The Lonely City

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What does it mean to be lonely How do we live, if we re not intimately engaged with another human being How do we connect with other people Does technology draw us closer together or trap us behind screens When Olivia Laing moved to New York City in her mid thirties, she found herself inhabiting loneliness on a daily basis Increasingly fascinated by this most shameful of experiences, she began to explore the lonely city by way of art Moving fluidly between works and lives from Edward Hopper s Nighthawks to Andy Warhol s Time Capsules, from Henry Darger s hoarding to the depredations of the AIDS crisis Laing conducts an electric, dazzling investigation into what it means to be alone, illuminating not only the causes of loneliness but also how it might be resisted and redeemed. Read The Lonely City author Olivia Laing – kino-fada.fr It took me some time to read this simply because I found it riveting, beautifully written, and I wanted to savour it Olivia Laing is a British writer and critic who moved to New York to be with her American partner only to find the relationship disintegrating She falls prey to a crippling loneliness which gives rise to this hybrid memoir and art history on the theme of loneliness and how she finds an alleviation of her loneliness through the visual arts Given her family history, she focuses It took me some time to read this simply because I found it riveting, beautifully written, and I wanted to savour it Olivia Laing is a British writer and critic who moved to New York to be with her American partner only to find the relationship disintegrating She falls prey to a crippling loneliness which gives rise to this hybrid memoir and art history on the theme of loneliness and how she finds an alleviation of her loneliness through the visual arts Given her family history, she focuses primarily on LGBT artists from New York s East Village with the exception of the odd Henry Darger from Chicago She knits together a profound, moving and multilayered narrative It covers her life, the work and lives of the artists, psychological insights and speculation, the state ...What does it feel like to be lonely It feels like being hungry like being hungry when everyone around you is readying for a feast.As a person who spends a fair amount of time by himself, I was drawn to the subject matter of this book I would say that I m very comfortable in my own company but there are periods of isolation that I don t always enjoy God I m making myself sound like a total recluse here To be clear I am blessed with ...Whereas alcoholic writers were the points of reference for her previous book, the superb The Trip to Echo Spring 2013 , here outsider artists take center stage Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowicz, Henry Darger, and the many lost to AIDS in the 1980s to 1990s It s a testament to Laing s skill at interweaving biography, art criticism and memoir when I say that I knew next to nothing about any of these artists to start with and have little fondness for modern art but still found her bo Whereas alcoholic writers were the points of reference for her previous book, the superb The Trip to Echo Spring 2013 , here outsider artists take center stage Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowic... The Lonely City by Olivia Laing is an investigation of loneliness in a city of eight and a half million people Laing is a columnist for frieze and write for the Guardian, New Statesman, Observer, and New York Times Her previous books are To the River and The Trip to Echo Spring The Lonely City opens with a discussion of loneliness and the idea that you can be lonely anywhere but there is a special sense of loneliness when one is surrounded by millions of people in an urban environment Laing t The Lonely City by Olivia Laing is an investigation of loneliness in a city of eight and a half million people Laing is a columnist for frieze and write for the Guardian, New Statesman, Observer, and New York Times Her previous books are To the River and The Trip to Echo Spring The Lonely City opens with a discussion of loneliness and the idea that you can be lonely anywhere but there is a special sense of loneliness when one is surrounded by millions of people in an urban environment Laing then examines different artists lives and their struggle with loneliness Perhaps the idea of being lonely in NYC is magnified greatly when you are famous Laing describes the what it was like for someone like Andy Warhol to be surrounded by people and ultimately remain lonely David Wojnarowicz and AIDS, Billie Holiday and Str...Not a bad book, but not what I was looking for I didn t realize to what extent the book would focus upon sexuality, AIDS and abused individuals Even ordinary people, people with less serious problems than those studied in this book, are troubled by loneliness, lack of communication and meaningful contact with others.The author wanted to get a handle on the loneliness she felt when her partner left her She was in her mid thirties and she felt utterly alone, alone in NYC We are told that she w Not a bad book, but not what I was looking for I didn t realize to what extent the book would focus upon sexuality, AIDS and abused individuals