Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said
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- Create Date：2021-05-15 09:51:12
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- Author：Timothy Brennan
- ISBN：0374146535
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Summary
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
The first comprehensive biography of the most influential， controversial， and celebrated Palestinian intellectual of the twentieth century
As someone who studied under Edward Said and remained a friend until his death in 2003， Timothy Brennan had unprecedented access to his thesis adviser's ideas and legacy。 In this authoritative work， Said， the pioneer of postcolonial studies， a tireless champion for his native Palestine， and an erudite literary critic， emerges as a self-doubting， tender， eloquent advocate of literature's dramatic effects on politics and civic life。
Charting the intertwined routes of Said's intellectual development， Places of Mind reveals him as a study in opposites: a cajoler and strategist， a New York intellectual with a foot in Beirut， an orchestra impresario in Weimar and Ramallah， a raconteur on national television， a Palestinian negotiator at the State Department， and an actor in films in which he played himself。 Brennan traces the Arab influences on Said's thinking along with his tutelage under Lebanese statesmen， off-beat modernist auteurs， and New York literati， as Said grew into a scholar whose influential writings changed the face of university life forever。 With both intimidating brilliance and charm， Said melded these resources into a groundbreaking and influential countertradition of radical humanism， set against the backdrop of techno-scientific dominance and religious war。 With unparalleled clarity， Said gave the humanities a new authority in the age of Reaganism， one that continues today。
Drawing on the testimonies of family， friends， students， and antagonists alike， and aided by FBI files， unpublished writings， and Said's drafts of novels and personal letters， Places of Mind synthesizes Said's intellectual breadth and influence into an unprecedented， intimate， and compelling portrait of one of the great minds of the twentieth century。
The first comprehensive biography of the most influential， controversial， and celebrated Palestinian intellectual of the twentieth century
As someone who studied under Edward Said and remained a friend until his death in 2003， Timothy Brennan had unprecedented access to his thesis adviser's ideas and legacy。 In this authoritative work， Said， the pioneer of postcolonial studies， a tireless champion for his native Palestine， and an erudite literary critic， emerges as a self-doubting， tender， eloquent advocate of literature's dramatic effects on politics and civic life。
Charting the intertwined routes of Said's intellectual development， Places of Mind reveals him as a study in opposites: a cajoler and strategist， a New York intellectual with a foot in Beirut， an orchestra impresario in Weimar and Ramallah， a raconteur on national television， a Palestinian negotiator at the State Department， and an actor in films in which he played himself。 Brennan traces the Arab influences on Said's thinking along with his tutelage under Lebanese statesmen， off-beat modernist auteurs， and New York literati， as Said grew into a scholar whose influential writings changed the face of university life forever。 With both intimidating brilliance and charm， Said melded these resources into a groundbreaking and influential countertradition of radical humanism， set against the backdrop of techno-scientific dominance and religious war。 With unparalleled clarity， Said gave the humanities a new authority in the age of Reaganism， one that continues today。
Drawing on the testimonies of family， friends， students， and antagonists alike， and aided by FBI files， unpublished writings， and Said's drafts of novels and personal letters， Places of Mind synthesizes Said's intellectual breadth and influence into an unprecedented， intimate， and compelling portrait of one of the great minds of the twentieth century。
Reviews
James Spencer
，
I love reading about intellectual debates。 Consequently I was able to enjoy reading Brennan's book even though I f0und it fairly disorganized and less a biography and more of a discussion （not a critique） of Said's writing。 Even this discussion disappointed because I found it hard to understand absent a substantial familiarity with that writing。 Brennan assumes that familiarity even though the book seems to be for the general reader rather than the specialist。 I love reading about intellectual debates。 Consequently I was able to enjoy reading Brennan's book even though I f0und it fairly disorganized and less a biography and more of a discussion （not a critique） of Said's writing。 Even this discussion disappointed because I found it hard to understand absent a substantial familiarity with that writing。 Brennan assumes that familiarity even though the book seems to be for the general reader rather than the specialist。 。。。more
Rookie
，
Grateful for the opportunity to have read this book， which explains - much more than anything else I have read - how Said’s ideas developed
