"Masculine, Feminine, Neuter" by Roland Barthes (Translated by Chris Turner) Published by Seagull Books

ISBN: 978-0857422422 Seagull Books

"Masculine, Feminine, Neuter" by Roland Barthes (translated by Chris Turner) Published by Seagull Books

There are book reviews, and then there are book reviews written by Roland Barthes.  "Masculine, Feminine, Neuter" is a compilation of his writings that deals with the subject matter of literature.  The beauty of his critical thought is that he really gets into the text and culture of the book that he's focusing on.  I have always found his writings on the New Novel, in other words, the novels by Alain Robbe-Grillet, fascinating.  Robbe-Grillet and others, were working in a different format, of being very objective, yet of course, being subjective at the same time.  The writing is factual, but the reporting of that fact will always be subjective.  Which is a reminder how one should read the news these days.  There is also commentary on Marcel Proust regarding his masterpiece, and how that book is really about writing as well.  Life happened, but the writing part is another form of life.   Seagull Books should be congratulated for publishing this series of Barthes' writings that hasn't been issued in english before.  And again, reading Barthes is a bit like having a really good friend whisper in your ear as you are reading a text that he's interested in.   A good friend indeed. 

- Tosh Berman

'The "Scandal" of Marxism' by Roland Barthes (edited and translated by Chris Turner) Seagull Books

ISBN: 978-0857422392  Seagull Books

'The "Scandal" of Marxism' by Roland Barthes (Translated by Chris Turner) Seagull Books

I look at the work of Roland Barthes as if he was a driver, and I'm sitting in the back seat.  I tell him "take me somewhere interesting."   That is what it is like reading Barthes essays.  On one level I guess he's a philosopher, but I think he's more of a social critic commenting on History and the world around him.   'The "Scandal" of Marxism' is a collection of articles, interviews and essays regarding the role of politics in contemporary life, as it was written from the 1950s to the 1970s.   Here you get his reflections on Marxism, The Algerian War, and the issues of the left and its role in literature as well as in politics.  There is even a brief description of a trip to China he did with other intellectuals in 1975.   China, a huge subject of course, but it seems he was a tad indifferent to it as a visitor or tourist. 

The one thing that stands out for me as an American reader of this collection, is how the French divide and monopolize political movements and its publications.  In America, we have liberal and conservative press, but it seems France has always had  a right-wing press as well as a left-wing press, including publications from the Communists, the socialists, and so forth.  So one can get a publication that for instance has a "Marxist" angle to the arts and culture.  There is really no such publication produced for the masses here in the United States that conveys that aura of democracy and free thought.   Barthes and others were public intellectuals (The U.S. don't even have intellectuals anymore) who express their experiences and well-thought out (not saying they were right or wrong) views on what is happening in their world. 

Throughout this slim (and very beautiful) volume, Barthes attempts to define the role of Marxists as well as being part of the Left-wing.   Not an easy thing to do, when the world was rapidly changing.  Also there are so many issues that were taking place in the Left.  Not all had the same opinion or thought!  Nevertheless the translator and editor Chris Turner did a remarkable job in writing brief introductions to each essay/piece.   He places the works in its timely culture, and what the issues were at the time.   

Roland Barthes was one-of-a-kind thinker, who was more of a verb than a noun.  Reading him is like watching a man or woman think.  That I know sounds like watching wet paint drying on a wall, but in reality it's more interesting.   The best thing in the world had to be in Barthes company, and just chatting with him - reading his works is that private conversation between reader and Roland Barthes. 

- Tosh Berman

Simply a Particular Contemporary" by Roland Barthes (Translated by Chris Turner)

ISBN: 978-0857422408  Seagull Books

It seems like throughout my life I have been reading Roland Barthes.  As a writer and a reader, I think of him often.  Mostly due to his thoughts on the nature of one's writing and how it "reads" out to a reader, but also his intensity in writing about things that he is clearly not an expert on - but what you get is Barthes point-of-view, and how he reads a certain object or place.   For instance, besides the various books by Donald Richie on Japan, which was essential readings for me, because one, I'm something of a Japan-olic and I have been going back and forth to that country for the last 25 years.  The one book that prepared me for Japan, before I touched the concrete of Tokyo was Barthes book on Japan: "Empire of Signs."  Along with Richie, probably the most essential book on Japan by a white European.

"Simply a Particular Contemporary" is a collection of interviews with Barthes, from 1970 to 1979, focusing on his writing, books and his interest in writers such as Bertolt Brecht and Marcel Proust.   With respect to writing, the one thing that impressed me, is his acknowledgment of the pleasure of writing.   This is a man who likes to put pen onto the paper and see what happens.  His brilliance is that he doesn't look at things in a factual manner, but more always as an open question.  What I get out of him is the adventure of knowing or writing, but not the conclusion of such a journey.    For instance, when I write, it is all for the glory of the moment, as I look back on something.  I think I got that from Barthes.  The four interviews within this volume are enjoyable, and it doesn't tell all (which I think is impossible with someone like Barthes), but for sure, a good time is spent with this man - and this book nicely reflects of a time well -spent.

- Tosh Berman