GildedGrouse reviewed On Beauty and Being Just. by Elaine Scarry
I love it, but only sort of
2 stars
I have read, DNF'd, reread, finished, reread, DNF'd, and so on this short little book for over a decade after being assigned it in an ethics class. So, I guess it is important to me. The first part of the book moves me greatly, the way she describes beauty isn't exactly a definition, but is a feeling that is meaningful to me and have carried with me in my own meanderings on the subject. The second part of the book spends WAY too much ink on a certain painter, and fails to take the moving ideas of the first part to a strong conclusion. I always say everyone should read it. I should read it again. But I guess what I really mean is I should read the first couple chapters again.
It's a bit more of a vibes meditation on beauty. And I do agree that there is …
I have read, DNF'd, reread, finished, reread, DNF'd, and so on this short little book for over a decade after being assigned it in an ethics class. So, I guess it is important to me. The first part of the book moves me greatly, the way she describes beauty isn't exactly a definition, but is a feeling that is meaningful to me and have carried with me in my own meanderings on the subject. The second part of the book spends WAY too much ink on a certain painter, and fails to take the moving ideas of the first part to a strong conclusion. I always say everyone should read it. I should read it again. But I guess what I really mean is I should read the first couple chapters again.
It's a bit more of a vibes meditation on beauty. And I do agree that there is something worthwhile in beauty, in being moved, in appreciating the world that goes beyond pastime and approaches a sort of ideal Good. I just don't think Scarry gives a solid enough argument in the end. It feels much less rigorous than The Body in Pain.
Embarrassing for me and Scarry, I can say the bits of the book that stuck with me most were actually quotes from other thinkers. Oops.
