A great conversation with Benjamin Moser

here audio, video, transcript. Here is the synopsis of the episode:

Benjamin Moser is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author known for his deep research into literary and cultural figures such as Susan Sontag and Clarice Lispector. His latest book details a 20-year love affair with the Dutch masters and is one of Tyler’s books on art criticism to date.

Benjamin joins Tyler to learn why Vermeer was nearly forgotten, how Rembrandt was so productive, and how an auction of old masters reveals current approaches to painting. We talked about , why Dutch art is best displayed in the home, why The Hague Museum is so special, and why it’s Dutch. Students Don’t Read Old Books, Benjamin’s Favorite Dutch Movies, The Tensions in Dutch Social Tolerance, The Joys of Living in Utrecht, Why Latin Americans Make for Difficult Interviews, Brasilia as a City Why did modernism survive in Brazil? How did modernism survive? This is to evaluate what you are doing.

excerpt:

Cowen: You once wrote about Susan Sontag, and I quote:Much of Sontag’s best writing concerns the ways in which we try and fail to see.” please explain.

Moser: what is this About photos is about.what is this against interpretation This is a story that appears in Sontag’s work. Of course, in my new book, upside down world, especially talking about things I’m not very good at seeing. I’m not that visual. I’m a reader. I’m a bookworm. When I look at a painting, I often realize how little I’m actually seeing. Sometimes it feels embarrassing. When you read the label, it says in three sentences: man with dog. I was like, “Oh, I didn’t even see the dog.” you know what i mean?

At these very basic levels, you just think, “Oh, I really don’t understand unless someone points it out to me.” I think that was one of Sontag’s charms and that she couldn’t see it. She was actually very bad at watching, especially when it came to relationships. She had a hard time seeing what other people were thinking and feeling.

I think she was aware of it and tried hard to fix it, but it’s not something you can force. You can’t force yourself to like certain music or like certain tastes that you don’t actually like.

Cowen: What did Sontag get most right or most insightful?

Moser: I’m thinking about this question of images, what they do, and how photography and representation and metaphor can distort things. She had a very strong aversion to photography.She really hated photography, and that’s why many photographers hated it she Because even if she didn’t actually say it, they felt it. She didn’t really believe it. She really thought that was bad. At the same time, for someone who had a disability, you could say that she really relied on her disability to understand the world.

I think this tension is very beneficial for us. Because she already said this 50 years ago. She doesn’t know what to do with them. We don’t know what to do with them. ” Forget about AI, forget about Russian trolls on Twitter. She uses this word that I really like. hygiene, a lot. She talks about mental health and how to clean out the rusty pipes in your brain. That’s why I think reading her book at least helped me understand a lot of what I see in the world.

Cowen: Do you think she will just be forgotten?

Once again, I am pleased to recommend Benjamin’s latest book The Upside Down World: An Encounter with the Dutch Master.