Nina Dolgopolova Dolgopolova itibaren Swoboda, Pollando itibaren Swoboda, Pollando

Closer to 3.5 stars... Lopate, who was an acquaintance of Sontag's and apparently a well-known essayist himself (this is my first exposure to his work), has written a somewhat informal collection of notes that is, first and foremost, a felt reflection on her writing. Every one of her books gets at least a few lines, but the bulk of Lopate's considerations are focused on the essays (and rightly so). He has much to say on her aphoristic style, her polemical "radicalism" in art in the sixties (and how this shifted over the years), her public persona, her insecurities, her intelligence, her arrogance. The book, as criticism, suffers from a certain lack of depth. Lopate quibbles with a line here and there, makes clear his opposition to some of her more hyperbolic statements, is quick to note that most of her fiction is mediocre if not outright "awful", but doesn't engage with any one text enough to give the reader something new to consider at length. This is perhaps an effect of both Sontag's still-fresh ability to polarize opinion and the chosen form of the book itself. One feels that after some time has passed (and after all the Diaries are published, fair or no), Sontag's legacy (or lack of one) will be clarified. As for Lopate, he comes off as thoughtful and intelligent. I liked the book.