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文明的碎片
四十年来，西蒙·沙玛先生在文学创作、艺术鉴赏、社会分析和历史研究等领域一直走在世界前沿。他不仅是一位多产的畅销书作家，还是世界上许多著名出版商、报纸、期刊的获奖专栏作者，更是引领人类思想的启蒙者。
在本书中，西蒙·沙玛先生亲自挑选了自己发表在各种媒体的杂文，组成一个文化散论的合集，时间横跨四十年，涵盖欧洲历史解析、文化名人和文化现象的评议、美食和生活小事的思考，并且首次披露了他幼年时期的生活状态、成长经历和趣事。可以说，本书是西蒙·沙玛的创作灵感源泉，读者借此更可以探寻先生人生不同阶段的心路历程。整本书思想深邃、观点犀利、文笔引人入胜，是一部启发读者智慧、拓展人生深度、提升思想境界的优秀作品。
在本书中，西蒙·沙玛先生亲自挑选了自己发表在各种媒体的杂文，组成一个文化散论的合集，时间横跨四十年，涵盖欧洲历史解析、文化名人和文化现象的评议、美食和生活小事的思考，并且首次披露了他幼年时期的生活状态、成长经历和趣事。可以说，本书是西蒙·沙玛的创作灵感源泉，读者借此更可以探寻先生人生不同阶段的心路历程。整本书思想深邃、观点犀利、文笔引人入胜，是一部启发读者智慧、拓展人生深度、提升思想境界的优秀作品。
- GenresEssaysNonfiction
624 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2025
21 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Simon Schama
81 books1,036 followersSir Simon Michael Schama is an English historian and television presenter. He specialises in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University.
Schama first came to public attention with his history of the French Revolution titled Citizens, published in 1989. He is also known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC television documentary series A History of Britain (2000—2002), as well as other documentary series such as The American Future: A History (2008) and The Story of the Jews (2013).
Schama was knighted in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Schama first came to public attention with his history of the French Revolution titled Citizens, published in 1989. He is also known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC television documentary series A History of Britain (2000—2002), as well as other documentary series such as The American Future: A History (2008) and The Story of the Jews (2013).
Schama was knighted in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 3, 2019
There are some excellent essays in this collection - the interviews and profiles are both warm and sharp. However, as a collection it's a bit of a mess. It includes recipes and journalism that's no longer of any great interest. It reads as a hodge podge of his Financial Times column and there's no clear evidence of any editing or pruning. It's a shame as when the writing is good, it's very good indeed.
November 8, 2023
Wordy, as a work in its own right, dances across a plethora of themes. Their common thread? The curiosity of Schama, this is a collection of his essays, articles and even a lecture, on his broad range of interests. His eloquence is exhibited here, no less than in his other works or documentaries - anyone who has watched his contributions to the BBC's Civilisations can find expansive insight from Schama's perspective here.
This, in part, could potentially work to a slight disadvantage for some. As the subject matter is so broad, so learned, populated with brief and lengthy encounters with people that readers may know, or may not, it results, inevitably, in some chapters being less interesting than others. This cannot be a criticism of the book, nor the author, but of the format. Afterall, collections of essays can sometimes jumble together in a seemingly unrelated progression, jumping jarringly forth from one account to the next.
Thankfully, in my experience, Schama's Wordy avoids this; its progression is relatively smooth with chapters being grouped together based on genre. Be it high art, food, politics (his 2018 account of Israel is particularly interesting given the current crisis in Gaza), they all proceed in neat sections.
Some readers might find chapters to be beyond their realm of personal interest - as did I - but I found strolling off the beaten track with Schama's irreplacable narration to be a welcome exploration. I learned of things new, even a few recipes.
This, in part, could potentially work to a slight disadvantage for some. As the subject matter is so broad, so learned, populated with brief and lengthy encounters with people that readers may know, or may not, it results, inevitably, in some chapters being less interesting than others. This cannot be a criticism of the book, nor the author, but of the format. Afterall, collections of essays can sometimes jumble together in a seemingly unrelated progression, jumping jarringly forth from one account to the next.
Thankfully, in my experience, Schama's Wordy avoids this; its progression is relatively smooth with chapters being grouped together based on genre. Be it high art, food, politics (his 2018 account of Israel is particularly interesting given the current crisis in Gaza), they all proceed in neat sections.
Some readers might find chapters to be beyond their realm of personal interest - as did I - but I found strolling off the beaten track with Schama's irreplacable narration to be a welcome exploration. I learned of things new, even a few recipes.
November 14, 2020
I don't recommend this. The things I enjoyed about it were Schama's intellect and passion. The book just isn't coherent and is too long so it is a lot to take on to try to read. I'm inclined to read another of Schama's books as having read this I think I'll enjoy his history books. This just had too much in it that wasn't enjoyable even though some of it was interesting.
February 10, 2021
I don't think there's any doubt that Schama is a really good writer. He has a very impressive vocabulary and writes with a lot of flair, especially when it comes to topics that he specialises in (I've read a couple of his art history pieces and they blew me away, which is what made me want to pick this up in the first place).
This book is a collection of pieces about the most random topics, and seems to have been an archive for Schama to share his thoughts and musings on the things he thinks about on a daily basis. The essays cover a wide number of topics, from his personal life to pop culture and food.