Mandy
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A comprehensive cradle-to-grave biography of Edward Said， meticulously researched， detailed and scholarly but always clearly and accessibly written。 Author Timothy Brennan knew Said and conducted interviews with many other people who also knew him， giving a balanced view of this most complex of men。 Brennan doesn’t hide his affection and admiration for Said， but the book is in no way a hagiography and he doesn’t ignore Said’s failings。 I found it an absorbing and engaging read。
Bagus
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I first got into Edward Said’s thought during the class of postcolonial literature during my college days。 His book which was first published in 1978， Orientalism， caused controversy in the West and stirred countless debates until his death in 2003。 In his book， he establishes the eponymous term ‘orientalism’ as a critical concept to describe the West’s commonly contemptuous depiction and portrayal of the East （or the Orient）。 As Said’s former student， Timothy Brennan got access to know Said per I first got into Edward Said’s thought during the class of postcolonial literature during my college days。 His book which was first published in 1978， Orientalism， caused controversy in the West and stirred countless debates until his death in 2003。 In his book， he establishes the eponymous term ‘orientalism’ as a critical concept to describe the West’s commonly contemptuous depiction and portrayal of the East （or the Orient）。 As Said’s former student， Timothy Brennan got access to know Said personally besides extensive archives ranging from Said’s personal documents to notes by the FBI which was the results of Said’s years of activism to champion the cause of the Palestinians。Born Edward William Said on 1 November 1935 in Jerusalem， at that time part of British Mandate Palestine， it is interesting to see how the author in this book tries to clear up a fact that Said’s nemeses used to undermine his legacy。 Many online sources， even Wikipedia， cite Said’s middle name as Wadie which was his father’s name， as an attempt to Arabize his name。 Said had countless enemies in the academic world， much more so in terms of his activism to support Palestine after his family’s displacement in 1948 with the creation of the State of Israel。 Timothy Brennan， through this book， attempts to provide some clarifications to Edward Said’s life through which we might notice some contradictory information from what commonly believed about this person。 Various scholars who have read Said’s works might be familiar with his theories in post-colonialism and comparative literature， but little that we know about Said the Man and the contradictions within himself。 We get exposed to some behind the scenes of Said’s adolescence in Cairo and his days as a Princeton undergraduate which is free of Said’s own subjectivities， unlike in his memoir Out of Place。Another interesting fact that I encountered from this biography is also the musical side of Said。 During the time he lived in Cairo， Said learned piano under the tutelage of Polish pianist Ignacy Tiegerman and even considered a career as a professional musician after several years studying at Princeton。 It was his decision to immerse himself in the literature that gave birth to various interesting works such as his magnum opus Orientalism， but actually， there have been many papers published by Said about music and Timothy Brennan could analyze through various works of Said that seem to be unrelated to one another to show the complexities inside this individual。Said’s relation with religion was also a strange case too， as he was born into a family of Christian Arab， whereas many people even to this day keep associating Arab with Muslims。 I find his life an interesting case study， especially the way he delved deep into Joseph Conrad’s works and personalities for his dissertation。 Both Said and Conrad were exiled （Conrad left his native Poland to settle in England） and both wrote in a borrowed language （English）。 Their lives found parallel to each other somehow， even though Conrad had been dead for 11 years by the time Said was born。 And it was really news to me that Said even harboured literary ambition up until 1965， drafting his novel and sending out short stories to a few magazines and newspapers， only to be rejected。 He soon however made his name as a prominent literary critic in the 1970s， along with the kind of Susan Sontag and Noam Chomsky， without pursuing further his literary ambition。 Sometimes， I wonder whether it is possible to be both at the same time an accomplished literary novelist while also becoming a staunch critic。 And I have been thinking for a while that literature departments at colleges are more suitable to produce literary critics rather than literary novelists。 Looking at Said’s life， I got reminded more that all of us are in this constant race against time and this book is surely an interesting gem to dig deep more into Said the Man before Said the Critics。Thanks to NetGalley and Farras， Straus and Giroux for providing the e-ARC。 。。。more
J Earl
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