Now reading Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish. Well, I say 'now' but I've been reading it for more than a week and my progress is achingly slow. I'd guess I grasp roughly fifty percent of what the philosopher is talking about, and have a sketchy idea of what's going on in another thirty percent: but at least a fifth of what I'm reading is way beyond my understanding. I'm not sure whose fault this is. I'm happy to blame myself for not being up to the task intellectuality, but the maddening obscurity of some pages strikes me as the result of a writer who doesn't necessarily wish to communicate clearly.
Having said that, there are pages of crystal clarity. I've just started Part Three and the first six or so pages on Docile Bodies are easy to digest and insightful all at the same time. I suppose that's what keeps me going, the sense that Foucault has genuinely important things to say, despite the sometimes almost wilful obscurity.
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