“Susan Sontag”: another beautiful feminine name like “Aphra Behn.” It means “a Sunday lily.”
Sontag is the thinker for my generation, that’s for sure. She never strikes me as pedantic, obscure or simplistic. Her goal is always to define the truly revolutionary doctrine. It’s surprising how much of her thought is inspired by Nietzsche — and how much she admires rock ‘n roll, especially Bill Haley (“You’ll laugh. It was Bill Haley and the Comets — I really had a revelation.”). In 1978, when this interview occurred, she was seeing Patti Smith at CBGB’s.
I randomly opened to:
Sontag: This may be my limitation — and it probably is — but I cannot understand the truth except as the negation of falsehood. I always discover what I think to be true by seeing that something else is false: the world is basically full of falsehood, and the truth is something carved out by the rejection of falsehood. In a way, the truth is quite empty, but it’s already a fantastic liberation to be free of falsehood.
“The truth is quite empty” — only a great mind can see that.