Even ordinary people, people with less serious problems than those studied in this book, are troubled by loneliness, lack of communication and meaningful contact with others.The author wanted to get a handle on the loneliness she felt when her partner left her She was in her mid thirties and she felt utterly alone, alone in NYC We are told that she was raised in a lesbian family, but we are not told the sex of her partner While this is a memoir of sorts, it has in fact very little specific information about the author You may ask what sex has to do with all of this I mention sex only because in this book it plays a central role Sex is a key component of the entire book Another book on loneliness might focuson age, on one s ethnic background, on physical or psychological ...Ali Smith pointed me to Olivia Laing I think she was planning to introduce her at a conference in Edinburgh I knew nothing about Laing when I opened this book to the essay about Henry Darger, the Chicago janitor who posthumously achieved fame as one of the world s most celebrated outsider artists, a term coined to describe people on the margins of society, who make work without the benefit of an education in art or ...I will always be lonely.And this book just validated that feeling some us have had and still having and will continue to have, for the rest of our lives While some may think that it is a weakness, artists mentioned in this book which I never knew existed, thanks Olivia used loneliness as their means of doing their artworks to its best At the time that technology hasn t reached its peak yet, these people turned their pain into something beautiful art Instead of looking for a way to dismiss t I will always be lonely.And this book just validated that feeling some us have had and still having and will continue to have, for the rest of our lives While some may think that it is a weakness, artists mentioned in this book which I never knew existed, thanks Olivia used loneliness as their means of doing their artworks to its best At the time that technology hasn t reached its peak yet, these people turned their pain into something beautiful art Instead of looking for a way to dismiss that particular feeling, they ve come to terms with what the society thought was an illness Add to it the pressure of the society that happiness is all there is and that people who experience loneliness on a deeper level has no place to be in.In a city full of people, it can also be isolating It has always been a belief that living in a city mean...3.5 starsI would give the last three pages of this book 20 stars if I could, for exploring the under discussed topic of loneliness with such wisdom and compassion In The Lonely City, Olivia Laing writes about her experience with loneliness after moving to New York City She blends her time in New York with analyses and biographies of various artists, including Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowicz, andI loved portions of this book because Laing opens herself up to such a probing, 3.5 starsI would give the last three pages of this book 20 stars if I could, for exploring the under discussed topic of loneliness with such wisdom and compassion In The Lonely City, Olivia Laing writes about her experience with loneliness after moving to New York City She blends her time in New York with analyses and biographies of various artists, including Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowicz, andI loved portions of this book because Laing opens herself up to such a probing, poignant examination of being lonely After graduating from undergrad last May, I get the sense that we all try to act as happy as we can, such as by portraying images of perfection and satisfaction on social media even when we feel sad...This was my first non fiction book for a long time, and I was very curious both about the subject of loneliness, but also to see what was hidden behind the beautiful cover Basically, Olivia Laing explores how it is to be lonely in a city surrounded by people She has lived in New York City for a certain period of time herself, and during that time she felt extremely lonely This non fiction book isn t just about her personal experiences, though, because it also dives into other artists experie This was my first non fiction book for a long time, and I was very curious both about the subject of loneliness, but also to see what was hidden behind the beautiful cover Basically, Olivia Laing explores how it is to be lonely in a city surrounded by people She has lived in New York City for a certain period of time herself, and during that time she felt extremely lonely This non fiction book isn t just about her personal experiences, though, because it also dives into other artists experiences with loneliness, artists such as Andy Warhol as well as some people whose work I didn t already know of and this is when things got interesting I loved how this exploration educated me and made me aware of dark places and diverse art and people that I never even knew of While you might think that the exploration of loneliness must be a dark one, I was happy to f... .

The Lonely City
  • English
  • 19 October 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 336 pages
  • 1250039576
  • Olivia Laing
  • The Lonely City