intellectual life is his linguistic bridging. It was a great read, whether you end up being convinced by Leys or not. Ian Wallace. Victor Hugo is a Trumpian but endearing figure of French literature. Cahier Series 9. Throughout, The Hall of Uselessness is marked with the deep knowledge, skeptical intelligence, and passionate conviction that have made Simon Leys one of the most powerful essayists of our time. The book is as good as reading a well written fiction and non-fiction at the same time, it is a talent rarely found and executed so intellectually elegantly. Return to Book Page. Brilliant - an excellent introduction to the thinking and writings of this rare polymath and genuine renaissance man. He takes informed stands when appropriate and wanders to and fro wh Simon Leys is an interesting writer. A Literature of Images. Having spent a decade or so in Asia, I realized the essays on China might be less interesting to those without th Probably a review brought Simon Leys, the Belgian writer long resident in Australia, born Pierre Ryckmans, to my attention, though I long ago had heard of his Chinese Shadows and thought of him as, in his words, a Sinologist.

The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays Read Online

The concluding 'Fable from Academe' is woefully shallow, unfunny and unsubtle. Praise What made Leys most remarkable was his depth, his continuous effort to try to get to the bottom of things, to understand them, and to render them with the great simplicity proper of the people who really worked through them. A broom? Yet he does so almost entirely using others' words; his powers of quotation were without equal. Wouter van der Veen. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by:. His defense of Catholicism comes from the same impulse and thus is deeply sympathetic. Friend Reviews. Simon Leys is a charming writer, and can enliven almost any topic. Having eyes open to the truth and such a lack of fucks to be able to tell the French avant-garde to shove it, were not given to everybody. As it happens, Leys is famous for having pointed out the dark side of the People's Republic of China at a time when doing so was controversial among Western intellectuals. Jul 09, William Baker rated it it was amazing Shelves: exceptional-featstars. The Hall of Uselessness is the most extensive collection of Leys's essays to be published to date. Even if Leys has earned the right to crow at his detractors, it isn't edifying — a risk he recognizes but cannot entirely forgo. The whole essay could be summarised by the words 'in my day By now, that observation seems less an insight than a straightforward fact. This book is a collection of essays and speeches that Leys the pen-name of Pierre Ryckmans, a well regarded Sinologist has written and given over the last thirty years or so. Readers also enjoyed. My favorite in this collection is "The Imitation of Our Lord Don Quixote", because it speaks about the reality of fiction--that it's value is that it conveys , not a message, but life. In that case, we can't But they are nevertheless well worth reading, not least for revisiting the Mao worship that so blinded the left in the west. The concept must be destroyed. Continuity is not ensured by the immobility of inanimate objects, it is achieved through the fluidity of the successive generations. Good evening! Mar 27, Leticia Supple rated it really liked it Shelves: essays. These stereotyped forumlas are themselves filled with conventional elements — trees, rocks, clouds, buildings, figures — whose treatment is standardised in painting handbooks that are straightforward catalogues of forms. With complete sincerity, I adopt other people's opinions and thus give them a misleading impression of agreement. Way back in I got entangled in an argument with a hysterical seminary student.

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