
The Underground Sea
John Berger(Author)
Canongate Books (Publisher)
Published on 29. February 2024
Book
Hardback
128 pages
978-1-80530-299-5 (ISBN)
Description
The Underground Sea is a succinct, urgent collection of writing from John Berger's archive. It brings together for the first time his work on mineworkers and the miners' strikes and has been edited as a set of actions for today. Publication of The Underground Sea marks the 40th Anniversary of the 1984-5 Strike, at a time when people are rediscovering the necessity, power and possibilities of collective action.
Including transcripts and image-essay of his rarely-seen BBC programme, Germinal; interviews and his essay 'Miners', it places itself in the heart of a Derbyshire mining village, with reflections on the everyday life of a typical pit community. Berger grapples with the politics of witness as he studies the miners' labour and the wider community shaped in service to this work. Reflecting on their precarity, he goes back to Zola's novel for hope that 'a new world is germinating underneath the ground. And when it arrives, it will crack open the earth.'
Including transcripts and image-essay of his rarely-seen BBC programme, Germinal; interviews and his essay 'Miners', it places itself in the heart of a Derbyshire mining village, with reflections on the everyday life of a typical pit community. Berger grapples with the politics of witness as he studies the miners' labour and the wider community shaped in service to this work. Reflecting on their precarity, he goes back to Zola's novel for hope that 'a new world is germinating underneath the ground. And when it arrives, it will crack open the earth.'
Reviews / Votes
Berger's commitment to the mining communities was more than emotional, it was visceral * * New Statesman * * A timely collection with still-striking thoughts * * Irish Times * * A profound tribute to working-class struggles . . . The words are invariably sage, the language noble yet pointedly accessible, descriptions of intense poverty and extraordinarily dangerous work are powerful * * Buzz Magazine * * Praise for John Berger: 'John Berger seems to me peerless -- SUSAN SONTAG John Berger has made the world a better place to live in. I do not say this lightly -- ARUNDHATI ROY A few minutes with Berger and a better world, a better outcome, wasn't fantasy or imaginary, it was impetus - possible, feasible, urgent and clear . . . Berger's genius is its own fertile continuum - radical, brilliant, gentle, uncompromising -- ALI SMITH Few people have possessed such clarity, nor yoked it to such persistently generous political ends -- OLIVIA LAING The writer I admired above all others . . . Whatever their form or subject [Berger's] books are jam-packed with observations so precise and delicate that they double as ideas - and vice versa -- GEOFF DYER There are a few authors that can change the way you look at the world through their writing and John Berger is one of them -- JARVIS COCKER An ongoing inspiration as to how books should be written (and photography used) -- ALAIN de BOTTONMore details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
With dust jacket
Illustrations
B&W images throughout
Dimensions
Height: 217 mm
Width: 139 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
250 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80530-299-5 (9781805302995)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
John Berger was born in London in 1926. His seminal Ways of Seeing was one of the most influential books on art in the twentieth century. His many books, innovative in form and far-reaching in their historical and political insight, include To the Wedding, King, and the Booker Prize-winning novel, G. He died, aged ninety, in January 2017.
Tom Overton is John Berger's biographer. He catalogued the Berger archive at the British Library and edited Portraits: John Berger on Artists and Landscapes: John Berger on Art. He lives in Sheffield.
Matthew Harle is a writer and curator. His latest books include Black Arsenal and Mirror Reflecting Darkly. His curating explores the cultural histories of everyday life, most recently in the retrospective People Make Television at Raven Row in 2023.
Tom Overton is John Berger's biographer. He catalogued the Berger archive at the British Library and edited Portraits: John Berger on Artists and Landscapes: John Berger on Art. He lives in Sheffield.
Matthew Harle is a writer and curator. His latest books include Black Arsenal and Mirror Reflecting Darkly. His curating explores the cultural histories of everyday life, most recently in the retrospective People Make Television at Raven Row in 2023.