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Desert Islands: And Other Texts, 1953-1974
A fascinating anthology of texts and interviews written over 20 years by renowned French philosopher Gilles Deleuze.
"One day, perhaps, this century will be Deleuzian," Michel Foucault once wrote. This book anthologizes 40 texts and interviews written over 20 years by renowned French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, who died in 1995. The early texts, from 1953-1966 (on Rousseau, Kafka, Jarry, etc.), belong to literary criticism and announce Deleuze's last book, Critique and Clinic (1993). But philosophy clearly predominates in the rest of the book, with sharp appraisals of the thinkers he always felt indebted to: Spinoza, Bergson. More surprising is his acknowledgement of Jean-Paul Sartre as his master. "The new themes, a certain new style, a new aggressive and polemical way of raising questions," he wrote, "come from Sartre." But the figure of Nietzsche remains by far the most seminal, and the presence throughout of his friends and close collaborators, Felix Guattari and Michel Foucault. The book stops shortly after the publication of Anti-Oedipus, and presents a kind of genealogy of Deleuze's thought as well as his attempt to leave philosophy and connect it to the outside -- but, he cautions, as a philosopher.
"One day, perhaps, this century will be Deleuzian," Michel Foucault once wrote. This book anthologizes 40 texts and interviews written over 20 years by renowned French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, who died in 1995. The early texts, from 1953-1966 (on Rousseau, Kafka, Jarry, etc.), belong to literary criticism and announce Deleuze's last book, Critique and Clinic (1993). But philosophy clearly predominates in the rest of the book, with sharp appraisals of the thinkers he always felt indebted to: Spinoza, Bergson. More surprising is his acknowledgement of Jean-Paul Sartre as his master. "The new themes, a certain new style, a new aggressive and polemical way of raising questions," he wrote, "come from Sartre." But the figure of Nietzsche remains by far the most seminal, and the presence throughout of his friends and close collaborators, Felix Guattari and Michel Foucault. The book stops shortly after the publication of Anti-Oedipus, and presents a kind of genealogy of Deleuze's thought as well as his attempt to leave philosophy and connect it to the outside -- but, he cautions, as a philosopher.
328 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Gilles Deleuze
259 books2,610 followersDeleuze is a key figure in poststructuralist French philosophy. Considering himself an empiricist and a vitalist, his body of work, which rests upon concepts such as multiplicity, constructivism, difference and desire, stands at a substantial remove from the main traditions of 20th century Continental thought. His thought locates him as an influential figure in present-day considerations of society, creativity and subjectivity. Notably, within his metaphysics he favored a Spinozian concept of a plane of immanence with everything a mode of one substance, and thus on the same level of existence. He argued, then, that there is no good and evil, but rather only relationships which are beneficial or harmful to the particular individuals. This ethics influences his approach to society and politics, especially as he was so politically active in struggles for rights and freedoms. Later in his career he wrote some of the more infamous texts of the period, in particular, Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus. These texts are collaborative works with the radical psychoanalyst Félix Guattari, and they exhibit Deleuze’s social and political commitment.
Gilles Deleuze began his career with a number of idiosyncratic yet rigorous historical studies of figures outside of the Continental tradition in vogue at the time. His first book, Empirisism and Subjectivity, is a study of Hume, interpreted by Deleuze to be a radical subjectivist. Deleuze became known for writing about other philosophers with new insights and different readings, interested as he was in liberating philosophical history from the hegemony of one perspective. He wrote on Spinoza, Nietzche, Kant, Leibniz and others, including literary authors and works, cinema, and art. Deleuze claimed that he did not write “about” art, literature, or cinema, but, rather, undertook philosophical “encounters” that led him to new concepts. As a constructivist, he was adamant that philosophers are creators, and that each reading of philosophy, or each philosophical encounter, ought to inspire new concepts. Additionally, according to Deleuze and his concepts of difference, there is no identity, and in repetition, nothing is ever the same. Rather, there is only difference: copies are something new, everything is constantly changing, and reality is a becoming, not a being.
He often collaborated with philosophers and artists as Félix Guattari, Michel Foucault, Guy Hocquenghem, René Schérer, Carmelo Bene, François Châtelet, Olivier Revault d'Allonnes, Jean-François Lyotard, Georges Lapassade, Kateb Yacine and many others.
Gilles Deleuze began his career with a number of idiosyncratic yet rigorous historical studies of figures outside of the Continental tradition in vogue at the time. His first book, Empirisism and Subjectivity, is a study of Hume, interpreted by Deleuze to be a radical subjectivist. Deleuze became known for writing about other philosophers with new insights and different readings, interested as he was in liberating philosophical history from the hegemony of one perspective. He wrote on Spinoza, Nietzche, Kant, Leibniz and others, including literary authors and works, cinema, and art. Deleuze claimed that he did not write “about” art, literature, or cinema, but, rather, undertook philosophical “encounters” that led him to new concepts. As a constructivist, he was adamant that philosophers are creators, and that each reading of philosophy, or each philosophical encounter, ought to inspire new concepts. Additionally, according to Deleuze and his concepts of difference, there is no identity, and in repetition, nothing is ever the same. Rather, there is only difference: copies are something new, everything is constantly changing, and reality is a becoming, not a being.
He often collaborated with philosophers and artists as Félix Guattari, Michel Foucault, Guy Hocquenghem, René Schérer, Carmelo Bene, François Châtelet, Olivier Revault d'Allonnes, Jean-François Lyotard, Georges Lapassade, Kateb Yacine and many others.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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February 8, 2017"Yasalar kendilerinden önce gelen ve insanları güvence altına alan kurumlar üzerinde değil de doğrudan insanlar üzerinde uygulandığı zaman baskı ortaya çıkar."
February 2, 2008
This is a must have for people who are into Deleuze. A collection of short letters, essays and interviews, it helps fill the gaps.
September 30, 2017
เล่มนี้ทำให้สนใจปรัชญาของ Henri Bergson มากขึ้นกว่าเก่า และการตีความนิชเช่ก็สนุกมาก ถือเป็นเล่มที่ทำให้เห็นการซ่องสุมอาวุธทางความคิดที่จะปรากฏในเล่มหลักๆ ของเขาอย่าง Difference and Repetition, Anti-Oedipus, เป็นอาทิ
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November 27, 2024apenas "em que se pode reconhecer o estruturalismo"
tô passada.
tô passada.
June 30, 2021
What I have read so far - some interesting things (esp. for further understanding of Antioedipus) and probably for further understanding of his other works. However, this one is for advanced Gilles Deleuze Readers, not for me, not right now.
It is good as byside lecture when you read his major works.
It is good as byside lecture when you read his major works.
October 28, 2016
Nietzsche, Spinoza, Hume, Bergson.
All of these guys get the treatment. I was reading this other book "The Anxiety of Influence" by Harold Bloom. Ok this guy says French people can't do poetry because they're so literal. Alright well that sounds incredibly judgmental but if they can't do poetry for that reason then they can damn well do philosophy instead. If philosophy exists as G.D. says in this book it's to get at the direct and immediate experience of the self. This is a book that places so many ideas into context. No one does a fraction of the job Deleuze does in philosophy because no one took the approach he took to doing it. The man took everyone on as himself and attempted to tied everything into his own philosophy. You can see that almost every idea he has in this book is brought out into the light in a way it never was before. The image of thought, the event of philosophy, it becomes something that offers itself as Eternal Recurrence and awakens again each moment.
This is highly recommended as an introduction to Gilles Delezue. It's also recommended for those who wish they could read his entire bibliography but would never have the chance.
All of these guys get the treatment. I was reading this other book "The Anxiety of Influence" by Harold Bloom. Ok this guy says French people can't do poetry because they're so literal. Alright well that sounds incredibly judgmental but if they can't do poetry for that reason then they can damn well do philosophy instead. If philosophy exists as G.D. says in this book it's to get at the direct and immediate experience of the self. This is a book that places so many ideas into context. No one does a fraction of the job Deleuze does in philosophy because no one took the approach he took to doing it. The man took everyone on as himself and attempted to tied everything into his own philosophy. You can see that almost every idea he has in this book is brought out into the light in a way it never was before. The image of thought, the event of philosophy, it becomes something that offers itself as Eternal Recurrence and awakens again each moment.
This is highly recommended as an introduction to Gilles Delezue. It's also recommended for those who wish they could read his entire bibliography but would never have the chance.
December 10, 2010
It was okay..
August 27, 2011
Excellent work.
October 23, 2023
No m'ha agradat massa, aquesta recopilació. Trobo que hi ha una diferència notable a nivell de discurs -tant de contingut com narratiu- entre aquesta primera etapa -i el caire de les obres que l'acompanyen, sobretot estudis sobre autors- i el darrer Deleuze, que és inseparable de l'experiència Maig68 i Guattari. No està malament, és clar, però no està al nivell de recopilatoris com Conversaciones o Diálogos, en absolut.
January 21, 2020
NICE BOOK.
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December 8, 2023"Introduction"
"Capitalism and Schizophrenia"
"Capitalism and Schizophrenia"
July 11, 2015
Some of the earlier pieces reflecting on particular philosophers (Kant, Hume, Spinoza) didn't really resonate with me (though the Bergson one did), but the latter half of this collection and a number of earlier writings (I believe this is chronologically earlier as well) were incredibly insightful into understanding Capitalism and Schizophrenia. There are also wonderful conversations with and comments from Guattari, Foucault, and Clastres.
September 10, 2016
Review published in SubStance 104 (2004): 153-155.
May 24, 2025
important
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews