Against Architecture: The Writings of Georges Bataille

October Books

by Denis Hollier, Betsy Wing (Translator)

Over the past 30 years the writings of Georges Bataille have had a profound influence on French intellectual thought, informing the work of Foucault, Derrida, and Barthes, among others. Against Architecture offers the first serious interpretation of this challenging thinker, spelling out the profoundly original and radical nature of Bataille's work.

Genres: Philosophy, Architecture, Theory, France, Criticism

227 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 1974

About the author

Denis Hollier is a scholar of French language and culture. He is the editor of A New History of French Literature, Literary Debate: Texts and Contexts—Postwar French Thought, Against Architecture: The Writings of Georges Bataille, and many other scholarly collections. He currently teaches at NYU.

Reviews

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have only a limited knowledge of Bataille's writings but this book contributed greatly to my understanding. I think i would have gotten even more from it had I greater prior knowledge of Bataille (I've got three on my to-read list and on my bookshelves at home).

Denis Hollier does an amazing job of dissecting Batailles writings, theories and biographical information. He also does it an a very unique way tracing and trailing and flitting through a massive and often convulted body of work. I am definitely excited to tackle "On Nietzsche" , "Accursed Share" and "Eroticism"

[Fulya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes it was really difficult to follow the book although I found some parts really mind-feeding. My problem was that I am not quite familiar with Battaile's work. And in some sections (especially in the Labyrinth and the Pyramid) the writer had forced his way too much that his supporting ideas seem too artifical. All in all, it was a strange reading.

[Tosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rather read the actual books by Bataille but still Denis Hollier nails him down as a 20th Century master, and I don't disagree with that at all. But it's wise to read Bataille's books as well as the critique -he's a multi-layered talent that needs to be studied and examined.