New Releases by John Berger

Berger''s first novel, a meditation on art, exile and politics, reissued on the 100th anniversary of the author''s birth Exiled in London, the Hungarian artist Janos Lavin disappears one day, into thin air. His journal offers his friend John the only clues to where he has gone, and why. John Berger’s first novel is a passionate exploration of the artistic process, and a gripping detective story.

The revolutionary nature of art, from the groundbreaking author of Ways of Seeing The Moment of Cubism is one of John Berger’s most important collections of art criticism. Whether considering Vermeer in his studio, Poussin’s poignant meditation on death, or the complexities of Rodin’s sculpture, Berger draws together the threads that bind individual artists to their social and political context. Here Berger argues that Cubism was a moment rather than a movement, one that came and went without the consent of its key figures – Picasso and Braque above all. He makes a case for Cubism’s revolutionary influence. As always, Berger helps us see the world in new ways.

Two essential plays from Berger and Bielski on art, politics and liberation Goya''s Last Portrait and The Question of Geography are the result of collaboration between John Berger and the actress and writer Nella Bielski. Here, collated for the first time as part of the Essential John Berger Series. Goya''s Last Portrait, is a study of the artist looking back on his work and drawing the outline of the relationship between art and life. Having painted the darkest images of the soul, the horrors of war, as well as the vibrant colours of aristocratic life, Goya''s questions whether he has reflected life or changed it. The Question of Geography, premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company, i s set in Magadan, a town in the Soviet Far East where former political prisoners, known as "Zeks," are forced to live after serving their sentences. The play delves into themes of exile, displacement, the lasting effects of political repression, and the struggle to rebuild lives after imprisonment.

Despite their status as intellectual giants of the twentieth century, John Berger and Susan Sontag’s artistic collaboration – and intense friendship – remains virtually unknown. Published for the first time, To Tell a Story offers a glimpse into their shared history that spanned nearly a quarter-century. From sources such as their eponymous film broadcast, rare personal letters and archival recordings, the composite fragments build a portrait of a relationship that was often lively and challenging, sometimes trivial and always affectionate. Berger and Sontag’s voices echo throughout these pages, riffing off the other as they grapple with their respective concerns. Above all, their conversations reveal a deep reciprocal admiration and an exchange of ideas about storytelling, the self and society that informed their own work.

Antes de convertirse en uno de los intelectuales más influyentes de nuestra época, John Berger quiso ser pintor; quizá por eso, cuando escribía, más que escribir pintaba con las palabras. Por eso, cuando en estas páginas escribe sobre cubismo, no sólo escribe acerca de Braque, Léger, Picasso y Gris, sino también de ese milagroso momento al inicio del siglo pasado cuando el mundo convergía alrededor de un prodigioso sentimiento de esperanza. Cuando analiza el trabajo de Modigliani, ve el amor infinito que se revela en las alargadas líneas de la figura pintada. Recreándose desde el Renacimiento hasta la conflagración de Hiroshima; desde el Bósforo hasta Manhattan; desde los tallistas de un pequeño pueblo de Francia hasta Goya, Durero y Van Gogh, y desde sus experiencias personales de amor y pérdida hasta los levantamientos políticos que definieron el siglo XX, este libro nos incita a mirar con la misma tolerancia, coraje y compromiso moral con que mira su autor. "El sentido de la vista" no es una simple antología: es un completo mapa del pensamiento de un verdadero maestro de nuestro tiempo. Con la mirada de un pintor y la voz de un poeta, Berger nos enseña a descifrar y transformar el mundo. Una lección de lucidez, humanidad y compromiso teórico.

In the dusty, ramshackle town of Suse lives A''ida. Her insurgent husband Xavier has been imprisoned. Resolute, sensuous and tender, A''ida''s letters to the man she loves tell of daily events in the town, and of its motley collection of inhabitants whose lives flow through hers. But the town is under threat, and as a faceless power inexorably encroaches from outside, so the smallest details and acts of humanity assume for A''ida a life-affirming significance, acts of resistance against the forces that might otherwise extinguish them.

