Customer Reviews

The Edward Said Reader

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This book is a compilation of a number of works from Edward Said's career. It contains excerpts on subjects such as literary criticism, orientalism and the Palestine-Israel "problem." He does a good job at engaging those "critics" that came before him, and either disagreeing or continuing where they left off. His writing style is more like that of a philosopher than a literary critic. This book is not an easy read, and having a background in other philosophical readings is a must. While the book does not explore any one topic deeply, for those readers looking to find Said's opinions and arguments on a number of different subjects it is a good read.

I think the best way to understand Said is to see him as an admirer of culture, especially western literature, but an uneasy admirer. Said was not born in one of the European capitols but in Egypt and so he grew up well aware of the east/west conflict & nowhere was that conflict more apparent than in the Palestine and Israel situation. Perhaps his own background and growing involvement in Middle Eastern affairs led him to begin reading the classic western texts in a more critical way than those that came before him and from western backgrounds. As an easterner Said in his cultural studies was therefore especially attuned to the way the east was representated in the west. Judging by his 1978 study Orientalism he was appalled at what he found.
There were schools of criticism that dealt with economic realities and historic realites before Said but only a few studies had concentrated on racial bias as a determining factor in cultural production(ie:Benita Parry's 1972 Delusions and Discoveries). Saids approach was groundbreaking and it brought to cultural studies a very timely and responsive social relevance. No one can really ignore the impact that Orientalism had. Even though the ideas in the book were all in circulation before Saids book Orientalism brought a new intensity and immediacy to them. To Said cultural artifacts can never be divorced from their political context and so his work often resituates each work he discusses within the political situation from which it arose. This is often very interesting but not without considerable controversy because while Said can be quite a profound thinker he cann also be a highly speculative one as well. Many of his arguments hinge on only partially convincing evidence and so to follow him is sometimes more an act of faith than one of reason.

This is a fantastic collection of work by one of the 20th Century's greatest thinkers. This is a great introduction to all of his thinking!

In this carefully selected anthology of Said's work spanning more than three decades, pieces written at different times and from distinct priorities, here held together, become illuminating commentaries upon each other. The Reader embodies Said's own insistence upon the struggle to maintain an inspired connection between intellectual concerns and political consciousness. However, one problem with this book is the evidence of lax proofreading. We are confronted with too many typographical errors in a text that should have received better technical attention before Vintage took it to print.

Very clear and powerful. Proof that people are not bound to live in narrow spaces dictated by place of birth, tradition, etc. As a Palestinian with broad exposure to other lands and thought patterns, Edward Said distills the essence of good in each and combines them in a suggested reality that could very well be a major factor in achieving peace in a troubled region.

frankly, i skimmed the literary analysis and musical writings and concentrated upon his palestine / israel political writings. his writing reveals his genius. he is among the first american academics to take a strong stand for the plight of the palestinian refugees. masterfully written, this is a keystone that ought to be read by everyone with an interest in this conflict. while i think that said attempts to present things in a "fair and balanced" manner, he does not explore all of the possibilities. the limitations in the scope of his writings are disappointing. A+. this is highly recommended.

I would highly recommend this book. So much can be learned by the answers provided in here. Said is n ot one who simply accepts the status quo of the state of the world, but eruditely and succintly states the cause of the problems that most people don't want to hear. Would definitely recommend.

Edward W. Said Adward said is one of the greatests intellectual&critic of our time.he has written a lot about about literature&social studies.the renowned literary and cultural critic is a man with passions . His lectures on "Musical Elaborations" "Performance as an Extreme Occasion" "On the Transgressive Element in Music" "Melody, Affirmation and Solitude"were really appreciated.Moustafa Bayoumi has done a meaningful work.it is a remarkable try to understand adward said. this book conferms that he is one of our era's most formidable, thought provoking and valuable thinker. His works which include Culture and Imperialism, Peace and Its Discontents, and unique study Orientalism will be studied in a new way now with the help of this book.

. . . exposed himself--his Being--so that some truth would come through for public discussion. The reader familiar with Professor Said's work doesn't need an explanation, but if you are a reader who feels that he is polarizing, please read at least one essay in this book. Allow yourself, dear reader, to see that everything he wrote came out of integrity: He didn't have a double standard for humanity.

To hear about Edward Said from others, and then to read his essays, was really to know what he was about in the world. (In the interest of disclosure, I did not know Edward Said, or anyone in his family.) The book cover photograph alone tells a truth. It's a photo which disturbs me and touches me so much that I can't set the book face up on a table. (The photo I'm referring to is one in which Said looked directly at the camera, the book cover for the September 2000 edition of Vintage Book's _The Edward Said Reader_ ). You can see in this photo the interior man made manifest. His sad brown eyes are hooded perhaps as he aged, but perhaps he was continually shocked that there were people who misunderstood him and could not read his soul. There are people--perhaps certain Israeli Jewish people or American Congressmen--who couldn't understand that all Said wanted for Palestinians was what others have: a nation-state and structure, self-determination, and the ability to live on their own land. Reasonable desires--it seems.

But Edward Said was--for me--a literary man, a reader of people and a writer who used language for truth and love. Just the essay alone on Jane Austen is a work of genius.