A revolutionary figure in the literary avant-garde of his time, Antonin Artaud (1896-1948) is now seen to be central to the development of post-modernism. His writings comprise verse, prose poems, film scenarios, a historical novel, plays, essays on film, theater, art, and literature, and many letters. Susan Sontag's selection conveys the genius of this singular writer.
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"Artaud matters. Even more than to the theater and literature, he contributes to our understanding of madness, of what it is like to be both a paranoid schizophrenic and a genius observing and describing this dementia. . . . We cannot fail to recognize and learn from what these writings evoke." -- John Simon, Saturday Review
"Artaud, who withdrew from the theatre but remained essentially an actor, came nearest to dramatising when he could project his imagination into another man's experience. . . . No one has written more lucidly or illuminatingly about the way van Gogh used madness, art and suicide to cope with an insufferable situation." -- Ronald Hayman, Encounter
"Insofar as the modern theater has come to be, for some people, an alternative to religion, this is largely Artaud's doing. . . . Miss Sontag's introduction, as one might expect, is full of brilliant formulations." -- John Weightman, The New York Times Book Review
"Artaud, who withdrew from the theatre but remained essentially an actor, came nearest to dramatising when he could project his imagination into another man's experience. . . . No one has written more lucidly or illuminatingly about the way van Gogh used madness, art and suicide to cope with an insufferable situation." -- Ronald Hayman, Encounter
"Insofar as the modern theater has come to be, for some people, an alternative to religion, this is largely Artaud's doing. . . . Miss Sontag's introduction, as one might expect, is full of brilliant formulations." -- John Weightman, The New York Times Book Review
From the Inside Flap
"Artaud remains one of the significant and influential theorists of modern theatre."--Gerald Rabkin, Rutgers University
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The theatre, life and writings of a brilliant lunatic,
By
This review is from: Antonin Artaud: Selected Writings (Paperback)
This isn't a book that you read from cover to cover. Find a subject that interests you. Then another. And then another. Soon you'll find yourself caught in his web of genius. His madness came from his endless spring of sanity that could no longer hold up under the insanity of the world he lived in. Genius suffers. He suffered too much. Years ago I saw a one man play "Artaud's Project" in Chicago. Best piece of theatre I've ever seen. This was my introduction to Artaud. This book captures this brilliant lunatic's crystal clear vision and pain. His letters are prehaps the highlight of this collection. This book is not for the masses, though, I wish it were. So much insanity and ignorance could be wiped out in a single stroke if people understood this man. Of course the sane appear to be insane in an insane world. If any of what I've said makes the least bit of sense to you this book is for you!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tome essential to all theatre artists,
By A Customer
This review is from: Antonin Artaud: Selected Writings (Paperback)
Studying Artaud is one way of taking a deep dive off into the realm of the unknown. His struggle to fully comprehend and describe lucidly his thought process and the clockwork of his soul; his obsessive desire and drive to break beyond the mundane level of median psycological theatre to rediscover the fiery roots and potent magic of the theatre event; and his visionary words---all of these combine to give us a man who was deep, profound and troubled---hence, utterly human, and truly inspirational to any theatre artist or artist in general. This translation of some of his most essential writings is essential to anyone who wishes to study the avant garde theatre. His influence is at times lucid and clearly defined; at other times, one sees that the myth of Artaud has distorted what the actual man wanted and worked for. In dealing with any artist who has created such a controversy (in his own time as well as in our time), one has to approach his work with the discipline of a tightrope walker. And Sontag's work provides the researcher with a straight, keen and powerful translation. Among the other translations of Artaud, this one is the best anthology available for the experienced researcher and the burning initiate. Read it as an athlete of the heart.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Artaud: what and where and how were you thinking?,
This review is from: Antonin Artaud: Selected Writings (Paperback)
Selected Writings isn't an easy read. I jumped around a lot. This stuff is the most intense stuff I've ever come across. Artaud is one of the most important writers to rationalise beyond logic. His ideas on Van Gogh prove, beyond doubt, that his sense of aesthetics was far more acute than his contemporaries. They always said weird stuff about Neitszche, how he was more 'in touch with himself' than other writers or, indeed, society at large. But Artaud explodes that idea, since he continually toys with his own sense of himself to the extreme. Reading Artaud for prolonged periods is like going beyond this (his) sense of self to another place, something completely new and agonizing. His ideas abouty the theatre are quite well established but there is other stuff here. The poems, monologues and just the sheer variety of 'inner scenarios' at play here really astounds you. 'To have done with the judgement of God' must be the most extreme form of self expressed mental torture around! (incidentally, am I correct in thinking there is a recording of this piece knockin' around?) Anyways, please take a slice of the insanity, you never know where it will lead you...
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