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Independent
'An epic parable'
Review
"John Berger writes: 'The pocket in question is a small pocket of resistance. A pocket is formed when two or more people come together in agreement. The resistance is against the inhumanity of the new world economic order. The people coming together are the reader, me and those the essays are about - Rembrandt, Palaeolithic cave painters, a Romanian peasant, ancient Egyptians, an expert in the loneliness of certain hotel bedrooms, dogs at dusk, a man in a radio station. And unexpectedly, our exchanges strengthen each of us in our conviction that what is happening to the world today is wrong, and that what is often said about it is a lie. I've never written a book with a greater sense of urgency.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A beautiful collection of essays which examine the relationship of art to its audience. Covering a wide range of subjects from Rembrandt to Van Gogh to Frida Kahlo, Berger lays bare the moments of creation and unfolds them into an increasingly poignant set of theories and ideas which explore the position which art and ultimately creativity and free thinking plays in what Berger calls 'the inhumanity of the new world economic order'.
The book is informed and strident but always poetic. The passion which Berger so obviously has for his subjects can not but fail to move. You will find yourself back in your favourite gallery, in front of your favourite painting, smiling to yourself, as soon as you put this book down. Unmissable
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Fascinating...
1 April 2008
Format:Paperback
David Mamet wrote "Three Uses of a Knife: The Nature and Purpose of Drama." This Book should be called "The shape of a Pocket: The Nature and Purpose of Art." Because they are dialogues, or letters, written to artists who are long gone, these essays have far more weight than a simple analysis of Van Gogh or Yves Klein. I would say that the one problem, if there were to be a problem, would be Berger's emotional investment. Some of the essays get lost in admiration - causing the reader to question why the essay was written in the first place - But overall, this is a riveting collection, and a must for anyone interested in contemporary art and its societal role.
16 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Forget the political pamphleteering
26 Dec 2001
Format:Hardcover
"The Shape of a Pocket" is perfect bedside reading: the essays are short, meditative and carefully crafted. Berger's prose is pure and airy, and only occasionally he trespasses into the contrived and nearly bombastic. That's irritating but understandable as Berger is constantly trying to get to the deeper layers of what it means to make sense of the world through the 'act' of painting. I suppose Berger, on reading these lines, would remark that conceptualising 'to paint' as an 'act' is completely besides the point. Indeed, what he tries to get across is the 'receiving' nature of being-in-the-world as a painter. Being a real artist is a balancing act: it's a state of dynamic equilibrium between 'self' and 'world', between banality and madness. I believe Berger; his writing breathes integrity and wisdom. He has seen things that many mortals only have faint intimations of. That being said I am less sure about the appropriateness of his insights spilling over into the political realm. The complexity of globalisation is, perhaps, of a different nature than the complexity of a brush stroke. I think it shows, in Berger's language: suddenly the delicacy - holographic in its suggestion of colour, depth and texture - evaporates and we are left with the dull taste of cliche and ideology.
The Shape of a Pocket
13 Feb 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is one of the most extraordinary books I've ever read. All of Berger's writing is provocative, but this collection is particularly marvelous. I find myself picking this book up to read and reread the essays, over the years. It is a book that fills the heart, engages the mind, and changes one's way of seeing.
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