thegayngelgabriel's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Sontag is an experience of extraordinary clarity and lucidity, which are themselves powerful enough that it is easy to imagine that Sontag is declaring an unimpeachable, gospel-like Truth, and not simply a person sharing her opinions as best she can, because she believes they will be helpful.
emilybh's review against another edition
4.0
Very accessible and clearly laid out - leads you to re-think 'standard' conceptions of cancer and AIDs whilst pointing out the dangers behind them. Thought-provoking and important.
obtuseblues's review against another edition
5.0
an interesting read. this is one of my first full books i've read by sontag as i was introduced to her through required reading, but only excerpts, in college. i'm fascinated in the intellectual work she's put out because she has such range in subject but mainly focuses on art. luckily, her writing style is comprehensive, which cannot be said for most theorists, like judith butler (who infamously won a prize for worst writing and i can definitely see why).
i did like this work from the original essay about illness as metaphor and then her addendum with the AIDS epidemic, AIDS and its metaphors. i thought she provided some useful insights into how illness is employed and used in literature in ways i did not fully realize. the character profiles of the diseases she mentions, like tuberculosis/consumption, cancer, and leprosy, have contradictory qualities associated with them, which highlights the construction of these profiles, yet they remain a potent device and explanation. it is so interesting and great how we can easily tune into the philosophies, thinking, and understanding of the past through literature since it becomes embedded in the stories we create. when sontag really got into tb, i immediately started thinking about beth from little women, because yeah, innocent, too sensitive/good for the world, her fate was sealed by the scarlet fever, which is a different disease with its own connotations, i'm sure, but must fare similarly. sontag demonstrated a talent for explicating the naturalized assumptions, connotations, and thoughts that accompany these diseases, especially cancer, which is my generation's seemingly fatal disease (or perhaps COVID now), evidenced by the popularity of the fault in our stars, and the subsequent popping up of media of characters with cancer (e.g., me, earl, and the dying girl, babyteeth, and others that i am blanking on). now wondering about the gender division in cancer stories in the media, like these are all women with cancer, who are often more represented in these types of movies. although, the profile she sketched out for cancer makes it seem like men in this day and age would be likely to get cancer due to their intense emotional repression. hm. she added the AIDS essay afterwards in the very late 80s, which was the peak of the epidemic in the US, i wonder if people were writing about it already at that time. i can't seem to think of any literature that really features a character with HIV/AIDS.
i liked that i learned quite a lot about all these diseases and how they're weaponized in the content we consume and the world we live in. disease is such a powerful, all-encompassing metaphor, as we all know and have experience with it. she gave us important histories concerning treatment, etymology, and the general mystery/misunderstanding surrounding the disease. at the heart of all of these conditions, is fear. fear of the unknown. fear of infection. fear of death, truly. she's right when she calls for us to undo the fear conditioning surrounding these diseases. i think about her point concerning influenza and she's right. it mutates every year; we have so many vaccines for it but we're not afraid of its course, though we do know it kills. for these other diseases, we do not know what may happen but it's because it's new. we learn more everyday. we find new ways for people to live, to survive and thrive while ill. it's important we do.
i did like this work from the original essay about illness as metaphor and then her addendum with the AIDS epidemic, AIDS and its metaphors. i thought she provided some useful insights into how illness is employed and used in literature in ways i did not fully realize. the character profiles of the diseases she mentions, like tuberculosis/consumption, cancer, and leprosy, have contradictory qualities associated with them, which highlights the construction of these profiles, yet they remain a potent device and explanation. it is so interesting and great how we can easily tune into the philosophies, thinking, and understanding of the past through literature since it becomes embedded in the stories we create. when sontag really got into tb, i immediately started thinking about beth from little women, because yeah, innocent, too sensitive/good for the world, her fate was sealed by the scarlet fever, which is a different disease with its own connotations, i'm sure, but must fare similarly. sontag demonstrated a talent for explicating the naturalized assumptions, connotations, and thoughts that accompany these diseases, especially cancer, which is my generation's seemingly fatal disease (or perhaps COVID now), evidenced by the popularity of the fault in our stars, and the subsequent popping up of media of characters with cancer (e.g., me, earl, and the dying girl, babyteeth, and others that i am blanking on). now wondering about the gender division in cancer stories in the media, like these are all women with cancer, who are often more represented in these types of movies. although, the profile she sketched out for cancer makes it seem like men in this day and age would be likely to get cancer due to their intense emotional repression. hm. she added the AIDS essay afterwards in the very late 80s, which was the peak of the epidemic in the US, i wonder if people were writing about it already at that time. i can't seem to think of any literature that really features a character with HIV/AIDS.
i liked that i learned quite a lot about all these diseases and how they're weaponized in the content we consume and the world we live in. disease is such a powerful, all-encompassing metaphor, as we all know and have experience with it. she gave us important histories concerning treatment, etymology, and the general mystery/misunderstanding surrounding the disease. at the heart of all of these conditions, is fear. fear of the unknown. fear of infection. fear of death, truly. she's right when she calls for us to undo the fear conditioning surrounding these diseases. i think about her point concerning influenza and she's right. it mutates every year; we have so many vaccines for it but we're not afraid of its course, though we do know it kills. for these other diseases, we do not know what may happen but it's because it's new. we learn more everyday. we find new ways for people to live, to survive and thrive while ill. it's important we do.
bibliobiophile's review against another edition
4.0
AIDS and Its Metaphors really should be read soon after Illness as Metaphor. In IAM, Sontag beautifully correlates the previous perception of tuberculosis with the current perception of cancer, and how literary metaphors and the support of this line of thinking in our culture affects the inflicted. It was definitely interesting to read about tuberculosis from a historical standpoint, especially since I don't think our current education really explores what this was like and how far we've come.
When Sontag follows up her first essay with her one on AIDS, she does spend half of it clarifying what she meant to say in the first essay so there is a great deal of discussion about cancer (understandable, since she is a cancer survivor). She does compare cancer metaphors to the AIDS metaphors being used now and brings up many controversies and conspiracies in other nations regarding this disease that I was previously not aware of.
At times, her writing could be a bit dry and pedantic, but overall, I really enjoyed reading her work.
When Sontag follows up her first essay with her one on AIDS, she does spend half of it clarifying what she meant to say in the first essay so there is a great deal of discussion about cancer (understandable, since she is a cancer survivor). She does compare cancer metaphors to the AIDS metaphors being used now and brings up many controversies and conspiracies in other nations regarding this disease that I was previously not aware of.
At times, her writing could be a bit dry and pedantic, but overall, I really enjoyed reading her work.
buffy87's review against another edition
1.0
I don't know what it was, but I just could not get into this book. I read it for class, thought I would like it based on the pre-talk...I found it dry. Granted it was a while ago I read it (2006).
All I took away from this book until now was a sense of whining. I might go back and read it again if I have nothing else to do, but I just thought the writing was dry and that alone turns me off from attempting to re-read it.
All I took away from this book until now was a sense of whining. I might go back and read it again if I have nothing else to do, but I just thought the writing was dry and that alone turns me off from attempting to re-read it.
frankie_s's review against another edition
4.0
Last time I read this (in 2009, which I know because I remember what hotel room I read it in). I gave it three stars. As much as I liked parts of it, I felt that it didn’t have things quite right. I was 80% through or thereabouts when I left it in the hotel room drawer. I have a different copy now. That last 20% turns out to have been important, and worth reading during a pandemic.
shona22's review against another edition
5.0
It was an doubly amazing experience to read this: in the post(?)-pandemic world, and as a cancer patient.
I think it should be required reading for health care providers, because the language we use to talk about disease directs how we treat people, both medically and simply how we interact with each other. There is compassion and wry humour through the book that I found touching.
Many of Sontag's insights feel especially relevant today:
'Authoritarian political ideologies have a vested interest in promoting fear, a sense of the imminence of takeover by aliens - and real diseases are useful material...With the inflation of apocalyptic rhetoric has come the increasing unreality of the apocalypse... now a long-running serial: not 'Apocalypse Now' but 'Apocalypse From Now On.''
I think it should be required reading for health care providers, because the language we use to talk about disease directs how we treat people, both medically and simply how we interact with each other. There is compassion and wry humour through the book that I found touching.
Many of Sontag's insights feel especially relevant today:
'Authoritarian political ideologies have a vested interest in promoting fear, a sense of the imminence of takeover by aliens - and real diseases are useful material...With the inflation of apocalyptic rhetoric has come the increasing unreality of the apocalypse... now a long-running serial: not 'Apocalypse Now' but 'Apocalypse From Now On.''
mjarmel's review against another edition
4.0
AIDS and Its Metaphors really should be read soon after Illness as Metaphor. In IAM, Sontag beautifully correlates the previous perception of tuberculosis with the current perception of cancer, and how literary metaphors and the support of this line of thinking in our culture affects the inflicted. It was definitely interesting to read about tuberculosis from a historical standpoint, especially since I don't think our current education really explores what this was like and how far we've come.
When Sontag follows up her first essay with her one on AIDS, she does spend half of it clarifying what she meant to say in the first essay so there is a great deal of discussion about cancer (understandable, since she is a cancer survivor). She does compare cancer metaphors to the AIDS metaphors being used now and brings up many controversies and conspiracies in other nations regarding this disease that I was previously not aware of.
At times, her writing could be a bit dry and pedantic, but overall, I really enjoyed reading her work.
When Sontag follows up her first essay with her one on AIDS, she does spend half of it clarifying what she meant to say in the first essay so there is a great deal of discussion about cancer (understandable, since she is a cancer survivor). She does compare cancer metaphors to the AIDS metaphors being used now and brings up many controversies and conspiracies in other nations regarding this disease that I was previously not aware of.
At times, her writing could be a bit dry and pedantic, but overall, I really enjoyed reading her work.
jacquesdevilliers's review against another edition
4.0
Sontag was always an urgent writer. It's there in her tone, brave and assured. But it's also evident in her subject matter. From aesthetics to politics and back again, her non-fiction writings never shied from pronouncing upon the issues and trends of her day. This inevitably dates some of her work (if her most popular books remain the two on photography, that's perhaps because they don't fall so easily into outmodedness). And yet, at her best and like any great writer, it is through the sharp scrutiny of her times that Sontag transcends them.
In Illness and Metaphor and AIDS and its Metaphors, I felt this especially with the latter. While the hysteria of AIDS has faded over the decades this still makes for valuable reading in the global age of our own virus - as a tonic for hysteria, an antidote to scapegoating, and the reassuring observation that every age has and will be viral, and that this one too shall pass.
In Illness and Metaphor and AIDS and its Metaphors, I felt this especially with the latter. While the hysteria of AIDS has faded over the decades this still makes for valuable reading in the global age of our own virus - as a tonic for hysteria, an antidote to scapegoating, and the reassuring observation that every age has and will be viral, and that this one too shall pass.