Compelling and intimate, this collection of never-before-seen letters between the celebrated art critic and essayist, John Berger and his son Yves, an artist, is a moving look at their musings on art, memory, life, death, and beyond. Written between 2015-16, with 53 color images of well-known old masters and contemporary art as well as some of the Bergers’ own drawings and watercolors, Over to You is an informal back and forth not unlike the ping-pong games father and son used to play in the barn of their house. It begins when John—who is in a Parisian suburb—sends Yves—who is in Haute Savoie—an envelope of reproductions of art that have moved him. And so they begin to reveal their thoughts looking at a Goya, Watteau, Twombly, Joan Mitchell, Durer, Caravaggio, Manet, and Euan Uglow, among many others. But the art is just a way to summon shared emotions and memories, as well as deepen their understanding of the world and its mysteries. John at 89 is the more formal teacher, Yves at 39 comes across as the younger, philosophical artist. There are John’s thoughts on the use of color, light and space in, say, a Dürer, or a Beckmann to the question of “staying fully alive”; or Yves noting how much in life exceeds our understanding, the gap between our consciousness and our feeling, between the said and the unsaid. “That’s the zone where I would like us to meet. Are you coming?” He asks his father. “I may need other eyes to confirm what is really there. Like your eyes always did.” This is an exceptional and moving tribute to a relationship between a father and son, and between two artists, as well as a thought provoking look at questions we all have about work, time, the universe, life and death.

The great art critic and writer John Berger joined forces again with Turkish writer and illustrator Selçuk Demirel in this unexpected pictorial essay. What happens when an art critic loses some of his sight to cataracts? What wonders are glimpsed once vision is restored? In this impressionistic essay written in the spirit of Montaigne, John Berger, whose treatises on seeing have shaped cultural and media studies for four decades, records the effects of cataract removal operations on each of his eyes. The result is an illuminated take on perception. Berger ponders how we can become accustomed to a loss of sense until a dulled world becomes the norm, and describes the sudden richness of reawakened sight with acute attention to sensory detail. This wise little book beckons us to pay close attention to our own senses and wonder at their significance as we follow Berger''s journey into a more vivid, differentiated way of seeing. Demirel''s witty illustrations complement the text, creating a mini-world where eyes take on whimsical lives of their own. The result is a collaborative collectors'' piece perfect for every reader’s bedside table. This title completes a trilogy of books by Berger and Demirel. Smoke was published in 2018, and What Time Is It? was published in 2019.

Nestes ensaios clássicos baseados na série televisiva inglesa Modos de ver, exibida em 1972, John Berger revoluciona a crítica de arte ao apontar as estruturas de poder presentes no processo de criação de imagens. Se hoje, cinquenta anos após a escrita deste livro, ainda é preciso reforçar que "uma imagem é a recriação ou a reprodução de uma visão" — ou, como afirma Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida em seu prefácio, que devemos encarar "a visão enquanto vivificação e a observação da arte como paralela à observação da vida" —, a leitura de Berger, essencial em tempos de propagandas por toda parte, se faz mais urgente do que nunca. O primeiro texto parte da pintura a óleo, técnica consagrada pela arte europeia. Após a reprodutibilidade técnica, tornou-se possível ver trabalhos a óleo fora dos castelos, igrejas e residências privadas a que se destinaram um dia, e, isolados de seu contexto original, eles circulam pelo mundo sem serem de fato compreendidos. Quando se instituiu que eram obras de arte, esses trabalhos passaram a ser interpretados — e mistificados — segundo pressupostos como beleza, verdade e genialidade, os quais eram ditados pelo modo de ver específico de uma minoria social no poder. Em outro ensaio, John Berger aborda a representação da mulher na arte ocidental, apreendendo de que maneiras na tradição do nu o corpo feminino se tornou objeto a serviço do olhar masculino. Com perspicácia, o autor afirma que o protagonista de um nu jamais é mostrado: ele é o espectador diante do quadro, para quem as "figuras assumem a sua nudação". Berger esmiúça, ainda, as naturezas-mortas, que em seu auge expunham objetos extorquidos por feitorias escravocratas. E não se priva de olhar para o impacto da publicidade no século 20, expondo como ela se vale da tradição artística para explorar os impulsos consumistas de quem a observa. Coletivo, emancipatório e com toda a vitalidade da insurreição social dos anos 1970, "Modos de ver" é um tratado contra o sequestro do olhar pela imagem na sociedade capitalista e um alerta para a linguagem não verbal.

