Manet: A Symbolic Revolution

In 'A bar a the Folies-Berger", a stunning painting and one of the most important paintings by Manet the woman depicted in the central scene, at the bar, is looking at us or through us? Is she bored or is she tired. This and other thousand questions that perhaps not every art-viewer think or ask him/herself. This is a complete and wonderful book about Manet's life and his marvelous paintings. Every chapter is a lecture by Pierre Bordieu. Highly recommended for every art lover!

This book on symbolic revolution consists of 18 lectures that Pierre Bordieu gave at the College de France (one of the most prestigious research institutes in France) in 1999 and 2000. The topic is abstract and difficult to grasp but each lecture is divided into manageable chunks with a very logical structure. The focal point that Bordieu keeps referring back to in his efforts to explain various ideas on symbolism and revolution in art is Edouard Manet painting "Luncheon on the Grass". All in all, it is not an easy read. However, if you are interested in impressionism, sociology, art history or Manet - by all means, this book will be a treat.

An amazing book. A collection of the lectures on Manet by Pierre Bourdieu given during 1998-2000. An excellent book, with really excellent Editor's and Translator's Notes and substantial Appendix which includes a summary of the lectures, really comprehensive notes, image credits and index. With all this mass of "eruditeness" it is amazing how accessible the lectures themselves are. The translation is sympathetic and mostly transparent. Word of waring - this is not a book for someone looking for an introduction to Manat.

A collection of lectures given by Pierre Bourdieu on Symbolism in Manet's work. This is an academic work, meticulously researched and provided with copious notes. The lectures are extremely fine and enjoyed reading the, but so detailed are they that I tended to read one lecture per week in order to properly understand the content. Art students will find M. Bourdieu's lectures extremely informative but for the ordinary art lover, they are perhaps too academically dense to provide general enjoyment.

Breathtaking! This is a transcript of several lectures Bourdieu gave around 1999-2000. There are pictures, nicely reproduced (but small) to illustrate Bourdieu's points, but this is not an Art book for flipping through and leaving on the coffee table. This is a thought provoking analysis of the revolutionary effect of Art on society, and it is powerful, entertaining and thoroughly readable. Some caveats: this is really not for the person with a passing interest in Art- Bourdieu is a brilliant sociologist, and that is the perspective he brings to bear here. If you don't want that, then don't get this! It is a translation-I found it eminently readable, but there are some infelicities of language. I think the content is not spoiled by this, but you might not agree. As other readers have noted, he is not given to understatement, and equating symbolic revolution with the real, bloody revolutions of the century may offend. I find his passion and his commitment engaging and go with the metaphor. But I do understand those who see it as an out of touch academic making exaggerated claims. For me, he has a passion for Art and culture which I respect and admire. And his theories about cultural capital and social capital resonate strongly for me here in this class-ridden country where education has become social capital rather than desirable in itself. I think he needs to be read more, and this accessible work might be one way into his other writings. Fascinating.

As a former art history student, I've got a decent art education - and I'm perhaps more interested in sociology than the average bear. That said, I generally come at it from a pop culture standpoint, so can afford to pick and choose who I read. But, boy, is Piere Bourdieu good! In fact, he's great - inspired, and while I've not consciously read his work before (so know nothing else about him), I'm a fan of this Manet work. Using Manet's infamous Luncheon On The Grass as a focal point, Bourdieu spirals out to consider the pros, cons, challenges and impacts of symbolic revolutions. Always returning to the same painting, by relating the work to its creator - and its creator to the impact of the work -- Bourdieu's discussion of that broader theme of symbolic revolutions feels timely. Applied to our media (over) saturated world, is nothing short of revelatory, and says a great deal about our world of mass-communication and fashions, but most of all belief and perception. If you're reading this, chances are you'll probably know more about all this than I did coming to Bourdieu - but to me, the really great thing about this book is the fact that it's a series of transcripts taken from lectures. To me, this gives the narrative energy and space; what so often ends up being a gloopy, chore of a read is, instead, a refreshingly animated experience. Granted, transcripts can so often make for poor reading, but praise must be given to all involved in presenting this book, because, aside from a more alive text, there's also warmth, and the feeling that you're actually spending time with a real person, not a theoretical machine. This is a fair brick of a book - but, broken down into chunks of, perhaps, a page or two at a time, by having breathers between each sub-section of what were clearly individual lectures in a series, the reader is also allowed time to pause, consider and consume before moving on. And, to be honest, this is the first book of this kind that I've found truly compelling. So much so that, as with a thriller or well-paced biography, there have been times when I kept wanting to cram in just one more section... and again, one more after that, burning the midnight oil. Yes, there are moments when, to my non-PHD mind, Bourdieu tends to spiral down into a tight, choking knot of a point; but they are rare, most definitely few and far between, and that's more to do with me than him. And to be fair, once I checked the meaning of a few words, I came to realise what he was saying - even, found my head popping and fizzing with the brilliance of what Bourdieu was revealing to me. Hands down, this is the best sociology book I've read (or even attempted to read), and it's been a real, well, education. Truly brilliant!

a specialized book, used rather by serious students, recommended at university level

waste of time. repetitive. derivative of art historians' monographs. without original insight. forget it.