I must confess, however, that coming into this book with a lot of excitement and expectation, I left feeling disappointed. I found that many of his essays weren't particularly interesting to me. His essays on the topics that already interested me (he had a few pieces on art which were interesting, and I found his piece on Quentin Blake, the illustrator behind the Roald Dahl books, to be the best in the collection) were fun to read, but I actually felt like his writing was an additional barrier to the topics that I wasn't particularly interested in, as the big words and jargon just made the essays even more off-putting. This resulted in me skimming a lot of his essays.
I guess what I want to say is that while this book had a number of very interesting and well-written essays, it didn't inspire me to learn more about the topics that I wasn't already interested in, and thus it felt like more than half the book was a slog to get through. Skim the contents and look at which topics interest you, before deciding whether to read this or not.
This book is a collection of pieces about the most random topics, and seems to have been an archive for Schama to share his thoughts and musings on the things he thinks about on a daily basis. The essays cover a wide number of topics, from his personal life to pop culture and food.
I must confess, however, that coming into this book with a lot of excitement and expectation, I left feeling disappointed. I found that many of his essays weren't particularly interesting to me. His essays on the topics that already interested me (he had a few pieces on art which were interesting, and I found his piece on Quentin Blake, the illustrator behind the Roald Dahl books, to be the best in the collection) were fun to read, but I actually felt like his writing was an additional barrier to the topics that I wasn't particularly interested in, as the big words and jargon just made the essays even more off-putting. This resulted in me skimming a lot of his essays.
I guess what I want to say is that while this book had a number of very interesting and well-written essays, it didn't inspire me to learn more about the topics that I wasn't already interested in, and thus it felt like more than half the book was a slog to get through. Skim the contents and look at which topics interest you, before deciding whether to read this or not.
September 11, 2020
A scintillating collection of essays from Schama, a pleasure on Audible though he doesn’t do all the reading. There is lovely stuff on Shakespeare and Tolstoy. His exuberant account of his Jewish London boyhood is very pleasurable too and he is thoughtful on the subject of a passionate Zionism which embraces the two state solution implicit in the Balfour declaration. There are also some very good interviews and reviews - I loved the piece on Leonard Cohen, and he catches Bill Clinton in a thoughtful mood.
I would have liked a little more on general history and perhaps a bit less on art history as this a subject I know little about, though all the pieces here are quite interesting.
He speaks about his rationale for human moment focussed writing in the interests of empathy ; I don’t completely agree as while it’s true that the old data driven way of writing history is painfully dry at times, it’s also true that say, the Oxford History’s Anglo Saxon England covers an important foundational period with a depth and cogency not seen in more recent works. Happily, recent publications that I’ve read by various writers strike a good balance between the Human moments and a solid sense of chronological narrative.
Always a thought provoking book, though best avoided if you love Donald Trump...
I would have liked a little more on general history and perhaps a bit less on art history as this a subject I know little about, though all the pieces here are quite interesting.
He speaks about his rationale for human moment focussed writing in the interests of empathy ; I don’t completely agree as while it’s true that the old data driven way of writing history is painfully dry at times, it’s also true that say, the Oxford History’s Anglo Saxon England covers an important foundational period with a depth and cogency not seen in more recent works. Happily, recent publications that I’ve read by various writers strike a good balance between the Human moments and a solid sense of chronological narrative.
Always a thought provoking book, though best avoided if you love Donald Trump...
October 8, 2020
A collection of essays bringing together a wide range of subjects from a variety of backgrounds and countries
As with any such collection,it will always contain those that are of immediate appeal, and those to be skimmed over.I, for example have little interest in modern art or punk rockers, which, even in the hands of this extremely talented author and historian, had me flipping the pages.
I would thoroughly recommend many of Simon Schama`s previous works, but this book left me less than satisfied. What I did enjoy though, was his utter brilliance and incredible knowledge of the English language, which, despite some of the subjects of his essays, he manages to use with full force and power,a descriptive ability and a passion for complex analysis and, as the title says ' Wordy '
without limit - absolutely super !
As with any such collection,it will always contain those that are of immediate appeal, and those to be skimmed over.I, for example have little interest in modern art or punk rockers, which, even in the hands of this extremely talented author and historian, had me flipping the pages.
I would thoroughly recommend many of Simon Schama`s previous works, but this book left me less than satisfied. What I did enjoy though, was his utter brilliance and incredible knowledge of the English language, which, despite some of the subjects of his essays, he manages to use with full force and power,a descriptive ability and a passion for complex analysis and, as the title says ' Wordy '
without limit - absolutely super !
July 16, 2020
Many of these essays are light and easy to read about a great variety of matters. There are some serious political ones to provide ballast. Excellent bedtime reading. He writes fluently and without jargon
October 26, 2024
A few good essays amidst a plethora of name dropping, self-aggrendisement while name dropping, and verbosity bordering on drivel. Incoherence is the mark of this book, and most of it is BORING. Not your usual Schama.
December 23, 2019
I received this as a gift. It is a selection of essays - informative, enjoyable - easy style, a good read - lighter than several books I'm trying to work my way through - finished it in 3 days.
August 29, 2020
Wordy....it certainly is!
November 20, 2023
Good parts. I admire the scope of his interests from history to art to food and I envy his prose style but much of it is fairly elusive if you have not thought about aesthetics much before. And some of the celebrity and artist profiles did not captivate although Patti Smith was a surprise
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews