Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth

The New York Times film critic shows why we need criticism now than everFew could explain, let alone seek out, a career in criticism Yet what A.O Scott shows in Better Living Through Criticism is that we are, in fact, all critics because critical thinking informs almost every aspect of artistic creation, of civil action, of interpersonal life With penetrating insight and warm humor, Scott shows that while individual critics himself included can make mistakes and find flaws where they shouldn t, criticism as a discipline is one of the noblest, most creative, and urgent activities of modern existence.Using his own film criticism as a starting point everything from his infamous dismissal of the international blockbuster The Avengers to his intense affection for Pixar s animated Ratatouille Scott expands outward, easily guiding readers through the complexities of Rilke and Shelley, the origins of Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, the power of Marina Abramovich and Ode on a Grecian Urn Drawing on the long tradition of criticism from Aristotle to Susan Sontag, Scott shows that real criticism was and always will be the breath of fresh air that allows true creativity to thrive The time for criticism is always now, Scott explains, because the imperative to think clearly, to insist on the necessary balance of reason and passion, never goes away. Download Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth – kino-fada.fr I read this for some hours until I toppled sideways slowly and crumpled to the floor, where they found me still breathing, but only just I write this from a private room, tubes going into various parts They say I will make a full recovery They say it was a good thing I didn t make it past page 215 There s a woman in the next room been there for three weeks now, she read the whole thing She hasn t said a word yet Her family say they will be consulting their lawyers But I don t think A O I read this for some hours until I toppled sideways slowly and crumpled to the floor, where they found me still breathing, but only just I write this from a pri...Reading Better Living Through Criticism gave me exactly the same cramped and unpleasant feeling that I got from reading Richard Dawkins s The God Delusion I wanted serious inquiry and instead felt pummeled and bullied into a corner by poorly argued dogma.At times Scott begins his argument about the uses of criticism with a false axiomatic principle usually a belief that I don t ascribe to, but that Scott says I do everyone knows that critics are failed artists, and let me tell you why you re Reading Better Living Through Criticism gave me exactly the same cramped and unpleasant feeling that I got from reading Richard Dawkins s The God Delusion I wanted serious inquiry and instead felt pummeled and bullied into a corner by poorly argued dogma.At times Scott begins his argument about the uses of criticism with a false axiomatic principle usually a belief that I don t ascribe to, but that Scott says I do everyone knows that critics are failed artists, and let me tell you why you re wrong to think so And sometimes he does the opposite, taking his own beliefs as universally accepted, because he thinks they re true, and not even bothering to tell me why I should also believe the same way...I am predisposed to like any book that references Teju Cole s Open City, Philip Larkin, All About Eve, and the snark vs smarm debate with intelligence and insight, but the delight of this book is that Scott takes both his voice and argument to places that I didn t expect Even while retreading, a gleefulness animates his prose and rhetoric and makes his general enterprise feel novel.I laughed out loud dozens of times, sometimes out of surprise the self interviews are hilarious , sometimes out I am predisposed to like any book that references Teju Cole s Open City, Philip Larkin, All About Eve, and the snark vs smarm debate with intelligence and insight, but the delight of this book is that Scott takes both his voice and argument to places that I didn t expect Even while ret...So much of this book has resonated with me, of which I have highlighted so much This is one I want to purchase and own for reference, as I m sure I will return to it oftenBetter Living Through Criticism and a Strawberry Enema NYTs AO Scott is the worst writer and most unbearable film critic squirting his juvenile thoughts on the market today The ultimate in b.s and boring pretention Sniff his title Why not Better Homes Gardens In sum, he isunreadable.nature of the critic is to unpack the underpinnings of artistic endeavor Love them or hate them, critics perform a vital service in the creative continuum, deconstructing movies albums books plays down to their requisite pieces and casting the bones in an effort to call forth larger cultural themes and ideas.Some choose to do this by way of unrelenting pessimism, focusing on the negative aspects of a piece of work in order to exert a kind of creative nature of the critic is to unpack the underpinnings of artistic endeavor Love them or hate them, critics perform a vital service in the creative continuum, deconstructing movies albums books plays down to their requisite pieces and casting the bones in an effort to call forth larger cultural themes and ideas.Some choose to do this by way of unrelenting pessimism, focusing on the negative aspects of a piece of work in order to exert a kind of creative enforcement Others choose to shi...This book of philosophical essays by New York Times movie critic AO Scott was hugely disappointing, and not even worth a full write up at my main arts center s blog For while I m a big fan of Scott s insightful essays for the newspaper, and was hoping that in this book he was going to go intodetail about how he goes about the business of actually writing them, it s instead one of those books where he traipses across the entire human history of critical thought and then says, Look at this This book of philosophical essays by New York Times movie critic AO Scott was hugely disappointing, and not even worth a full write up at my main arts center s blog For while I m a big fan of Scott s insightful essays for the newspaper, and was hoping that in this book he was going to go intodetail about how he goes about the business ...YESTwo weeks ago, I read until page 117 I haven t picked up the book since, and I haven t been tempted to I m left with two main impressions first, there are occasional moments of real insight Some come at the end of meandering paragraphs, and they feel like asides A very few feel like deliberate arguments Scott makes Here s a good one It may seem as if I am enclosing art along with criticism in a familiar corral of self reference, an airless theoretical space in which poets write to, Two weeks ago, I read until page 117 I haven t picked up the book since, and I haven t been tempted to I m left with two main impressions first, there are occasional moments of real insight Some come at the end of meandering paragraphs, and they feel like asides A ver...Criticism would be better if there were less of it Today anyone with an internet connection can post any nonsense opinion they want, with little regard for taste or even basic grammar So with this review what I want to do,than anything else, is to explore a little of my own methods, techniques and feelings on the nature of criticism, how I approach it, and what I think it s limitations are, and perhaps, most importantly, why you should even be listening to me in the first place.I suppose Criticism would be better if...

• English
• 01 October 2019
A.O. Scott
• Hardcover
• 288 pages
• 1594204837
• A.O. Scott
• Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth