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Bento's Sketchbook
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Paperback (2015)
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Ebook
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A deeply moving exploration of the relationship between thinking and drawing, from the author of the groundbreaking Ways of Seeing
The seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza (a.k.a. Bento) spent the most intense years of his short life writing. He also carried with him a sketchbook. After his sudden death, his friends rescued letters, manuscripts, notes—but no drawings.
For years, without knowing what its pages might hold, John Berger has imagined finding Bento’s sketchbook, wanting to see the drawings alongside his surviving words. When one day a friend gave him a beautiful virgin sketchbook, Berger said, ‘This is Bento’s!’ and he began to draw, taking inspiration from the philosopher’s vision.
In this beautifully illustrated book, Berger uses the imaginative space opened up in this experiment to explore politics, storytelling, Spinoza’s life and times, and the process of drawing itself.
Reviews
Berger’s is a humane and uniquely confiding voice, and this voice is coextensive with his skill as a draftsman. The two attributes act in concert with Spinoza’s enigmatic philosophical propositions
This beautifully produced book, illustrated with Berger's drawings, is as much a meditation on the art of drawing as a commentary on philosophy...Whether he is writing about art or about the oppressed, Berger is a dab hand at what might be called semi-mystical exegesis. His stories are often like fables, and his explication – colourfully grounded but picaresque – is admirably lucid.
Berger's words and images, rendered serene by age and habit, provide an exhilarating and unflinching account of global devastation and ordinary life.
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Inspiring, challenging and rewarding.
, Financial Times -
Characteristically sui generis.
, Guardian -
Displays his trademark lyrical precision.
, Scotsman, books of the year