“Patience, patience, because the great movements of history have always begun in those small parenthesis that we call ‘in the meantime.’” —John Berger The last book that John Berger wrote was this precious little volume about time titled What Time Is It?, now posthumously published for the first time in English by Notting Hill Editions. Berger died before it was completed, but the text has been assembled and illustrated by his longtime collaborator and friend Selçuk Demirel, and has an introduction by Maria Nadotti. What Time Is It? is a profound and playful meditation on the illusory nature of time. Berger, the great art critic and Man Booker Prize–winning author, reflects on what time has come to mean to us in modern life. Our perception of time assumes a uniform and ceaseless passing of time, yet time is turbulent. It expands and contracts according to the intensity of the lived moment. We talk of time “saved” in a hundred household appliances; time, like money, is exchanged for the content it lacks. Berger posits the idea that time can lengthen lifetimes once we seize the present moment. “What-is-to-come, what-is-to-be-gained empties what-is.”

Osservare il linguaggio sgretolarsi in un''opera di Magritte. Scoprire la medesima, disperata assenza in un volto urlante di Bacon e in un animale antropomorfo di Walt Disney. Guardare il sangue nero e denso in una foto di guerra di Don McCullin. Scrutare l''abisso che si apre negli occhi di un elefante rinchiuso dietro le sbarre di uno zoo. Rivedere, a distanza di dieci anni, la pala d''altare di Grünewald a Colmar, e riconoscere la propria epoca tra le sfumature di una luce antica, dipinta cinque secoli prima. Sul guardare è un libro di immagini che interrogano la scrittura. Ma è tutta l''opera di John Berger a confermare questo vincolo indissolubile tra visione e linguaggio: dal guardare si irradia l''enigma del senso, si innesca il racconto come tentativo di fissare la propria esistenza nel tempo, che può assumere la forma di romanzo o critica d''arte, poesia o intervento politico. Come si legge in Questione di sguardi, «Il vedere viene prima delle parole. Il bambino guarda e riconosce prima di essere in grado di parlare». Attraversando il pensiero di Walter Benjamin e Susan Sontag, John Berger mette in luce come la fotografia abbia trasformato la memoria in spettacolo; analizzando la Tempesta di neve di Turner, si trova avvolto dalla violenza della natura come in un maelstrom; osservando una foto di Cartier-Bresson che ritrae Giacometti mentre cammina sotto la pioggia, riconosce la stessa solitudine che anima tutte le sue sculture. Sul guardare – che il Saggiatore propone in una nuova traduzione di Maria Nadotti – è molto più di una raccolta di saggi critici: è un testo organico in cui ogni immagine è un evento inatteso e perturbante, ogni incontro con l''opera d''arte un''esperienza reale o, per usare le parole di John Berger, un «momento vissuto» che diviene scrittura.

Landscapes showcases the development and practice of John Berger''s unique way of seeing. Here he surveys the aesthetic landscapes that have informed, challenged and nourished his understanding of the world. Berger pays homage to the writers and thinkers who influenced him, such as Walter Benjamin, Rosa Luxemburg and Bertolt Brecht. His expansive perspective embraces artistic movements and individual artists - from the Renaissance to the present - while never neglecting the social and political context of their creation.

“A rich and lovely exploration of art history” from the world-renowned art critic behind Ways of Seeing (Slate)! A diverse cast of artists comes to life in this jargon-free study Zadie Smith hails as “among the greatest books on art I’ve ever read.” One of the world’s most celebrated art writers takes us through centuries of drawing and painting, revealing his lifelong fascination with a diverse cast of artists. Berger grounds the artists in their historical milieu in revolutionary ways, whether enlarging on the prehistoric paintings of the Chauvet caves or Cy Twombly’s linguistic and pictorial play. In penetrating and singular prose, Berger presents entirely new ways of thinking about artists both canonized and obscure, from Rembrandt to Henry Moore, Jackson Pollock to Picasso. Throughout, Berger maintains the essential connection between politics, art and the wider study of culture. The result is an illuminating walk through many centuries of visual culture featuring 100 black and white images, from one of the contemporary world’s most incisive critical voices. “A wonderful artist and thinker.” —Susan Sontag

From the '' War on Terror'' to resistance in Ramallah and traumatic dislocation in the Middle East, Berger explores the uses of art as an instrument of political resistance. Visceral and passionate, Hold Everything Dear is a profound meditation on the far extremes of human behaviour, and the underlying despair. Looking at Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq, he makes an impassioned attack on the poverty and loss of freedom at the heart of such unnecessary suffering. These essays offer reflections on the political at the core of artistic expression and at the center of human existence itself.

Railtracks is a unique collaboration between two writers of remarkable achievement. A profound meditation on railways, love and loss, at once intimate and committed, it moves from the industrial to the metaphysical, from the tectonic shifts of globalization to the interior pulses of memory, and from the present to a past that still exists in vivid, essential traces. This sensual and exploratory dialogue is accompanied throughout by the evocative photography of Tereza Stehlíková, charting its own atmospheric passage by train through the forested, winter landscapes of Southern Bohemia. Summoning potent, hidden histories and deeply personal journeys, Railtracks seeks, with a rigorous and reflective urgency, to bear witness to the pain of separations and the consolation of meetings.

The first of a three-volume series examining the history of Chinese "puppet" soldiers fighting for the Japanese before and during World War II. When the Japanese Empire went to war with the Allies in December 1941. it had already been fighting in China for 10 years. During that time, it had conquered huge areas of China, and subjugated millions of people. The Japanese needed to control the Chinese population in these occupied territories, and for this reason they set up governments from amongst the leaders of the Chinese who were willing to co-operate with them. These so-called "puppet" governments were designed to rule on behalf of the Japanese while firmly under their control. In turn, the "puppet" governments needed their own armed forces to help them maintain control over the populace and so they raised their own ''independent'' armed forces. These "puppet" armies were in large number, reaching a total of well over 1 million before 1945. Although poorly armed and equipped, these forces had an influence on the Japanese war effort through sheer numbers. The Chinese "puppet" soldiers ranged from the well-drilled and trained regular Army of the Last Emperor of China, Pu Yi, who ruled the newly formed state of Manchukuo, 1932–45, to the irregular Mongol cavalry who served alongside Japanese troops in the "secret war" waged in the Mongolian hinterlands. The troops were dismissed as traitors by the Chinese fighting the Japanese, and they were equally despised by the Japanese themselves. The troops were motivated by a range of reasons, from simple survival to a loyalty to their commander. The fact that so many Chinese were willing to fight for the Japanese was embarrassing to all sides, and for this reason has been largely ignored in previous histories of the war in the East. In the first of a three-volume series, Philip Jowett tells the story of the Chinese who fought for the Japanese over a fourteen-year period.

In this book you will be led to a place you haven''t been, from where few stories come. You will be led by King, a dog--or is he a dog?--to a wasteland beside the highway called Saint Valéry. Here, at the end of the twentieth century, among smashed trucks, old boilers, and broken washing machines, live Liberto, Malak, Jack, Corinna, Danny, Anna, Joachim, Saul, Alfonso, and Vico and Vica. Listen to King''s voice as he tells a different kind of story: twenty-four hours pass and lives are lived. It is good to have survived another winter, for now it is spring, when the nights, though cold, are no longer harsh enough to kill. The wet season is over, and with it the hopelessness of damp. Today the sun will shine: of what else will the day be made? King is at once a furious homage to the homeless and a lyrical meditation on language and experience. The bitter yet celebratory prose speaks to us all.

