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Something Speaks to Me: Where Criticism Begins
An account of criticism as an urgent response to what moves us.
Criticism begins when we put down a book to tell someone about it. It is what we do when we face a work or event that bowls us over and makes us scramble for a response. As Michel Chaouli argues, criticism involves three Something speaks to me. I must tell you about it. But I don’t know how . The heart of criticism, no matter its form, lies in these surges of thoughts and feelings. Criticism arises from the fundamental need to share what overwhelms us.
We tend to associate criticism with scholarship and journalism. But Chaouli is not describing professional criticism, but what he calls “poetic criticism”—a staging ground for surprise, dread, delight, comprehension, and incomprehension. Written in the mode of a philosophical essay, Something Speaks to Me draws on a wide range of writers, artists, and thinkers, from Kant and Schlegel to Merleau-Ponty, Bachelard, Barthes, and Cavell. Reflecting on these dimensions of poetic experience, Something Speaks to Me is less concerned with joining academic debates than communicating the urgency of criticism.
Criticism begins when we put down a book to tell someone about it. It is what we do when we face a work or event that bowls us over and makes us scramble for a response. As Michel Chaouli argues, criticism involves three Something speaks to me. I must tell you about it. But I don’t know how . The heart of criticism, no matter its form, lies in these surges of thoughts and feelings. Criticism arises from the fundamental need to share what overwhelms us.
We tend to associate criticism with scholarship and journalism. But Chaouli is not describing professional criticism, but what he calls “poetic criticism”—a staging ground for surprise, dread, delight, comprehension, and incomprehension. Written in the mode of a philosophical essay, Something Speaks to Me draws on a wide range of writers, artists, and thinkers, from Kant and Schlegel to Merleau-Ponty, Bachelard, Barthes, and Cavell. Reflecting on these dimensions of poetic experience, Something Speaks to Me is less concerned with joining academic debates than communicating the urgency of criticism.
177 pages, Paperback
Published February 16, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 29, 2024
That was a simply gorgeous essay. I have a lot of thoughts about it. I will write more, but in meantime whoever is interested might read my numerous updates. Though I cannot wait with sharing the quote below:
“Every act of real criticism, fancy or artless, polished or rough, takes shape in three basic steps, I said: Something speaks to me. I must tell you about it. But I don’t know how.”
Not many people from real life would be so excited about an essay on criticism, but I think my GR friends might understand my thrill:-) And in the spirit of the season, if I would be able to give presents to my GR friends, for this peculiar audience, it would be three books that “I must tell you about it. But I don’t know how” (not yet anyway):
Lament for Julia, and Other Stories
Like a Sky Inside
And this one.
One novel and two extended essays. These are not for everyone, but I hope they will find more inspired readers to carry them into the world.
(And this is very likely would be the last review from me with the assigned star rating. So happened that I’ve stopped to see any sense in the stars in the context of my thoughts about books. Let them stay in the sky:-))
“Every act of real criticism, fancy or artless, polished or rough, takes shape in three basic steps, I said: Something speaks to me. I must tell you about it. But I don’t know how.”
Not many people from real life would be so excited about an essay on criticism, but I think my GR friends might understand my thrill:-) And in the spirit of the season, if I would be able to give presents to my GR friends, for this peculiar audience, it would be three books that “I must tell you about it. But I don’t know how” (not yet anyway):
Lament for Julia, and Other Stories
Like a Sky Inside
And this one.
One novel and two extended essays. These are not for everyone, but I hope they will find more inspired readers to carry them into the world.
(And this is very likely would be the last review from me with the assigned star rating. So happened that I’ve stopped to see any sense in the stars in the context of my thoughts about books. Let them stay in the sky:-))
January 23, 2025
I rarely rate books these days, but since this one is underrated (literally), I feel inclined to.
This book touches on so many things and it does so in a way that speaks to me.
I loved this a lot.
This book touches on so many things and it does so in a way that speaks to me.
I loved this a lot.
September 23, 2024
I read this book because I’m in a grad class where the professor wants us to write a book review on a book about academic criticism.
Although heady, I enjoyed the positions and philosophy brought up in this book. It is not light reading and there were no passages that I could adapt for my high school classroom, but I was fascinated with the idea of finding intimacy with text, responding to it, and working through blocks that appear when we want to discuss a piece that has moved us.
For what it is, an intriguing read.
Although heady, I enjoyed the positions and philosophy brought up in this book. It is not light reading and there were no passages that I could adapt for my high school classroom, but I was fascinated with the idea of finding intimacy with text, responding to it, and working through blocks that appear when we want to discuss a piece that has moved us.
For what it is, an intriguing read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews