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How to Read Derrida (How to Read)

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A reader is not entirely the same as an introduction or a beginner's guide. It selects key passages from an author, and "brings the reader face-to-face with the writing itself in the company of an expert guide". Thus Penelope Deutscher explains -- or perhaps one should say explicates -- key passages of Derrida. This she does very well -- and while it is not easy reading, it is not inscrutable if one is prepared to concentrate.

In the main, Deutscher would seem to have chosen crucial extracts of Derrida. These are passages which should be read and understood. She takes little for granted, and explains all that needs to be explained to the reader -- lucidly and intelligently. In fact she effectively communicates the striking de(con)structive power of his work. She further draws comparisons between Derrida's early and late work, and highlights a few issues that were problematic to Derrida himself.

There were two things that I missed in this book. Firstly, I would have welcomed a more thorough comparison between Derrida's post-structuralism and the structuralism or (more broadly) modernism that went before. Secondly, Derrida's ideas were highly controversial, and there was little hint of this in Deutscher's commentary. However, for what it is worth, this is a book well written, and it does much to deepen one's insight into Derrida.

Even though I've a good grasp of other difficult continental philosophers (important influences on Derrida) such as Hegel and Heidegger, I still felt a barrier to 'getting' deconstruction. This book helps to clarify the gist of textual deconstruction and Derrida's implicit political motives. I've come to the conclusion that much of the 'barrier' to understanding Derrida has to do with problems in his (anti-)philosophy, which come to light, for instance, by comparing his work with that of Deleuze who also develops a "philosophy of difference," yet without avoiding the question of substance which contemporary thought must address anew. I had read other 'introducing..' type books, but most of them simplify the material too much. For the dillegent, focused reader, this book yields a good middle way to comprehension between Derrida's daunting original texts and other introductory books.

This is a very clearly written and confident exposition of Derrida's main ideas. Written by a true believer in deconstruction, so it does avoid tackling inconsistencies in Derrida's thought, and is sometimes gushing in its praise. I found his notion of the 'impossibility' of interpersonal acts such as gift-giving and forgiveness to be especially weak, since these concepts are assumed to imply some kind of Platonic 'purity' of meaning that is then self-cancelling. This exposes the dependence of deconstruction on the very metaphysical certainties it claims to counter. For example, in concepts such as 'democracy-to-come' the myth of some 'original' truth is simply replaced with a 'barely possible' utopian ideal which is then forever delayed.

This book is a great introduction into Derrida's work. It combines his actual writings with easy to read explanations. I am sure to get more of the "How to Read" series.