When the Japanese Empire went to war with the Allies in December 1941, it had already been fighting in China for 10 years. During that time it had conquered huge areas of China, and subjugated millions of people. The Japanese needed to control the Chinese population in these occupied territories, and for this reason they set up governments from amongst the leaders of the Chinese who were willing to cooperate with them. These so-called ''puppet'' governments were designed to rule on behalf of the Japanese while firmly under their overall control. In turn, the puppet governments needed their own armed forces to help them maintain control over the populace and so they raised their own ''independent'' armed forces. These puppet armies were large in number, reaching a total of well over 1 million before 1945. Although poorly armed and equipped, these forces had an influence on the Japanese war effort through sheer numbers.The Chinese puppet soldiers ranged from the well-drilled and trained regular Army of the Last Emperor of China, Pu Yi, who ruled the newly-formed state of Manchukuo, 1932-45, to the irregular Mongol cavalry who served alongside Japanese troops in the ''secret war'' waged in the Mongolian hinterlands. The troops were dismissed as traitors by the Chinese fighting the Japanese, and they were equally despised by the Japanese themselves. The troops were motivated by a range of reasons, from simple survival to a loyalty to their commander. The fact that so many Chinese were willing to fight for the Japanese was embarrassing to all sides, and for this reason has been largely ignored in previous histories of the war in the East. In the first of a three-volume series, Philip Jowett tell the story of the Chinese who fought for the Japanese over a 14 year period. He describes in detail the organization, training, actions, uniforms and equipment of these forces, including detailed orders-of-battle. Volume 1 contains many rare and previously unpublished photos, as well as color plates illustrating the uniforms and insignia of the armies. The air forces and navies of these states are also described in detail, incl. color aircraft profiles. In a series of appendices, the author provides selected orders of battle as well as biographies of notable military commanders. This is a fascinating insight into a hitherto-neglected aspect of Second World War and Asian military history. This is a limited edition reprint of just 500 copies, each copy numbered and signed by the author.

Bento''s Sketchbook is an exploration of the practice of drawing, as well as a meditation on how we perceive and seek to explore our ever-changing relationship with the world around us.

Con la esperanza entre los dientes es un polémico e incisivo retrato de nuestro tiempo, una profunda meditación acerca del significado actual del compromiso político. Visceral y apasionada, esta obra aúna la más lúcida perspectiva literaria con el más reflexivo activismo político y social y sugiere el pensamiento y la acción que podrían ayudar a acabar con la injusticia y el sufrimiento en el mundo. John Berger analiza la esencia del terrorismo y el drama del desarraigo de millones de personas que se han visto obligados por la pobreza y la guerra a vivir en calidad de refugiados. Su mirada implacable ilumina la situación de Afganistán, Irak, Palestina, Serbia, Bosnia, China, Indonesia, y todos aquellos lugares donde la gente se ve privada de la más básica de las libertades. Reseñas: «Toda obra de John Berger es un hito... Sus admiradores reconocerán la característica mezcla de compasión y lucidez, honestidad discursiva, calor humano y ejemplaridad cosmopolita.» The Times Literary Supplement «John Berger se ha convertido en una de las voces esenciales para comprender el estado de nuestra sociedad... Un hombre que combina a la perfección compromiso y reflexión.» El Confidencial «Iluminador... Una meditación seria acerca de la ética del poder.» Los Angeles Times «John Berger escribe acerca de lo que verdaderamente importa... En la literatura contemporánea, me parece incomparable.» Susan Sontag «Para Berger, ganador del premio Booker, pintor, filósofo, crítico y activista, el acto de observar es una forma de empatía... Compasivo y sensible en su visión de nuestro mundo en peligro, Berger ha visto mucho y ha sentido más.» Booklist «En la lucha entre la desesperación y la luz, sólo la existencia de alguien como Berger hace que el combate tenga sentido.» Isabel Coixet «Sus contemporáneos más cercanos en términos de audacia estética podrían ser Umberto Eco o el tardío W. G. Sebald, pero resulta difícil compararlo a cualquier autor inglés del último medio siglo. Berger, simplemente, rompió todos los moldes.» The Guardian

Una gran obra del ganador del Premio Booker y uno de los escritores más destacados y comprometidos políticamente. Las cinco historias de amor incluidas en Una vez en Europa son un alegato contra la destrucción de la vida rural. John Berger -«un escritor sin rival en la literatura contemporánea en lengua inglesa», según Susan Sontag- refleja en ellas su modo de entender la realidad. Como él mismo reconoce, «tal vez mi aversión por el poder político, sea cual sea su forma, demuestra que soy un mal marxista. Intuitivamente siempre estoy al lado de aquellos que viven dominados por ese poder.» Como antes de Puerca tierra, destaca aquí ese «realismo limpio» de John Berger, obsesionado por la claridad de una expresión que surge ante nosotros como una poderosa llamada de atención sobre el divorcio entre el hombre y la tierra. La crítica ha dicho... «John Berger se ha convertido en una de las voces esenciales para comprender el estado de nuestra sociedad. Un hombre que combina a la perfección compromiso y reflexión.» María José S. Mayo, El Confidencial «Las obras de John Berger viven entre los géneros y en un grado de contemporaneidad absoluto. Mezclando la poesía, el ensayo y hasta el periodismo más personal, sus obras son un intento de reflexión trascendente sin perder la historia inmediata pero tampoco la metafísica o cualquier atisbo de pensamiento lírico.» Luis Antonio de Villena, El Cultural de El Mundo «Uno de los mejores y más insaciables creadores europeos.» ABC «La serie de relatos Una vez en Europa contiene posiblemente la mejor narrativa de John Berger hasta la fecha.» Richard Critchfield, The New York Times «Fue la voz de los frágiles, residuos del mundo moderno a los que su obra otorgó dignidad de reyes... Poeta, novelista, ensayista y crítico de arte, toda su obra literaria es el testimonio de alguien que contempla un universo que se desvanece ante sus ojos.» Javier Rodríguez Marcos, El País «Un autor esencial# La mirada de Berger era tan profunda como diversa... Una mirada humanista, rebelde y serena al mismo tiempo, la de un renacentista... En pocos autores se ha producido la fusión que él logró entre imagen y escritura.» Pedro Antonio Curto, El Comercio «Fue el Leonard Cohen de otra clase de rotunda melancolía: la de la tristeza (social, íntima) que provoca el auténtico saber en mitad de la sociedad capitalista de fauces abiertas y hambre incansable... Era un activista, su literatura viene de ahí, del compromiso a la manera de Albert Camus, de la protesta, de la obsesión con el poder y sus lepras.» Diego Medrano, El Comercio «Uno de los autores más irreverentes del siglo XX.» Elena Hevia, El Periódico de Aragón

Nadie aprecia el detalle de estar vivo más que los muertos. En Lisboa, un hombre, John, encuentra a su madre sentada en un banco del parque. Ella ríe como una colegiala. Lleva muerta quince años. En un mercado de Cracovia, entre las verduras y las campesinas, reconoce a Ken, la persona más importante de su vida de los once a los diecisiete años. La misma complicidad existe todavía entre los dos. La última vez que se vieron fue hace cuarenta años. En la casa de Hubert en Islington, su compañero de la escuela de arte, John recuerda a una chica que conoció entonces. La solía llamar Tirol... La cantidad de vidas que caben en una sola es incalculable. En este libro nómada, que viaja a través de Europa, historias aparentemente dispares revelan su conexión, y los objetos descolocados encuentran su lugar. Recuerdos sensuales del pasado penetran en la piel del presente como la sal. En su paso a través de fronteras y zonas horarias, Aquí nos vemos es una obra hermosa, radiante e inesperada.

When he stands before Giorgione''s La Tempesta, Booker Prize-winning author John Berger sees not only the painting but our whole notion of time, sweeping us away from a lost Eden. A photograph of a gravely joyful crowd gathered on a Prague street in November 1989 provokes reflection on the meaning of democracy and the reunion of a people with long-banished hopes and dreams. With the luminous essays in Keeping a Rendezvous, we are given to see the world as Berger sees it -- to explore themes suggested by the work of Jackson Pollock or J. M. W. Turner, to contemplate the wonder of Paris. Rendezvous are manifold: between critic and art, artist and subject, subject and the unknown. But most significant are the rendezvous between author and reader, as we discover our perceptions informed by Berger''s eloquence and courageous moral imagination.

A luminous collection of interwoven stories, Once in Europa is a portrait of two worlds−a small Alpine village bound to the earth and by tradition, and the restless, future-driven culture that will invade it−at their moment of collision. The instrument of entrapment is love: the passion of a willful shepherd for a shrewd bourgeois housewife; of a vital young woman for a dashing Russian who has come to work in the local factory; of a steadfast son for his aged mother. Lives are lost and hearts are broken, and, always, love is a transcending form of grace. In Once in Europa, it speaks as plainly and as movingly as a remembered language, creating a work of astonishing tenderness.

Xavier est incarcéré dans la cellule n°73 de la prison de Suse, où il purge une peine de détention à vie pour terrorisme. Aida est l''amante de Xavier. Elle est libre. Elle lui écrit. De A à X est l''ensemble de ces lettres, "miraculeusement" retrouvées par John Berger, et dont certaines n''ont jamais été envoyées. Un roman par lettres, donc. Quel genre de roman? L''amour y est présent à chaque phrase, mais on ne peut dire qu''il en soit le sujet. On pense à un manuel de résistance ou à un traité de guérilla urbaine. Ou à un recueil d''exercices spirituels. Avec ce livre, John Berger donne la réplique à son époque. Il le fait à sa manière: précise et elliptique. Précise, parce qu''écrire est un travail qui s''apparente à la soudure, à la réparation d''objets cassés ou au fait de recoudre une plaie par balle. Elliptique, parce que comprenne qui voudra. Dès lors, peu importe que cette histoire se déroule à Mexico, à Ramallah, à Kaboul ou ailleurs. Partout où des hommes, des femmes - et même des enfants - résistent à l''oppression, la voix fraternelle de John Berger les accompagne, comme une chanson de marche pour traverser la nuit.

The writing career of Booker Prize winner John Berger–poet, storyteller, playwright, and essayist–has yielded some of the most original and compelling examinations of art and life of the past half century. In this essential volume, Geoff Dyer has brought together a rich selection of many of Berger’s seminal essays. Berger’s insights make it impossible to look at a painting, watch a film, or even visit a zoo in quite the same way again. The vast range of subjects he addresses, the lean beauty of his prose, and the keenness of his anger against injustice move us to view the world with a new lens of awareness. Whether he is discussing the singleminded intensity of Picasso’s Guernica, the parallel violence and alienation in the art of Francis Bacon and Walt Disney, or the enigmatic silence of his own mother, what binds these pieces throughout is the depth and fury of Berger’s passion, challenging us to participate, to protest, and above all, to see.

"Berger On Drawing is a new anthology of essays in which John Berger explores that most primary and most primal of all art activities: drawing. The 16 texts are gathered from nearly half a century of the author''s engagement with the activity of drawing, both as a writer and as a practitioner. They are published together in one volume for the first time, accompanied by newly commissioned pieces : including a major collaborative essay by John Berger and his son, the painter Yves Berger; and an exchange of letters on drawing between John Berger and the American art historian James Elkins (author of, amongst other books: What Painting Is, The Object Stares Back, Stories of Art and Pictures and Tears). As we have come to expect from Berger, the book offers many fascinating and unexpected insights into this intriguing subject, ranging from his account of a journey deep into the Chauvet Caves to see some of the earliest drawings ever made, right up to present day encounters with the contemporary drawn image."--Publisher''s website.