Ecstasy and Terror: From the Greeks to Game of Thrones

Ecstasy and Terror: From the Greeks to Game of Thrones

â€œThe role of the critic,â€ Daniel Mendelsohn writes, â€œis to mediate intelligently and stylishly between a work and its audience; to educate and edify in an engaging and, preferably, entertaining way.â€ His latest collection exemplifies the range, depth, and erudition that have made him â€œrequired reading for anyone interested in dissecting cultureâ€ (The Daily Beast). InÂ Ecstasy and Terror, Mendelsohn once again casts an eye at literature, film, television, and the personal essay, filtering his insights through his training as a scholar of classical antiquity in illuminating and sometimes surprising ways.

Many of these essays look with fresh eyes at our cultureâ€™s Greek and Roman models: some find an arresting modernity in canonical works (Bacchae, theÂ Aeneid), while others detect a â€œGreek DNAâ€ in our responses to national traumas such as the Boston Marathon bombings and the assassination of JFK. There are pieces on contemporary literature, from the â€œaesthetics of victimhoodâ€ in Hanya Yanagiharaâ€™sÂ A Little LifeÂ to the uncomfortable mixture of art and autobiography in novels by Henry Roth, Ingmar Bergman, and Karl Ove KnausgaÌŠrd. Mendelsohn considers pop culture, too, in essays on the feminism ofÂ Game of ThronesÂ and on recent films about artificial intelligenceâ€”a subject, he reminds us, that was already of interest to Homer.

This collection also brings together for the first time a number of the award-winning memoiristâ€™s personal essays, including his â€œcriticâ€™s manifestoâ€ and a touching reminiscence of his boyhood correspondence with the historical novelist Mary Renault, who inspired him to study the Classics.
Country USA
Brand New York Review Books
Manufacturer New York Review Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2019-10-08
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Brand	New York Review Books
Manufacturer	New York Review Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2019-10-08
Format	Kindle eBook

Ecstasy and Terror: From the Greeks to Game of Thrones

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